Pilot-Controller Misconceptions

If I was on my first solo flight and an ATC issued an instruction I did not understand,
I would do three things, in this order. First, I would tell the ATC “say again”. If that did not
work, I would ask for someone else. That is, I would apologize to the controller and ask her
to find another controller to come over and instruct me, especially if my inability to
understand is because of the controller’s poor accent. However, the effectiveness of this
solution is questionable as it would be inefficient for a controller to stop what she was doing
to go find another controller. If the first two actions failed, I would ignore the controller and
proceed with what I deemed the best course of action, even though I know that ignoring the
controller is not prudent.
As a matter of fact, there are only three circumstances under which a pilot may
deviate from or ignore an instruction issued by a controller. The first is when an emergency
exists (Global Aviation Information Network, 2004). Examples of in-flight emergencies
include mechanical problems, fuel problems, interception by law enforcement or the military,
unlawful interference, passenger illness, an abrupt change in altitude or course to avoid a
collision with terrain or an aircraft, and an engine failure or a cabin depressurization that
necessitates an immediate descent. In cases like these, a pilot should take immediate action
and inform the controller later if they can. The second is when the controller issues an
amended instruction. The third circumstance is when the deviation is in response to a
Resolution Advisory (RA), a specific instruction to a pilot on how to avoid traffic conflict. It
is noteworthy that there is no provision for deviation if the pilot does not understand an
instruction.

PILOT-CONTROLLER MISCONCEPTIONS 3
To prevent a scenario like this from happening again in the future, I would rely on
two things: experience and training. The main reasons pilots are unable to understand some
of the instructions issued by ATC are because they sometimes speak very fast, and some of
the foreign controllers speak heavily accented English (Global Aviation Information
Network, 2004). For this reason, listening to and understanding ATC radio calls is a skill
pilots must learn on the job. Through flying for many years, including flying into and out of
more sophisticated airports, and working with ATC, pilots become more skilled in radio
phraseology.
However, considering that learning by experience is a slow process, I would resort to
training in the short-term. Actually, as far as mastering radio phraseology is concerned,
training and experience complement each other. Training lays the foundation on which
experience builds (Global Aviation Information Network, 2004). By embarking on ATC
training, I would become more grounded in the basics of how ATC works. For example, I
would be able to better understand why ATC often redirects pilots away from direct routings;
the main responsibility of ATCs (to separate air traffic); the role of ATCs during various
types of approaches; the ATC’s reasons for controlling aircraft speed versus the pilot’s
understanding of speed controls; and why ATCs sometimes issue strings of instructions and
how to respond when that happens.

PILOT-CONTROLLER MISCONCEPTIONS 4

Reference

Global Aviation Information Network. (2004). The Other End of the Radio: Identifying and
Overcoming Common Pilot/Controller Misconceptions. Alexandria: Global Aviation
Information Network.