Short Final

Monday, March 08, 2010 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

NorCal air traffic control is currently undergoing a period of training a large number of new controllers.
A humorous radio exchange occurred between a student pilot and a student air traffic controller.
The humor arose when the student controller mistakenly identified the aircraft by the wrong tail number, mirroring the "student" status declared by the pilot and highlighting the learning process for both.

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Overheard near Sacramento, California, where NorCal approach and departure is training a large number of new controllers:

Cessna 12345:
“NorCal approach, student pilot, Cessna 12345. Heading 024. 1500 feet, climbing to 5500.”

NorCal Approach:
“Cessna 54661, student controller. Roger radar contact.”

Michael Fedoryk
via e-mail