I was arriving in the Washington, D.C., area with a destination of Manassas Regional in Virginia. There was a mid-morning thunderstorm that was causing aircraft, including Air Force One, to request deviations when I heard the following.
After being denied a 20-degree deviation to the right to avoid weather and given an alternative of 30 degrees left, a GA pilot sounded irritated and was particularly demanding with a second request for a 20-degree deviation to the right.
Sounding ever the professional, Approach responded:
“I can give you 20 right, but if I can’t give you any more if you need it because that will put you in the Washington restricted airspace and you’ll have an F-15 escort within a couple of minutes.”
The response? After a short pause, a more humble:
“I’d like the 30-degree left deviation, please.”
I would have also.
Joe Shelton
