Thread: Was I wrong?
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Old 07-12-2007 | 12:27 PM
  #30  
dojetdriver
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Originally Posted by mike734
Well, no, but that is primarily because we were having a landing contest. I would not hesitate to say it in front of an FAA guy if safety was a factor. The FAA is a completely inept organization. They don't know their hole from a hole in the ground.

I have more experience than most of them, am more current, am more knowledgeable about my jet and airline operations than any of them. The examiners I've met over the years are simply existing in their careers until they retire. They don't know jack.

Now, that said, I am always very respectful and friendly in their presence and would never do something stupid like read a newspaper in front of them. I would, however, stick to my guns about a subject I felt strongly about and if I felt like they were being unreasonable, kick them off the flight deck without hesitation.

Whew! Wow, you got me going there. Now back to whether you "own" the runway when cleared to land.

We all know you can be third in line, 10 miles out and cleared to land. (not in Europe BTW) So obviously you are not the only one who owns the runway. But remember, ATC's only job is to separate aircraft so as to avoid collisions. They exist because we fly, not the other way around. The more I think about it the more I feel justified telling PSA to hold. As a practical matter however, we can not all be "controlling" the other aircraft or there would be chaos.

Like I've said, I should have continued, assessed the situation and gone around if necessary and then called them on the ground. But, the fact that the controller did nothing about it seems to indicate that he felt in the wrong. I'm glad this happened 20 years ago.

The only other time I did something similar was when I witnessed ATC clear an aircraft for take off on 1L in SFO while another was on short final on 28. There was a clear conflict so I immediately keyed the mic and told the tower about the guy on final. The cleared aircraft had barely added TO power so it was a simple abort. I guess that's not the same kind of situation but an example of correcting ATC.

I think that anytime you are having a "contest" with a fellow crew member, safety and judgment are eventually going to get compromised.

I don't care it it's VFR or whatever.

Besides, if it happened so long ago, why still worry about it? Has nothing you've done in an aircraft in the last 20 or so years eclipsed this event?
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