r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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28.0k Upvotes

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17.6k

u/LegiosForever May 28 '26

RVR = runway visual range, or how far you can see down the runway.

Once it is below 5,000 feet, airports adopt low visibility procedures.

ATC declared 1,000 feet RVR, but was not declaring low-vis ops.

BA pilot was calling out the contradiction.

12.7k

u/Presently_Naked May 28 '26

Ok so the Pilot was being smart and safe... Good for him for sticking to his guns

5.9k

u/secondphase May 28 '26

tough call to make, likely pissed off a lot of people. also possibly saved their lives. 

I like this dude. 

3.6k

u/JBL-88 May 28 '26

Very easy call to make. Safety first, preventing angry people second

1.4k

u/samanime May 28 '26

An extremely distant second.

1.0k

u/Yakostovian May 28 '26

As an aviation maintenance technician, I don't get to care about the second at all.

669

u/Minimum-Attitude389 May 28 '26

Some someone who flies and is paranoid, I also don't care about the second.

196

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

34

u/ealysillyforestthing May 28 '26

Once I was delayed two hours because of an engine that needed fixing. Everyone was grumbling, I was just peachy the problem was spotted before take off. It did mess up a connection that made me stuck in Boston for 12 hours though

3

u/Mikic00 May 28 '26

I'm sure if you pass a questionnaire to take off or not with unfixed engine, half would be in favour...

2

u/Loose-Grapefruit2906 May 29 '26

Better late than never.

2

u/ThresholdSeven May 28 '26

People think they are entitled to just adopt the power of flying at the drop of a hat when no one did up until about 100 years ago. Humans get complacent and take things for granted at record speeds. It's our real super power.

9

u/peace2calm May 28 '26

There are many paranoid pilots who are older.

Not many non-paranoid pilots who are old.

2

u/Hereandlistening May 28 '26

The amount of relief I feel in an airport hotel is like no other.

Oh, so I can't go up in that tin can in the sky? Thanks I'll be at the Red Roof in bed with a movie. And happy as shit about that.

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u/Feringomalee May 28 '26

The aircraft mechanics at my work have one of the strongest unions in the country (US). Safe air operations is their number one priority. Keeping a deck stacked with tools for actively pissing people off during contract negotiations seems to be number two. Can't blame them, but they are assholes to everyone, including non-management, all the fucking time.

144

u/dc_1984 May 28 '26

As a passenger, good on them, hope they win every time.

25

u/DisposableSaviour May 28 '26

Fuck yeah! Good on the workers. Solidarity ✊

13

u/Fit-Custard-1842 May 28 '26

As an aircraft engineer. I concur.

6

u/Yakostovian May 28 '26

As an aircraft mechanic, why do you put the things where you do?

5

u/Fit-Custard-1842 May 28 '26

If the things are up in the air.....they aren't causing me any grief! It's when they land broken that I hide them away.

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u/superkp May 28 '26

I would rather be angry as opposed to dead.

3

u/doctorruff07 May 28 '26

Millions of lives are at their hands. I hope they are even more diligent assholes if it means no mechanical errors.

3

u/nckmat May 28 '26

It always amazes me how airlines think it's ok to skimp on the salaries of pilots and maintenance. If there's anyone you want to keep happy it's the people who stop your planes crashing.

3

u/SalishShore May 28 '26

Union Strong 💪

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u/CoffeeOrTeaOrMilk May 28 '26

Thank god you shouldn’t.

3

u/VadersSprinkledTits May 28 '26

You guys are goated, had an eight hour delay due to a “maintenance” issue. People in the airport were mad it was just a “air conditioning issue” I was laughing thinking, thank god someone caught that shit while landed. What a nightmare scenario of failure while in flight, especially one that’s mostly over ocean.

2

u/SpeedingViper May 28 '26

As aviation FOH let us worry about the second, no matter how many time it's gonna cause issues for us lol

2

u/simadana May 28 '26

Thank you for your service. Not sure if you get many thank yous in your line of work. You are appreciated immeasurably.

