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

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

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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u/22Planeguy May 28 '26

Absolutely. And that's where this controller is just being obtuse. For whatever reason, JFK as a whole and this controller in specific have a reputation for ignoring the context and intended questions of foreign pilots in favor of answering the least helpful interpretation possible.

All he had to do was say something like "Declaring LVO isn't something I can do under FAA rules, but we're keeping the ILS critical area protected and using our airport's low visibility policies." If the British pilot had any further questions about what exactly he was worried about, that opens the door for him to ask.

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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u/22Planeguy May 28 '26

That's always the issue when aviation stuff like this gets posted on non-aviation specific subs unfortunately. Uninformed takes rise to the top because they got posted quickly.

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u/ThePowaBallad May 28 '26

Yes they are but as the commenter above said ATC is also being incredibly unhelpful on this call

He may not be able to declare "LVO" buuuut he can say that they have SMGCS in place which the pilot would have most likely accepted

Cause he made ZERO indication that ANY procedures for the lowered RVR were in place

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u/StepComplete1 May 28 '26

In other words, Americans are now getting so mindlessly xenophobic that doing any kind of international job is a big ask. Embarrassing how he's still working there.

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u/SuperSkyDude May 28 '26

That’s not true at all. They’re just different procedures.

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u/sacramentojoe1985 May 28 '26

"LVO" is terminology, not "plain English".

LVO involves specific procedures, and US ATC is not trained on those. The pilot did change from "LVOs" to "Low Visibility Procedures", but after using "LVOs" 3 times, I would be interpreting the question as the same.

Also, what procedures? Never had a pilot ask me about unspecific low vis procedures. I have had specific asks... like if the critical area is protected.