I have very little knowledge about ATC services, but could it be that the Tower controller was not qualified to give vectors even though he had radar?
It happened to me at EPPO during my IR training. While on final on an ILS approach, the tower controller requested that we do a 360 due to a helicopter arriving to the field. She had done this several times before according to my instructor, and he was not happy about it, because he said that the day this happens to an inexperienced pilot in IMC it would be dangerous. He suggested I reply “unable, request vectors” if that ever happened to me (or I think that’s even what we replied). I think it’s a good policy not to accept 360s in IMC. 360s on a final to an ILS can really not be found in any controller’s handbook or any ICAO standard for that matter.
It happened to me once that the controller at Vaclav Havel Airport Praha Ruzyne wanted us to do a 360 5m above ground on VFR flight…
I was asked that twice during IFR approach: once in VMC and I did it, once in IMC and I refused it – I simply asked to get vectors or to be sent to some fix to execute published holding. And that’s it – in general, there’s no 360 in IFR – if you’re in IMC, simply refuse it with magical “unable to comply” and nobody can object.
Couldn’t the ATCO (in case he was doing procedural ATC) just get your radial eg inbound a VOR and then request that you establish the other way around eg outbound?