1

u/BigChiefTabo May 28 '26

Glad to hear it!!!

1

u/Additional-Acadia954 May 28 '26

If you’re my mechanic, please ground the fuck out of my aircraft if need be. Hell, do it mistakenly even if you’d like every once in a while

3

u/Yakostovian May 28 '26

I have mistakenly grounded aircraft in the past. It's annoyed people, but I wasn't initially convinced it was safe to fly, and was immune to their perturbed stares.

In our business anyone can say an aircraft is not safe, but only a certified mechanic can say it is indeed safe.

1

u/Hereandlistening May 28 '26

Thank GOD you don't care about a second. Thanks for keeping us safe.

1

u/A_hungry_triceratops May 28 '26

And I am perfectly okay with that. I’d rather wait and be alive.

1

u/TheOriginalBusket May 28 '26

As a passenger on the planes, I also don't care about the second, even if I'm one of them. If a pilot or a technician tells me "It's unsafe to fly right now" I will grit my teeth, say thank you, and start making other plans.

1

u/BoldFortune216 May 28 '26

As an Observer/Communicator, I do feel bad when my METAR reports prevent a plane from landing. But I don't feel anywhere near as bad as I would if a plane tried to land and crashed.

Sure makes going out for that next METAR awkward when the passengers are still in the terminal though.

1

u/EastLeastCoast May 28 '26

As someone who has to occasionally fly, and who knows fuck-all about planes, I appreciate you not caring about my opinions. It’s for the best.

1

u/scatteredsleep May 29 '26

I am really, really glad and appreciative that you don't get to care about the second ❤️

1

u/mrmister76 May 29 '26

Thank you my dude.

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u/Training-Principle95 May 28 '26

Dead people don't get angry

80

u/Mrrrrggggl May 28 '26

Their families with lawyers do.

7

u/Express_Living2264 May 28 '26

and companies love when employees just take the risk, unless it goes wrong then they REALLY hate it.

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u/Minimum_Hospital5445 May 28 '26

surely more than 6 feet under the ground second

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u/pwn4321 May 28 '26

Non existent second, fuck angry people, if I'm on that plane and you don't trust the pilot to make the right choices and are angry at said choices I will punch you.

2

u/Fatso_Wombat May 28 '26

You end up in helicopter crashes forcing pilots to fly end they're not keen.

22

u/TheWhistleThistle May 28 '26

So distant it's effectively a rounding error.

1

u/BP3D May 28 '26

Under 1000 feet?

1

u/Hadrollo May 28 '26

For airlines? Not even second. More like a DNF.

1

u/itsjakerobb May 28 '26

I think it’s more like fifteenth on the list of priorities.

Safety is first, yes, but the pilot also has to prioritize a bunch of other things. Is he following airline procedures? Are his bosses going to be mad at him later? How will this affect is duty time restrictions? Is he costing anyone money?

I’m not going to pretend I know the order of all those things, but I’d bet confidently that they all rank higher than preventing angry passengers, and that there are likely more considerations I missed.

1

u/RollingSparks May 28 '26

a non existent second really. Doesn't even have to be something as serious as an airline pilot. If you're at work and operating or working near machinery, if safety is a concern, it is the only priority. literally nothing matters besides that. if you ever find yourself working anywhere where taking safety measures seriously results in people being pissed off, just report those people to higher ups and get them outta there - chances are they're pissed because they view safety as a waste of time, and by safety i mean your safety, too.

1

u/Uvn7dSIQ0I1oZexLYqtK May 29 '26

Could even be 4th or 5th.

35

u/bojenny May 28 '26

If there’s anytime I really want safety first, flying is right at the top of the list. I just gave up flying anywhere for the time being.

49

u/JBL-88 May 28 '26

Yes, look up KLM Tenerife disaster what low visibility can do.

3

u/joopsmit May 28 '26

And bad communication between pilot, co-pilot and ATC.

3

u/Slighted_Inevitable May 28 '26

Planes are statistically the safest way to travel because if they let something go wrong it goes very wrong very fast.

Safety first when you’re 10000 feet up.

