Short Final

Editorial Staff

Monday, January 24, 2011 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A First Officer for TMC Airlines, flying a Lockheed Electra (call sign Willow Run Three Forty-Six), was en route from Muskegon, Michigan, to Oakland, California.
While cruising at FL220 on the west side of Lake Michigan, the crew received an unexpected instruction from Chicago Center.
Chicago Center ordered them to descend and maintain 6,000 feet, which was highly premature for their destination in California.
The crew expressed surprise and questioned the timing of the descent, but indicated they would comply if the instruction was indeed necessary.

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Overheard in IFR Magazine's 'On the Air' Section

I’m a First Officer for TMC Airlines, a small freight airline operating Lockheed Electras based at Willow Run Airport in Detroit, Michigan. We use the call sign Willow Run Three Forty-Six, and we’d just picked up a load of freight at Muskegon, Michigan and were en route to Oakland, California. The time was about 07007. As we reached our final cruising altitude of FL220 at the west side of Lake Michigan, we got this message from Chicago Center:

Center:
“Willow Run Three Forty-Six, descend and maintain 6,000.”

After exchanging looks of amazement with my captain, I replied:

Me:
“Chicago, ah – if you really need us at 6,000 we’ll start down. But it’s way early for our descent into Oakland, California.”

Walt Speck
Center Valley, Pennsylvania