Sorry, What's the Frequency?

[Acey]

This is almost unbearable.  Edited a tad for dead air; on CZYZ Centre this morning.

[knish1231]

WOW, a bit of a cringe moment.    Good catch.

Pete

[davolijj]

I feel like I just got beat up after listening to that.  That's one of the reasons why in the US we use single-digit form for all frequencies.  It didn't help that her radio was fuzzy and semi-distorted.

[bcrosby]

Wow..

I couldn't help but laugh.. its amazing even using the "phonetic" alphabet he still couldn't figure out the frequency.

This *is* a good clip.

[JetScan1]

its amazing even using the "phonetic" alphabet he still couldn't figure out the frequency.

You lost me here, what does the phonetic alphabet have to do with the frequency number ?

[bcrosby]

She was pronouncing the numerals using the phonetic alphabet

[JetScan1]

She was pronouncing the numerals using the phonetic alphabet

I still don't understand, she was saying "one two seven eight seven", these are numbers. Unless you are confusing that with the aircraft's callsign ? Which was "hotel zulu mike fox two".

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1032549/L/

DJ

[KSYR-pjr]

That definitely takes the award for the most difficult hand-off I have ever heard.  I cannot imagine how he heard a "4" or a "2" when the controller slowly said "8."

Sheesh...

[Acey]

Good thing it was early in the morning and didn't tie up a busy frequency.

[canuck101]

Gotta hand it to that woman, she is one patient controller.

Foreign pilots

[Pygmie]

Foreign pilots

The worst is when you say to some of the foreign pilots "Traffic's at your 12 o'clock for 15 miles, opposite direction 747 at FL350" and the pilot after a couple seconds comes back with "Rhoyah, climbing flight level 350"

After a couple of incidents like that, the high level controllers are no longer allowed to use altitudes in traffic information, only 1,000 above or below when talking to certain foreign airlines (no names though. . .)

[Acey]

Still do that at YYZ for all arrivals and departures it sounds like.  They climb the departures to 7,000 until they clear the arrival corridors.

"Traffic's one o'clock, 5 miles eastbound restricted a 1,000 above."
"Traffic's one o'clock, 5 miles northbound climbing to a thousand below [or simply] restricted below."

I think this is more effective phraseology, used all the time in the YYZ terminal airspace.

[RayZor]

Wow...imagine if that had been the JFK Ground guy...

[Acey]

A JFK controller would have simply said "Get the hell out of here, spin through the dial till you get the frequency right".

[Scrapper]

this was brutal... like a train wreck kind of brutal... hehe... this controller is unbelievably patient... I can't even imagine what else she could've done short of going up there and dialing in the freq herself! hehe (other than maybe politely asking this flight to cancel ifr and land! hehe...) which reminds me... have you guys heard this one?

A controller comes on and asks "XYF, say altitude"
"Altitude"
"XYF, centre, say ALTITUDE"
"ALTITUDE"
"XYF, centre, say cancelling IFR"
"centre, it's XYF, level 5000 feet..."

nice bit about the foreign guy climbing to fl 350 by the way... good way to give a controller a quick ulcer...

[slowtationIIdriver]

A JFK controller would have simply said "Get the hell out of here, spin through the dial till you get the frequency right".

That’s hilarious, and so was the clip.   

[keith]

Oh my.

I would've probably resorted to saying "one two three four five six seven _EIGHT_"  so he knew what 'my' eight sounded like.

Sheesh.

[tjm402]

I realize that English is the standard language (now) for ATC, that we need to use a standard language, whatever one it is, and that therefore pilots should speak passable English. But these "foreign pilots" comments are a bit silly--how would you guys feel if Chinese was the official ATC language and you had to instantly interpret Chinese numbers spit at you in various local accents as a matter of life and death? I'm sure you'd all do a great job, but keep some perspective.

[Scrapper]

wow... can't believe no one thought my "cancel IFR" joke was funny...

tjm402, you sound kind of bitter... Of course none of us would do any good if we were asked to start flying and controlling in Chinese today... but english hasn't been the language of flying since only yesterday.  Everyone who starts pilot training knows that the language of flying is english (except of course in quebec, where the skies are really fun...).

So it's not like people get their licenses, take off, and then suddently realize as they're trying to handoff from toronto centre to montreal centre that they suddently have to speak english (or french if this guy ever made it to montreal centre) while in the air...

[mtlatc]

I found it funny, but then again I've been known to yell at a few pilots.......

LE

[pblocki]

Too funny!!!!

[canuck101]

Having giving it some thought, I would partially blame the controller. Perhaps if she wasn't using "slang" phraseology, it would have made more sense for the pilot.

While I understand Controllers will cut corners wherever they see fit, and don't always follow MANOPS procedures, but what the hell does "Twenty Seven Eighty Seven" really mean to a foreign pilot?

She could have said about a minute and a half of her time, if she had chosen to repeat "One Two Seven Decimal Eight Seven"

[Acey]

It's not necessarily slang according to the Manops you mention.  Though, obviously it would have been real smart to begin identifying the digits individually.

[brian.franklin]

I feel like I just got beat up after listening to that.  That's one of the reasons why in the US we use single-digit form for all frequencies.  It didn't help that her radio was fuzzy and semi-distorted.

nope, we dont always use single digit frequencies.  our frequencies go as far as the five-hundredth place.  127.875 is actually a perfectly valid freq in the us (they just omit the five), so 127.8, 127.82(5), 127.72(5).  make sense?

[Squawk 7700]

LOL! That's a pretty funny clip!