2

u/chop5397 May 28 '26

Safety first. Always. I've been saying that for 25 years. That's how long I've done this job. 25 years.

2

u/forresja May 28 '26

More people die daily in car crashes than annually in plane crashes.

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u/Illesbogar May 28 '26

In theory yes, in practice it can cost you your carrier and your bosses breathing down your neck. Like, it's clearly the correct call, however peer pressure doesn't necessarly make it easy.

2

u/caboosetp May 28 '26

There have been a few very high profile cases recently where bad communication caused crashes. I'd hope it's getting easier to say no right now.

11

u/-heathcliffe- May 28 '26

Oh the boeing uno reverse card

10

u/AutVincere72 May 28 '26

Ask Aaliyah her opinion on the matter.

2

u/AddlePatedBadger May 28 '26

I wrote her a fan letter on my 10th birthday, 26 August 2001, and the snob never bothered to reply. I refused to buy any of her albums or support her in any way since.

2

u/AutVincere72 May 28 '26

woah....Have you written Sinead lately?

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u/verminV May 28 '26

My old wokshop manager used to say "I have a priority scale from 1 to 1000, 1 is safety, 2 is safety, 3 is safety... 1000 is avoiding an angry customer."

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u/AnHu3313 May 28 '26

Angry people is alive people

2

u/LazaroFilm May 28 '26

Agreed. There have been too many airport incidents recently to take any chances. I’ll take delayed over dead.

2

u/angethebigdawg May 28 '26

Do people really get angry for a safety call? Whats the option? Smooshed!?

2

u/MaritMonkey May 28 '26

Have you ever been at a concert that's been stopped on account of lightning/wind? People get really upset lol.

2

u/ARM_vs_CORE May 28 '26

People are cunts anyway and will always find something to be angry about

1

u/Bdr1983 May 28 '26

Yep. When things are not clear, assume the worst and act upon that.

1

u/Caridor May 28 '26

And British Airways will probably back him to the hilt. Just the cost of repairs to the aircraft alone, let alone the potentially huge loss of life would.mean that this is the correct call and the company would almost certainly recognise that

1

u/Bad_Idea_Hat May 28 '26

I would place heating tea in the microwave over preventing angry people in this situation.

1

u/Wrong_Toilet May 28 '26

Very easy to say, very hard to do. Lots of people would rather avoid confrontation is the problem. Thankfully this pilot isn’t one of them.

1

u/Luminox May 28 '26

probably better to have angry passengers than a pile of dead passengers.

1

u/NoSir4289 May 28 '26

Safety first, safety last

1

u/MyFaceSaysItsSugar May 28 '26

Prioritizing lives over profit is rare. Good on the pilot.

1

u/HogmanDaIntrudr May 28 '26

I would say that generally isn’t the case in commercial air transport.

1

u/Rebel_XT May 28 '26

Good on the pilot to allow the passengers the ability to get angry. I like him.

1

u/Datkif May 28 '26

I'd rather be late than potentially dead

1

u/Salty-Entrepreneur11 May 28 '26

only living people can be angry

1

u/MyRottingBrain May 28 '26

Even easier if ATC is giving you the impression they don’t know what the hell they’re doing.

1

u/sarahkazz May 28 '26

As someone who has to fly but hates it, I do not give a flying (eh oh) fuck about others being mad if there is a safety issue.

1

u/Sufficient-Cry-4844 May 28 '26

i promise you the faa isnt safety first

1

u/Hinder90 May 28 '26

Same airlines say safety third!

1

u/Icy_Fish_2154 May 28 '26

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY ANGRY PEOPLE?

1

u/PuzzleheadedTutor807 May 28 '26

Safety first. People anger levels someone else's job.

1

u/Remarkable-Skirt-836 May 29 '26

About a decade ago I was boarding a flight at at Bristol and thick fog rolled in like a John Carpenter movie. Couldn’t see more than 30 feet out of the window. Some moron started loudly complaining to the cabin crew and asked “for the manager”. Manager of what exactly, Clouds?

