Silvaire wrote:
I think the bigger issue in this case is that FAA is quite properly tasked with helping pilots, not questioning them, unless there were evidence that they are not legally qualified to conduct the flight. There is more to be gained by limiting ATC authority in this regard (…)
lionel wrote:
Silvaire, the issue here is not of authority (that “someone” would have forbidden him to fly with the authority to do so), but a human (humane?) intervention along the lines of “Sir, it looks/sounds like you may be under the weather today; would you like us to help you find a local hotel so that you can rest and perform this flight in better conditions?”
FAA controllers do not get personal.
Kennedy Steve does!
Silvaire wrote:
FAA controllers do not get personal.
They do occasionally. I guess I got a guy who was having a bad night, but I was making a late night return from Houston via some H24 ATC airfield (I don’t remember which). I called for taxi, no response – so waited for 45 seconds or so in case the controller was on the landline and then called again.
I then got chewed out for about a minute and a half about how I shouldn’t call so frequently, how he was working another frequency, and how I was such an idiot etc. etc. before finally giving me taxi instructions in a tired put upon voice. I put it down to him having a bad night, read back the instructions and went on my way. ATCOs are human, and sometimes you’ve got to make an allowance for that.
