This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
Upon initial contact to ground, which included current airport information and direction of VFR departure, I was instructed to taxi to the active runway with instructions to “cross runway XX,” which was along my taxi route.
Approaching the intersection of the assigned taxiway and runway I was cleared to cross, I observed a single engine GA aircraft on the crosswind runway rapidly approaching the intersection. I applied brakes, and advised ground control that I was “holding short runway XX for the aircraft on the roll.”
Ground control advised in a terse tone “we’re working it out up here, and cleared to cross XX” in a way that seemed to imply it was inappropriate of me to stop and call.
Coincidentally, I know the pilot and aircraft from the crosswind runway. I later confirmed that he saw me on his landing roll out and aggressively braked, assuming that I may not stop.
My ongoing consideration for improving safety of the National Airspace System is in the way that situation was handled by ground control. The tone and message I inferred from ground control is that it was inappropriate of me to stop out of caution and speak up on frequency.
In this case, both pilots stopping on the basis of “see and avoid” despite ATC clearance averted a runway collision.
My concern is exacerbated by knowledge that my students are nearly universally afraid to question/query tower/ground control at this airport.
Primary Problem: Procedure
ACN: 2083603
Noticing that Controllers are humans like yourself is a safety attitude. I was instructed to fly 230 and would be vectored to a certain position. It was IFR but I had some visual. I noticed that I was headed straight for a mountain about 1 mile ahead. I simply said to the controller, “Will this be a delayed vector sir?” and he screamed “Turn Right, Turn Right”. I
smiled and said to my copilot “Not every day you get to be right and ATC wrong”. We laughed and noticed again that those guys are human beings like us. Be careful.
Was “See & Avoid” really the only reason this did not end up being a catastrophe? Who knows.
This is another “one side of the story only” ASRS report. OTOH…
“Ground control advised in a terse tone…”
Granted, Bozeman MT (BZN) is a mess; it’s being overwhelmed by flight training operations. I’m sure there are BZN air traffic controllers that can be…unpleasant…just like there are pilots that can be…unpleasant.
But if the BZN ground controller’s ‘terse tone’ hurt the CFI’s feelings…that’s too bad.
“The tone and message I inferred from ground control is that it was inappropriate of me to stop out of caution and speak up on frequency.”
I would think by the time someone becomes a CFI, they would know unequivocally, that they have the authority and responsibility as PIC, to do whatever they think is necessary in the interest of safety.
I hope the relatively inexperienced, 137-hour CFI has learned by now that operating on emotionally-charged impressions, isn’t the way to prevent flying safety-related problems.
A phone call to the tower to discuss the incident would have likely clarified any misunderstandings.
Regardless…
“My concern is exacerbated by knowledge that my students are nearly universally afraid to question/query tower/ground control at this airport.”
That’s not good. But that one is also on the CFI and the flight school. (I’m assuming the instructor works for a school and not as an independent CFI.)
Since the CFI lacked the initiative to contact the offending controller directly…having the Chief Flight Instructor contact the Tower Chief, and invite him/her to come & talk to the school en-masse, would have been a great opportunity to “clear the air”… and possibly make flight operations at BZN safer for everyone.
And I’ve been with a few PIC’s that balked at ATC instructions and thereby created a situation….that the PIC thought he was saving the day.
Often there’s too little, usually one sided, information to make an intelligent comment about a particular incident.
I received taxi instructions and was cleared to cross runway which was along my taxi route, same as mentioned at a very busy airport. However I stopped short JUST TO CONFIRM that I was cleared to cross. The Grouchy Guy in the control tower came back with a harsh tone informing me that I had already been cleared to cross?????
By obeying Ground instead of your own observations you could have been in the right
DEAD RIGHT.
While in the main, ATC does an admirable job juggling a sometimes very challenging array of 3-dimentional airborne circus actors, this reported arrogance from ATC shows the ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude of certain (not all) ATC operators. As with most if not all Federal bureaucracies, there is a ‘swamp’ in Air Traffic Control which needs to be purged. I salute this pilot for keeping his head and doing what he needed to do to avoid a potentially deadly crash despite that ATC idiot’s orders. He should be brought-up on disciplinary charges for endangering the lives of those two pilots in this incident and terminated for cause without severance. No second chances for incompetence here. Fire ’em immediately without some long, drawn-out internal review process that would keep him on the job for months. . Furthermore, ATC operators need to go to ‘re-education camps’ to reinforce the need for safety with a level head over their egos. President Regan had the right idea. Perhaps it’s time to sweep the spiders and snakes out of the garage and replace them with fresh recruits. The importance of ATC jobs vanishes to a small point when contrasted to preservation of safety of life and property at the airport.
Regards/J
As a retired military controller, airline pilot, and CFI you took the correct action. The controller, by saying he worked it, probably meant he instructed the other aircraft to hold short of your location or turn off onto a perpendicular taxiway.
ATC makes mistakes. When in doubt query them. If your students are scared, you are not teaching them correctly. What do you do, send your students out there and say “Be scared of ATC?” No, teach them how not to let ATC kill them.
The man executed his pilot-in-command responsibility perfectly, avoiding a runway incursion and a possible collision.