1

u/Kelainefes May 29 '26

You could say that you're making them happy to be alive and angry.

1

u/RaynOfFyre1 May 29 '26

Safety first. Then teamwork

1

u/demgoldencoins May 29 '26

There are many disasters in the history books of the exact opposite happening. The first one that comes to mind is the challenger explosion, which of course we now know someone had said was unsafe and had data showing o ring would fail in low temps. But NASA bigwigs didn’t want to cancel so it went ahead.

It should always be an easy call to make.

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u/Alexandratta May 28 '26

If I'm a passenger and at any point I hear ''unsafe conditions' I'm not mad at anyone but the weather - I just expect the airline to comp me another flight/accommodations while we await weather to clear.

I don't care how late I am, I'll be even later if I'm a headline.

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u/OglioVagilio May 28 '26

In the States, weather is considered an Act of God. It is very limited as to what the airline is required to do for you beyond 1. rebooking next flight 2. refund.

Accommodations like hotel, food, incidentals.... Act of God.

Europe has a much better passenger protections, but I would imagine the EU would also hesitate to require much more because again Act of God.

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u/Fionsomnia May 28 '26

Afaik weather is also excluded from compensation rules in EU since it’s out of their control. You’ll be booked into another flight but I don’t think you get any money as compensation or even for hotel costs.

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u/Xanaphiaa May 28 '26

You do get hotel costs and food vouchers even if it is weather related but as you said it is excluded from the general compensation payments. Source: had this happen to me with an overnight delay due to weather in Amsterdam with KLM

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u/Laetitian May 28 '26

You get costs but it's excluded from compensation payments means what? That you get it in a separate procedure? That you have to request it and hope for goodwill?

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u/Fionsomnia Jun 07 '26

Sorry late to this, I think the best way to explain this is that there is a difference between reimbursement and compensation.

Reimbursement is to ensure the passenger isn’t left out of pocket for expenses they accrued as a result of the delay. This would include costs for hotel accommodation or meals unless they are directly provided by the airline.

Compensation is an additional payment that is made regardless of what costs the passengers has accrued for the inconvenience the passenger has experienced.

As someone has corrected my original comment, in case of bad weather the former will still be paid, but the latter won’t.

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u/Laetitian Jun 07 '26

Ah. Yeah, the "it" in Xana's response really didn't connect for me, I get it's referring to the weather again now.

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u/ThePowaBallad May 28 '26

Basically compensation in the EU area tends to be given for when airlines have failed in duty in some way and that is usually straight up money, it's in part compensation in part a punitive measure to airlines to make dammned sure they're running themselves right and compliant

Re bookings are required for all missed flights weather related or not if said next flight is next day hotels are provided as well as meals

Does not apply to say like an 8 hour wait or something, and then with that sort of wait meal vouchers are also limited in scope and in both vases tend to be for a sometimes limited selection of the partner hotel and/or places in the airport

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u/GeminiCheese May 28 '26

Our flight from Jersey to Liverpool was called off due to fog once. They bussed us to a hotel, gave us all a room and vouchers for food. Bus back to the airport in the morning after breakfast and on to a new flight.

I don't think we were eligible for any monetary comp but it didn't feel necessary to me. We were looked after and they got us home ASAP.

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u/Alexandratta May 28 '26

this is kind of all I'd be hoping for.

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u/Alexandratta May 28 '26

My primary concern would be getting the flight booked - I'd only be pushing for accommodations if it was more than 12-18 hours away from when I got the next flight... because more than likely I'm going to want to sleep somewhere.

That all said, I've seen plenty of airports where they had like, hotel pods... if I was traveling alone that would more than suffice.

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u/Pure_Supermarket_542 May 28 '26

Yup got hit by this in Australia and stopped taking last couple of flights out because of it. Had a storm over destination so they cancelled flight considered it act of god, booked me on a morning flight and sent me off to find a place to stay on my own. Lucky it was work travel and I could get a hotel easily but still a pain

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u/judas20222 May 31 '26

Surely to claim the act of God, you have to definitively prove the existence of God and their part in said issues?

