Your Relationship With ATC

09/11/2014

When it comes to ATC, strap on a backbone. They typically do a wonderful job for all of us, but they can only do what we need them to do if they clearly understand what we need and why we need it.

I have never posted a comment like this or sent out an email to my friends or clients that fly like I did this morning... but after losing 5 great friends over the years in flight situations that could have easily been avoided, and after hearing the ATC communications recording with the doomed TBM 900, this is my way of telling all of you that your safety matters to me... so please indulge me.

Attached below is the link to the ATC audio recording of the doomed TBM that crashed off the coast of Jamaica due to a depressurization problem, killing the pilot and his wife. I listened to this recording and it just saddened me because this is a case that initially wasn't pilot error but evolved into an accident that clearly happened because of pilot error. I have been in situations like this three times in the 43 years I have been flying although not due to a pressurization problem.

https://archive-server.liveatc.net/kgso/ ... -1400Z.mp3

We all learned the 5 C's (it was actually 3 when I trained) when we learned to fly; Climb, Conserve, Communicate, Confess, and Comply. The pilot made ATC aware that he needed to descend to FL180 and that he had an "indication that was not correct in the plane."

First red flag; he had to think about something that was not normal. If you have to think about something, that's your first warning. Concerned about weather, headwinds, range, a system onboard the aircraft? If you thought about it, that's your first red flag.

He had asked for FL180, they cleared him to FL250, and he accepted the clearance... third red flag. By the time ATC cleared the flight to FL200, the pilot was slurring his words, and completely hypoxic.... he couldn't even get his N number right.

None of the guys I originally sent this email to have big egos, but if there ever was a time to get one, I can't think of a better time than a situation like this. Having participated in CRM studies at the University of Illinois in the Human Factors program (thank you Dr. Terry von Thaden), I can tell you, as demonstrated by this accident, you need to demand exactly what you need when you are sitting in the left seat of your airplanes... anything less can be fatal.

When it comes to ATC, strap on a backbone. They typically do a wonderful job for all of us, but they can only do what we need them to do if they clearly understand what we need and why we need it. And if they don't understand initially, make them understand! Your life may depend on it like it did for N900KN.