Short Final

Editorial Staff

Sunday, February 04, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot encountered extremely low IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) conditions during a flight, with surrounding airports experiencing similar issues and planes going missed, leading to high tension with air traffic controllers.
The Stennis International controller was stressed, reported no radar, and could not visually see the pilot's aircraft, adding to the challenging situation.
A humorous exchange between the pilot and controller ("I can't see you either!") successfully defused the tension, and the pilot managed to make a safe landing despite the difficult circumstances.

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Flying back from St. Augustine Fl (SGJ) to Stennis International (KHSA) just before Christmas, my destination was very low IFR. The whole region and surrounding airports were either very low IFR or Zero Zero. Planes were going missed at Gulfport (KGPT) and surrounding airports and tensions were high with the controllers. I was cleared for the ILS 18 into Stennis and headvised he did not have radar this way.

Tower: “…and I can’t see you”

Comanche XXXX: “I can’t see you either!”

We both laughed and it changed his stressed tone, and I did make the landing.

Charlie Horton