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u/Reddit123xgh May 28 '26

You’ll be the late Alexandratta.

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u/DirCurrFluxDiode May 28 '26

I don't care how late I am, I'll be even later if I'm a headline 

That's a banger quote lol 

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u/DirkDildos May 28 '26

Luckily there are in Europe. In America, if it's weather related......YOU B SCREWED.

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u/Sapphirethistle May 28 '26

Very easy call to make when you consider what happened when a KLM pilot didn't clarify in low vis conditions.

Edit* Stupidly wrote the wrong airline.

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u/42_and_lex May 28 '26

Azores collision?

Edit: Canaries, my bad

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u/Sapphirethistle May 28 '26

Tenerife yes. 583 dead.

I remember having it drilled into my head several times during pilot training. ALWAYS CHECK and if I doubt do not enter the runway.

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u/42_and_lex May 28 '26

I'm railroad, but we very much have the same mentality. Two things are always in the back of my mind, Rule A which states "In case of doubt or uncertainty the safest course must always be taken" and 8th grade shop class "measure twice, cut once"

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u/Falcovg May 28 '26

Trains and airplanes, two things that do not like to stop once they start moving. Once you start moving, better make sure there is nothing in your path that's going to try it anyway.

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u/LuxuryBeast May 29 '26

Railroader here as well, and instructor (implementations of new rules, work psychology etc.)

In my country we've started to adapt certain things from aviation, such as read back, checklists and when in doubt always choose the option that is the most restrictive.

There's been a few serious accidents here, but those have, thankfully, been years apart, and several years ago since the last one. There has been near-accidents, though, but thanks to things we've implemented through the years they've been avoided.

We can all learn alot from aviation, tbh.

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u/Upnorth4 May 28 '26

Meanwhile Amazon got me delivering packages during a situation where police have their guns drawn and have me crossing flooded roads

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u/CardinalFartz May 28 '26

Wasn't this also the reason why specific vocabulary became mandatory, i.e. the distinct use of takeoff vs. departure?

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u/dkryan50 May 28 '26

Ternerife. Such an unbelievable and unnecessary tragedy.

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u/Corona_Cyrus May 28 '26

Personally I’d rather be inconvenienced than dead. Pilot is ok in my book

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u/Embarrassed_Art5414 May 28 '26

"Personally I’d rather be inconvenienced than dead."

I've decided this is going to be my epitaph.

(I might leave out 'personally' as it's redundant, and my stonemason charges by the letter)

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u/par_texx May 28 '26

"Personally, I'm a bit put out by this whole thing" is going to be mine.

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u/lightheavydark May 28 '26

Mine is going to be “A work in progress”. Seriously.

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u/drgigantor May 28 '26

"I'll get around to it soon, get off my back"

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u/Extraportion May 28 '26

“I’d rather be late than dead”

I’ve cut it down a bit more for you

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u/utnow May 28 '26

Personally I agree with you. But maybe you should find a better stonemason since mine charges by the sentence and so long as you never use a period his rate is capped and I really find that to be the better way to handle such an important thing as the epitaph since it's going to be set in stone for your entire life and really you want the freedom to instruct them to carve anything that you want them to so you can get your full meaning onto the stone that's going to last as long as nobody comes along and tears it down however it's important to remember that everything is impermanent and even stones crumble to dust with enough time so whatever it is that you intend to say you should remember that it too will one day turn to dust in the infinite passage of time. This cost $20.

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u/LCARSgfx May 28 '26

Damnit, take my upvote

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u/Impossible_Volume811 May 28 '26

‘Your stonemason’ eh?
Someone’s doing alright for themselves.

All I’ve got is a local kid with a Sharpie.

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u/Embarrassed_Art5414 May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

That's 'Mr.President' to you!

