Airline Captain Takes Wrong Runway Exit, Calls ATC ‘Incompetent’—Then Challenges Supervisor To Show Up At His Gate

On July 4, Star Alliance member Copa’s flight 342 from Panama City landed in San José, Costa Rica and the Boeing 737 exited the runway before where air traffic control had instructed. This created an awkward taxi maneuver that the captain blamed on the airport’s layout and “incompetence.”

• The tower supervisor said the crew had disregarded clear instructions to continue to the runway’s end and exit via Alpha, partly because Gate A8 was occupied.

• The captain instead exited at Juliet, saying he had not heard the Alpha instruction and had already begun turning before receiving the later call. The position they wound up in complicated their taxi to the gate and temporarily obstructed other aircraft movements.

• He argued that the airport lacks a high-speed runway exit, that air traffic control’s routing placed him facing away from the terminal, and that he would not execute a 180-degree turn on a surface whose suitability he questioned.

• An argument escalated over ‘incompetence’ and the captain refusing to give his name for an incident report – and invited the supervisor to come to the gate to throw down: “Is that a threat?” Authorities are reviewing the audio recordings of the incident.

Tower: You raised a concern with the Ground controller, saying that if you had been instructed to exit at the end via Alpha, you would not have had to re-enter the runway to reach the gate. While you were on the runway, the instruction was to exit at the end via Alpha, not Juliet. Contact Ground on 121.9. Have a very good day.

Copa 342: Thank you. I decided to exit via Juliet bcause I did not hear you. Second, the exit was to the right. If you send me to the left, I have to end up over there. So the issue is with you—not only with the Ground controller.

Tower: Roger. The original instruction was to exit at the end via Alpha, not Juliet. Contact Ground on 121.9. ..

Tower supervisor: Captain, this is Venegas, the control-tower supervisor. I am not understanding your complaint about the controller working the Ground frequency. You are saying that if we had told you to exit somewhere else, you would not have had to re-enter the runway. I was listening to the Tower controller’s communications throughout, and we explicitly instructed you to exit at the end of the runway to avoid that inconvenience. Now you are complaining to us about that same inconvenience. That is the part I do not understand.

Copa 342: Well, I am not complaining. The truth is that I am paid to sit up here. The people who are harmed are the passengers. You do not have a high-speed exit that would let us leave the runway more quickly. I had already turned onto Juliet. By the time he told me to turn, I could not make another turn. When I exited, I was supposed to turn right so that I would be facing the terminal, but you sent me left. I am not going to make a 180-degree turn on that [unclear taxiway/apron term] because I do not know whether it is properly built; I follow the yellow lines. But I am not complaining—understand that. This is not about me. The passengers are the ones who suffer from the incompetence occurring here.

Tower supervisor: Okay. We are also trying to keep this respectful, because talking about incompetence when we were actually planning for you to exit the runway via Alpha is going a little beyond the line. We are trying to understand the situation. We asked you to exit at the end because your gate was occupied. Whether or not the airport has a high-speed exit is not our responsibility. Those are the facilities we have at this airport, and we try to do the best job possible. I am also paid to sit here. We do everything possible to get you to the gate and minimize your waiting time. But calling this incompetence when it was actually operational planning crosses the line. I am therefore asking you to give me the captain’s name so I can file a report.

Copa 342: Relax. I can already see how much you care about the passengers. I am simply telling you that I had already turned; you called me only after I had made the turn. But do not worry—my name appears in your flight plan. Look there and you will find it.

Tower supervisor: No, sir. I do not have to look up your name in the flight plan. Costa Rican law gives me the authority to ask for your name in order to make a report. Would you please give me your name so I can make the report?

Copa 342: Certainly. It appears in the flight plan. My name is there, just so you know.

Tower supervisor: Captain, I am not going to argue with you. The issue is that you had the audacity to call us incompetent, directly or indirectly, and then you do not have the ability to give me your name for a report. I can obtain the name; that is not a problem. But when I state in the report that you refused to provide it, the problem will ultimately be more serious for you, not for me.

Copa 342: It does not matter. I am at Gate A8 if you want to come over here.

Tower supervisor: Excuse me—is that a threat?

Copa 342: No. I am telling you that if you want to come and take down my name, I will be here at Gate A8. I am not moving.

Tower supervisor: I do not have to come to the gate to ask for your name, Captain. As I said, the law allows me to request it. If you do not want to give it to me, then the report will clearly be much more serious.

Copa confirms it is investigating but has provided no findings. Costa Rica’s Safety Management, Quality Assurance and Human Factors personnel are supposed to review the entire frequency recording from the beginning of the flight. That review has not begun because the government employees are on midyear public sector vacation.