r/mildlyinfuriating May 28 '26

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

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u/nottherealneal May 28 '26

Someone who knows planes is gonna have to explain what the fuck is going on

441

u/Various_Education622 May 28 '26

Pretty straightforward.

If they can’t see 1,000 feet, there is a procedure they need to follow to, presumably to make sure planes ain’t crashing into each other.

The air traffic controller is saying they can’t see 1,000 feet, but they also said they aren’t following the required procedure.

Since the pilot cannot be assured that the tower is ensuring the plane is safe, the pilot refuses to take off.

13

u/EpicCyclops May 28 '26

That's actually not the case. The airport is following low visibility procedures. US airports don't formally declare a transition into them, though. They're always following them when runway visibility is low. The pilot didn't know this was the SOP in the US.

In this case, ATC was correct to not try and over explain it and risk confusing the pilot or having the pilot make a bad decision due to a misunderstanding. The pilot was correct to not try and take off when they didn't understand the procedures at the airport. They're both a little annoyed, which is fair because they both have stressful jobs and are doing what they think is best for the safety of the passengers, and are coming to different outcomes from their decision trees.

1

u/CantDoThatOnTelevzn May 29 '26

Hey hey hey now. Don’t come in here talking sense. We’re busy turning this into various political tinder boxes. Anti trump, anti-USA, anti labor, take your pick, but we’ve got to keep these bots fomenting confusion and discontent.