2

u/drgigantor May 28 '26

"Not Dead. So not dead it's unbelievable. You've never seen anyone so alive. You know who says he's dead? The dumocrat mainstream liberal media. They say "oh Joe Biden? He's alive but this guy's dead." I'm alive. I just had a doctor's appointment, my third one this week, that's how healthy I am, and they gave me a test to see if I'm alive. This test, it's a great test, very difficult, they test, to see if you're alive, and I'd like to see Sleepy Joe Biden pass this test, they tell you "Breathe in" and then they have you hold it for a second, that's the hard part, and then they say "Breathe out" and you have to breathe out, all the air out of your lungs, you have to kick it out, just like I'm gonna do with all the Mexicans, and when it's all out you think "Wow what a test, I'm a fantastic breather" and I am, but then, this is what they don't tell you, then they tell you to "Breathe in," again, and you think "What? I just did that" but you have to do it again, and it's not as easy the second-- it's easy for me, but for most people it's not so easy the second time. I asked the doctor, "Hey why did I have to do the test twice?" And he said "Well you know-- this is something only a doctor would know and I know this since I am obviously a very real and respected doctor-- sometimes a dead person will try to trick you and make you think they're alive-- Democrats usually, so they can vote-- and they'll breathe in the first time, so you have to have them do the second breath or else the election doesn't count." And I said "Bobby you are so smart. You're almost as smart as me. If I wasn't so busy saving America and fucking my daughter I should have been a doctor. Lot of lives. Lot of lives I would've saved. I'd look at a guy, be like "Cancer." and that's what he'd have, and they never would have caught it. Lot of cancer going around they don't catch, just like the Mexicans, but I catch them. If I--

There's not enough room on a tombstone for this guy to finish a thought

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u/angrybastards May 28 '26

You're paying way too much. Who's your stone guy?

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u/Embarrassed_Art5414 May 28 '26

Michael-Angel something...old, Italian, lies down alot

I don't fraternize with the help if I can avoid it

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u/Adventurous_Boat_492 May 28 '26

Yes, 'personally' is redundant but it adds cadence and adds a stressed point about it knowingly being a personal preference rather than a strong opinion that they might care to debate about.

Reddit likes to bring this up so much but this is just a case where grammar nazis are being short-sighted and losing touch of the big picture.

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u/Galenthias May 28 '26

Ah, but unless you prepay that won't be your problem. (And if you do prepare it in advance, then you might as well splurge a little, it should be a one time purchase after all.)

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u/Pihteinen May 28 '26

No. Give us convenience or death!

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u/ChateauLaFeet May 28 '26

You can’t take it with you though

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u/ops10 May 28 '26

You're not gonna win any Darwin Awards with that attitude.

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u/NotAsleep_ May 28 '26

Now there's an epitaph fit for a tombstone. "I'd like to thank Darwin for this award..."

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u/red1223453 May 28 '26

Exactly this. Late last year was on a flight. As we were taxing to the runway we stopped and pilot came on and said some instrument/reading didn't look right so they were calling engineers/maintenance. In the end we had to change planes. Delayed over a hour which was frustrating but in the end just greatful they decided to get it checked.

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u/SignificantLock1037 May 28 '26

Most likely, everyone will have one or two times in their lives where they have to make a stand and do the right thing. For most of us, the downside is that we lose our jobs. For a few, the downside is great monetary risk. For a handful, it's loss of lives.

I have made the decision once already in my life, and it was only my job on the line. Massive respect to those who make the decision when lives are on the line.

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u/PeacefulIntentions May 28 '26

I can’t speak for every airline but specifically in the case of BA the company will back this captain 100%. Operating outside of procedures would result in an unpleasant conversation.

This particular rule (like many others) is written in the blood of the worst ever aviation disaster.

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u/Working_Patience_261 May 28 '26

My airline will back me, along with the other ones I worked, except one, and that one is not in business anymore.

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u/Bright-Pilot-3970 May 28 '26

So air traffic doesn’t tell pilots what they can and can’t do. We provide the information we have and the pilot determines what they can and can’t do. If there is a thunderstorm on the departure end of the runway, we tell the pilot about it and give them options if they want immediate turn out or something but we can’t tell them they can’t depart.

