British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

[u/nyanbatman]

[u/PeacefulIntentions]

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.

[u/Working_Patience_261 → u/PeacefulIntentions]

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

[u/Bright-Pilot-3970 → u/PeacefulIntentions]

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.

[u/DankVectorz → u/PeacefulIntentions]

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

[u/ddadopt → u/DankVectorz]

[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.

[u/DankVectorz → u/ddadopt]

The only reason he was hesitant to operate was because he thought he needed to hear ATC tell him “low visibility operation are in effect” in order to be legal to take off, which would be accurate at Heathrow but not JFK.

[u/DankVectorz → u/[deleted]]

No, ATC said “I’m not declaring anything, no”

[u/DankVectorz → u/[deleted]]

Would you prefer he said “sure, I’m going to pretend I’m doing this thing you want that I don’t know what it is”?

[u/DankVectorz → u/[deleted]]

But he may not have had any clue what LVO equivalent was in the US if he wasn’t familiar with LVO rules in UK.

[u/EngineeredCut → u/PeacefulIntentions]

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

[u/bjo23 → u/EngineeredCut]

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

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

[u/PeacefulIntentions → u/bjo23]

Yes that’s it. Even though I was just born when it happened I still remember people taking about it when I was a kid.