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Old 07-31-2018, 05:35 PM
  #30  
ATCBob
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Joined APC: Jan 2014
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From what I was taught (and teach), and as far as I can see in the ATC regulations (7110.65), there's no requirement or expectation that you will immediately reply to a question, or need to. You can also always say "standby."

A control instruction is different -- if you're told to go around on short final, and you don't respond, it will be repeated, and if you still don't respond, and land, that would be a problem because of the FAR requirement to monitor ATC. If you do go around but don't read it back, that's fine because you've adhered to ATC instructions.

A question of where you're parking isn't a control instruction, so that wouldn't apply.

The closest 7110.65 regulation I know of would be section 3-10-9 of our regulation 7110.65 that states "Runway exiting or taxi instructions should not normally be issued to an aircraft prior to, or immediately after, touchdown," and I'd suppose a question of where you're parking would be part of that. So I don't think the controller should have asked you at touchdown. But most controllers, and their instructors, are not pilots and may not know where your workloads are highest.

Also in general, we're taught pilots have the ultimate say in anything to do with safety, and we just have to deal with it. If you're ever called out for not responding right away, bring up the safety issue and ask to talk with their supe if they want to escalate it, because pilot-in-command safety decisions are always deferred to at least in current FAA culture.

Last edited by ATCBob; 07-31-2018 at 05:47 PM.
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