Short Final: It's Been Done

Short Final: It’s Been Done

Friday, October 19, 2018 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

An air traffic controller corrected a pilot who misheard a "left turn" instruction as "right turn" during takeoff clearance.
The pilot humorously acknowledged their potential error, noting the difficulty a "long right turn" would have caused.
The tower dryly confirmed that such navigational mistakes, even seemingly obvious ones, have occurred in the past.

See a mistake? Contact us.

I recently heard this at Detroit Metropolitan Airport:

Tower: “Airliner 123, left turn to heading 185. Cleared for takeoff 21R.”

Pilot: “Right turn 185, cleared for takeoff 21R.”

Tower: “That’s a left turn, 185.”

Pilot: “Left turn 185 … that would’ve been a really long right turn.”

Tower (completely deadpan): “It’s been done.”

Chris Iriarte

Detroit, MI