Short Final: 007

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • During a flight, a pilot received an unusual altimeter setting from an air traffic controller.
  • The controller playfully used the phrase "James Bond" instead of the numerical altimeter setting.
  • After brief confusion, the pilot understood the reference and responded with the correct altimeter value of 3007.
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I recently had a long flight from Somerset, New Jersey, to Houston Southwest Texas. I don’t remember which approach controller it was, but when I got handed off to him and I checked in, he acknowledged, “Malibu 7MX, XYZ approach, altimeter James Bond.”

I wasn’t sure what I heard so I said, “Say again?”

My brain finally processed it before finishing those two words, so I laughed and followed up with “3-0-0-7, 7MX.”

Sree Velicheti
Warren, New Jersey

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