even the pros dont get it right

Heard on London Airways today, NorthWest 43 called up at 'nine thousand feet
climbing to one five thousand feet' the controller ever the diplomat asked
'northwest 43 can you confirm you are climbing to Flight level 150?' 'Affirm
came the reply'
mind you he was in some cruddy old DC-10 so he was probably busy trying to
keep it in the air.

In a previous article, "Chris" said:
Heard on London Airways today, NorthWest 43 called up at 'nine thousand feet
climbing to one five thousand feet' the controller ever the diplomat asked
'northwest 43 can you confirm you are climbing to Flight level 150?' 'Affirm
came the reply'
mind you he was in some cruddy old DC-10 so he was probably busy trying to
keep it in the air.

Plus he's probably an American, so he's used to flight levels starting at
FL180.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Q: Do you know what the death rate around here is?
A: One per person.

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "Chris" said:
Heard on London Airways today, NorthWest 43 called up at 'nine thousand
feet
climbing to one five thousand feet' the controller ever the diplomat asked
'northwest 43 can you confirm you are climbing to Flight level 150?'
'Affirm
came the reply'
mind you he was in some cruddy old DC-10 so he was probably busy trying to
keep it in the air.

Plus he's probably an American, so he's used to flight levels starting at
FL180.

The Northwest scenario is a regular occurrence, understandable because of
the airspace differences here and in the States.

Whenever the QNH falls below 1000 millibars the word millibars is emphasised
as you pass the numbers to American operators to try and prevent inches
being set in error with the obvious potentially nasty consequences.

Time to trot out the old one, supposedly heard on Thames radar...

"N12345 descend to altitude three thousand feet on QNH 1012 millibars"

"Can we have that in inches"

"Roger, descend to thirty six thousand inches on QNH 1012 millibars".

On Sun, 15 May 2005 20:51:43 +0100, "Chris" wrote:

Heard on London Airways today, NorthWest 43 called up at 'nine thousand feet
climbing to one five thousand feet' the controller ever the diplomat asked
'northwest 43 can you confirm you are climbing to Flight level 150?' 'Affirm
came the reply'
mind you he was in some cruddy old DC-10 so he was probably busy trying to
keep it in the air.



In the US, flight levels start at 18,000. In Europe, they start much lower.

This was just a terminology difference, and the controller was quite correct
in ensuring there was no miscommunication. The pilot was merely reporting
by reflex, forgetting for the moment that he was not within US airspace.

It happens.
--
Jay.
(remove dashes for legal email address)

On Sun, 15 May 2005 22:26:24 +0100, "Chris" wrote:


"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...
In a previous article, "Chris" said:
Heard on London Airways today, NorthWest 43 called up at 'nine thousand
feet
climbing to one five thousand feet' the controller ever the diplomat asked
'northwest 43 can you confirm you are climbing to Flight level 150?'
'Affirm
came the reply'
mind you he was in some cruddy old DC-10 so he was probably busy trying to
keep it in the air.

Plus he's probably an American, so he's used to flight levels starting at
FL180.

The Northwest scenario is a regular occurrence, understandable because of
the airspace differences here and in the States.

Whenever the QNH falls below 1000 millibars the word millibars is emphasised
as you pass the numbers to American operators to try and prevent inches
being set in error with the obvious potentially nasty consequences.

Time to trot out the old one, supposedly heard on Thames radar...

"N12345 descend to altitude three thousand feet on QNH 1012 millibars"

"Can we have that in inches"

"Roger, descend to thirty six thousand inches on QNH 1012 millibars".


PRICELESS!!!

--
Jay.
(remove dashes for legal email address)

Jay Somerset wrote:

In the US, flight levels start at 18,000. In Europe, they start much lower.
This was just a terminology difference,

No, this was *not* just a terminology difference. 15000ft QNH and FL150
are different altitudes.

in ensuring there was no miscommunication. The pilot was merely reporting
by reflex, forgetting for the moment that he was not within US airspace.

I am shocked that a professional pilot doesn't know the traffic rules of
the airspace he flies in. Imagine a truck driving against you on the
wrong side of the road. "Oh, supposedly the driver is British, so he's
used to drive on the left side of the road. No big deal."

Stefan

Stefan wrote:

Jay Somerset wrote:

In the US, flight levels start at 18,000. In Europe, they start much
lower.
This was just a terminology difference,


No, this was *not* just a terminology difference. 15000ft QNH and FL150
are different altitudes.

in ensuring there was no miscommunication. The pilot was merely
reporting
by reflex, forgetting for the moment that he was not within US airspace.


I am shocked that a professional pilot doesn't know the traffic rules of
the airspace he flies in. Imagine a truck driving against you on the
wrong side of the road. "Oh, supposedly the driver is British, so he's
used to drive on the left side of the road. No big deal."


Settle down. This was the most minor of problems. The difference
between 15,000 and FL150 is minimal.

Newps wrote:


Settle down. This was the most minor of problems. The difference
between 15,000 and FL150 is minimal.


Yea right,maybe just 1000', in RVSM region

In a previous article, Stefan said:
I am shocked that a professional pilot doesn't know the traffic rules of
the airspace he flies in. Imagine a truck driving against you on the
wrong side of the road. "Oh, supposedly the driver is British, so he's
used to drive on the left side of the road. No big deal."

Nobody is saying it was no big deal. We're saying it's an understandable
mistake, and ATC caught it. That's the whole reason for having several
people checking on each other (pilots, copilots, ATC) and reading back
what they're doing, so that temporary brain farts get caught before the
plane levels off at the wrong altitude.

Do you get "shocked" every time a truck signals left, then realizes he
meant to signal right and so corrects himself? Because that's a more
analogous situation than driving on the wrong side of the road.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Home pages are the pet rock of the 90s. They all have them, they all think
they're very cute. But in a few years they're going to look back and be
pretty embarrassed. -- Kim Alm

Paul Tomblin wrote:

Nobody is saying it was no big deal.

I was responding to a post of Jay Sommerset, who wrote that "This was
just a terminology difference". I tried to point out that this was *not*
a terminology difference, but the difference between a uneventful flight
and a possible midair.

That's the whole reason for having several
people checking on each other (pilots, copilots, ATC) and reading back
what they're doing, so that temporary brain farts get caught before the

I completely agree. Relating to an other thread, I'm very glad that
European controllers (at least those I've dealt with) insist that pilots
read back the assigned altitude as well as the altimeter setting.

Stefan