Short Final

Monday, August 22, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A pilot forgot to turn on their transponder.
The air traffic controller jokingly told the pilot not to admit mistakes on the frequency.
The pilot then claimed the transponder was "warming up."
The air traffic controller approved of the pilot's revised response.

See a mistake? Contact us.

Climbing out of my home airport with our friendly (and funny) tower controllers, I heard:

Tower: Cardinal XYZ, check transponder.

XYZ: Turning it on, sorry, guys, XYZ.

Tower: Cardinal XYZ, never admit your mistakes on frequency, just say it was warming up.

XYZ: All warmed up! XYZ.

Tower: That’s the spirit.

Daniel Rasin