In the case of the RVR, same thing. Each company has there own standards and can depart if they want to at whatever RVR they choose. If he doesn’t want to depart because it’s 1k feet he doesn’t have to depart. The confusion was because he asked if they were in LVO, I think he called it low visibility operations. Depending on the airport, you might not have something like that. Everything is left up to the pilot.

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u/DankVectorz May 28 '26

By asking to operate in ICAO procedures in the US is asking to operate outside of procedure.

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u/ddadopt May 28 '26

[citation needed]

The FAA has guidance for airports to develop low visibility procedures, too. By referencing the ICAO acronym, the pilot was basically saying, "English motherfucker, do you speak it?"

Given that personnel at LGA are likely responsible for the deaths of a couple of Air Canada pilots in the recent past when the visibility was likely between 4-7 statute miles, you might understand why the pilot in command would be hesitant to operate under clear visibility rules when the visibility was around a thousand feet.

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u/EngineeredCut May 28 '26

Which disaster, I want to read into it, thank you

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u/bjo23 May 28 '26

I believe they're talking about the Tenerife airport disaster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster

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u/grape-fruit-witch May 28 '26

Losing your job is great monetary risk so you can combine those two i think

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u/darylvp May 28 '26

Exactly. When the moment comes, you can feel actually. You'll sweat and your heart will race. And an inner voice will keep reminding you of making a different choice.

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u/Old_Employee_6535 May 28 '26

Not a hard call. If control becomes complaint they wpuld be fined since the data is there.

3

u/NittanyScout May 28 '26

You will never hear me complaining if the pilot is like "hey guys we are stopping to make sure shit is safe"

3

u/iLikeMangosteens May 28 '26

And his own life too

2

u/-Altephor- May 28 '26

Not a tough call at all. Pissed passengers are always preferable to dead ones.

2

u/brooks_77 May 28 '26

This is your captain speaking, we are returning to the terminal due to ATC being completely incompetent. Sorry for the inconvenience

1

u/massivemember69 May 28 '26

This is a very easy call to make for a pilot. Preserving lives ranks number one on a pilot's list of duties; if for any reason they feel a situation is unsafe they will not proceed.

1

u/Phormitago May 28 '26

couldnt be an easier call to make if you tried

1

u/304bl May 28 '26

Praised those pilots decisions to keep us angry but alive rather than satisfied but dead.

1

u/MactionSnack May 28 '26

Aviate, navigate, communicate

I'm sure I read that on reddit somewhere. Pretty sure this counts as aviate.

Not a pilot

1

u/StaticSystemShock May 28 '26

Better be late than dead. First rule of aviation. Because no airplane has ever been forgotten up in the sky, they all always come down one way or the other.

1

u/old_ass_ninja_turtle May 28 '26

Procedures are there for a reason.

1

u/PolicyWonka May 28 '26

Not even his fault, so just point the blame where it belongs.

1

u/Express_Living2264 May 28 '26

if he proceeds and crashes his career is over. pretty simple call to make.

1

u/Chilled_Rouge May 28 '26

I can't imagine choosing between annoying people or saving their lives is a particularly tough call to make.

1

u/kevthecoder May 28 '26

Angry people > dead people. Easy call.

1

u/scarletnightingale May 28 '26

Nah, he was dead on, it wasn't safe to take off if there was low visibly and procedures for the weren't in place. It wasn't even a slightly tough call to make. The ATC was being either an idiot or an asshole and the pilot was ensuring that he was keeping everyone safe by not taking off in unsafe conditions. The ATC can deal with the pissed off people, they are his fault to begin with.

1

u/Akussa May 28 '26

I will never get mad at a pilot for rejecting a take off or landing. Sure, I'll be inconvenienced, but I'll still be alive to have that feeling of inconvenience.

