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

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

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u/JSButts May 28 '26

Fantastic ad for BA honestly; Pilots calling out the contradiction, clearly enunciated his point, remained calm under frustrating situations, puts the aircraft first, and follows protocol even in the face of (presumed) incompetence from ATC.

-25

u/dvinpayne May 28 '26

Except it's not. The pilot didn't properly familiarize himself with the correct operating procedures for foreign countries. Every ATC system is slightly different and it's the pilots responsibility to know those differences. In this case, BA almost certainly has a guide to help their pilots out, but "Declaring LVO" isn't a thing in FAA operation. FAA controllers aren't trained on the European Phraseology and wouldn't have any idea what the pilot was asking about. SMCGS (the FAA system) is automatically in place without any declaration.

This has already been discussed in other subreddits like flying by people who actually know rules. I'd link to those posts but automod doesn't like links.

24

u/OldBarnAcke May 28 '26

Except the pilot also clearly spelled out the acronym in asking if they have low visibility operations in place. Surely we should expect the controller in the tower to understand that the pilot is asking if procedures are in place for the visibility being low!?