Short Final: Couch Surfing

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • New York City air traffic controllers are renowned for their humor and distinctive accent.
  • An anecdote from Islip Tower illustrates this, with a controller delivering a witty quip in response to a pilot asking "Stay with you?" regarding the frequency.
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One of the joys of flying in the New York City metro area is listening to the controllers. In addition to being the best in the business, they deliver some good wisecracks, always with that unmistakable accent. We had just landed at Islip (KISP):

Islip Tower: “Comair 234, take a left at the next intersection and taxi to the gate.”

My first officer read back the instructions. Then, just to make sure Tower didn’t want us to switch to the ground frequency, he asked, “Stay with you?”

Tower (without missing a beat): “Sure, but you’ll have to sleep on the couch.”

Rick Sanders

Brooklyn, NY

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