Short Final: Pop The Chute

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A pilot (Cirrus 123) struggles to correctly hear and repeat an assigned radio frequency, despite repeated and varied clarifications from Air Traffic Control.
  • The Air Traffic Controller demonstrates persistent patience in trying to communicate the correct frequency, using different ways of enunciating the numbers.
  • The prolonged communication breakdown culminates in a humorous and exasperated interjection from an anonymous pilot advising, "Just pop the chute."
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I heard the following somewhere over Kentucky:

Approach: “Cirrus 123, contact Center on 124.125.”

Cirrus: “Cirrus 123 uhhh, switching to 124.2.”

Approach: “Cirrus 123 the frequency is 124.125, twenty‑four, twelve, five.”

Cirrus: “Uhhh, was that 122.12?”

Approach: “No, 124‑decimal‑125.”

Cirrus: “Roger, ahh 124.25”

Approach: “Cirrus, the frequency is One. Two. Four. Point. One. Two. Fife.”

Anonymous: “Just pop the chute.”

Nathan Souleret
Miami, FL
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