T1B

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/15/co ... faa-probe/

Lefty, have you ever heard of anything like this? Sounds like there may be an ATC opening at ATL.

Anybody working final approach at ATL has to be a top notch controller. WTF was he thinking?

Pilots and ATC go back and forth a lot. Not uncommon for one side or the other to get a little snippy.

Common type exchange:


ATC: Delta 178, descend and maintain 10 thousand, slow to 240.

Delta 178: Descend and maintain 10 thousand, slowing to 240, Delta 178.

ATC: Delta 178, right turn to 120, slow to 190.

Delta 178: Turning right to 120, slowing to 190, Delta 178.

ATC: Delta 178 descend and maintain 6 thousand.

Delta 178: Descend and maintain 6 thousand, Delta 178.

ATC: Delta 178 right turn 180, slow to 170.

Delta 178: Right turn to 180, slowing to 170, Delta 178.

ATC: Delta 178 slow to 160.

Delta 178: ATC do you know the stall speed of a 757 with full flaps?

ATC: Delta 178, no I don't but you might try asking the rookie in the right seat.



My guess is the controller in ATL thought he needed the flight to go around and then realized his mistake and tried to cover it with "just kidding." The accepted term if a controller makes a mistake is "Correction".

Problem is as soon as I or any pilot hears the words go around attached to our call sign there is an immediate reaction. Throttles, clean up the plane, missed approached pattern, communicate, etc, etc. Once the process starts we aren't going to land on that approach.

My biggest issue is the local ATL station's coverage. It wasn't exactly dangerous. Sure it cost money in additional fuel and labor to Delta, but it didn't put the passengers in any danger. Planes go around to avoid danger. They also claimed the plane was full of Asians since it originated in Japan. Nevermind it had already stopped in Detroit.

Left Seater wrote:
Problem is as soon as I or any pilot hears the words go around attached to our call sign there is an immediate reaction. Throttles, clean up the plane, missed approached pattern, communicate, etc, etc. Once the process starts we aren't going to land on that approach.

You are spooled up and going by the time he says " I am kidding". Completely out of configuration by that time. Probably not the controllers best decision, and I am sure he will answer for it.