Short Final

Monday, February 01, 2010 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Air traffic control (ATC) was managing the merging of diverse traffic with varying airspeeds in the L.A. basin.
A Cessna pilot reported a relatively slow airspeed of 110 knots, which seemingly complicated ATC's sequencing.
The Cessna pilot lightened the mood with a humorous remark about spending more time with ATC.
ATC responded with a witty instruction, incorporating the pilot's joke while still issuing a command for spacing.

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One rainy evening in the L.A. basin, SoCal approach was trying to merge a bunch of traffic with wildly different airspeeds onto V23 southbound:

SoCal:
“Cessna Eight Eight Tango, what’s your best airspeed?”

Cessna 88T:
“One hundred ten knots.”

SoCal (gloomy) :
“Oh.”

Cessna 88T:
“Don’t be disappointed. It just means we’ll get to spend more time together.”

SoCal:
“Well, if you like me so much, Cessna Eight Eight Tango, turn left heading 090-a 360 for spacing.”

Jeffery Westbrook
via e-mail