Short Final: Flight Following

Editorial Staff

Friday, March 15, 2019 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

A student pilot, flying VFR, mistakenly asked air traffic control to confirm if they had "IFR flight following."
The air traffic controller humorously corrected the student, clarifying they had "VFR, with flight following aaaaall the way to Montgomery field."
Another pilot on the frequency subsequently mimicked the controller's playful phrasing when requesting their own flight following.

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I was flying with a student in SoCal. Before taxi, she got an appropriate VFR clearance as required per ATIS.

However, she was a little confused and despite talking to approach with a distinct transponder code, was unsure if we had flight following. She asked me if she could confirm with ATC and against my wishes, proceeded to do so.

Except, she asked ATC to confirm if we had IFR flight following.

The controller, being in a good mood, responded, “No ma’am, you are VFR, with flight following aaaaall the way to Montgomery field.”

The next transmission from another pilot on frequency, went as follows: “N1234 also requesting flight following aaaaall the way to Chino.”

Piyush Kumar

San Diego, CA