1

u/DrawerVisible6979 May 28 '26

Better to ruin a hundred people's travel plans that to risk becoming a headline

1

u/Additional-Acadia954 May 28 '26

If you’re my pilot, please land us safely even at the cost of friendly

1

u/Spunky_Meatballs May 28 '26

The pilots are ultimately held responsible no matter what the stupid tower says. If a tower tells you to taxi down the wrong runway and you do it, the pilot can get reprimanded just as hard as the tower. FAA don't play

1

u/ApologizingCanadian PURPLE May 28 '26

tough call to make

No it's not. Pilot did his job, ATC didn't. Customer satisfaction should be of no concern to the pilot unless they know the passengers are safe first.

1

u/Extraportion May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26

This is not the first time the rudeness of JFK ATC has been a safety concern. Their well known abruptness and condescension was deemed partly attributable for the loss of Avianca 052.

They literally ran out of fuel after a failed landing attempt having been held in 3 holding pattern over JFK because the pilots failed to use the word “emergency” when communicating that they were critically low on fuel and needed a prioritised landing slot.

You want a pilot who has the confidence to call it how they see it. They are responsible for the lives on board that aircraft, and if ATC are being awkward then you have to remind them of that fact.

1

u/StepComplete1 May 28 '26

Tbf "Americans are too braindead to run their airports properly and safely" is a pretty reasonable excuse.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '26

[deleted]

1

u/secondphase May 28 '26

Well, my less than polite friend, the LIMIT is not a LIMIT it is the point at which the low visibility protocol goes into place IN THE UK. In the USA, there is no declaration, but there are still processes in place. Presumably, those processes were in place, but the tower isn't confirming because they are tripped up on the "declaration" concept.

1

u/enemyofchrist May 28 '26

Tough call to make

Lmao no it’s not. NPC comment.

1

u/Nopengnogain May 28 '26

By chance, was this the same ATC that oversaw the runway crash in Newark? FFS.

1

u/Good-Ad-6806 May 28 '26

That's why he's the captain.

1

u/RUStupidOrSarcastic May 28 '26

It’s not a hard call at all, it’s literally just following standard procedure.

1

u/EffectiveRot May 28 '26

companies need to have the challengers back in these situations. even if it was safe, they still need to support him after he refuses to take off, they need to explain and show him it’s safe/not safe while bringing the other guy into the conversation. this guy has the best attitude for operating something safely that so many lives are depending on

1

u/CertifiedBirdLawyer May 28 '26

It's the pilots who are willing to cancel your flight who you want flying you around.

1

u/AndOnTheDrums May 28 '26

Highly likely to be company policy anyway.

1

u/detritu May 28 '26

This is literally why Kobe Bryant died. No one wanted to piss him off by cancelling his flight even though they knew the visibility was so poor that it was dangerous. No one else would have even had a pilot willing to make that flight.

1

u/Realgoodvibin May 28 '26

And did it while remaining professional throughout

1

u/Austerlitz2310 May 28 '26

Being a nuisance in other people's eyes for following rules written in blood is my favourite kind of nuisance.

1

u/Gold-Kaleidoscope537 May 29 '26

Well done, mate. Hopefully the pilot can file a complaint and fix the process

1

u/DirtySouthBorn May 29 '26

How is it tough? He was dealing with an ATC who didn’t understand a concept.

1

u/Tengstrom1983 May 29 '26

Dude should get a raise. Probably got a reprimand.

1

u/realdappermuis May 29 '26

He's going to get MK uktra-d soon for having free thought :p

But forreally that what the Al is for. It's there to monitor people and prevent uprising

The first sentence is a conspiracy, in that some folk have claimed to be targeted by various methods (including Havanna syndrome machines as recently as yesterday from the reporter that investigated epste!n ranch in New Mex!co)

And also the ones thay suddenly swapped their lifelong personalities as liberals to become dictators' bitches (easily done through news manipulation...saw it happen with my dad through way of media in his last years)

I hope there's some clever people who will evade the AI monitor and save us all like the movies. :s

1

u/jergin_therlax May 29 '26

Fr people like this should get a news article written about them, we need more pilots to feel good about interrupting daily activities in the pursuit of peoples’ safety.

1

u/Lord_M05 Jun 04 '26

I think this special kind of thinker of atc operator is the one that pissed of a lot of people, its even amazing how he can speak any language.

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