ATC asks pilot to 'shut up', triggers mid-air spat

Chennai: A Chennai air traffic controller asking an Indian Air Force pilot to "shut up" jolted at least 15 pilots flying in the sector on Friday morning. It led to a sharp, five-minute-long exchange on air with the pilots most of them flying in from the Far East questioning the language used by the controller, who then sought to defend himself saying he was under tremendous pressure. Senior officials later "warned and counselled" the controller, but no disciplinary action was taken.
The incident happened at 10.25 am, when 15 aircraft including four approaching Chennai from Malaysia, Singapore and Port Blair were listening in on the VHF band. The IAF aircraft, carrying regular supplies to Port Blair had taken off five minutes earlier and, at 15,000 feet altitude, the pilot requested for a further climb to 23,000 feet. The air traffic controller first ignored the request. When the IAF pilot repeated the request, he shouted back: "You shut up!"
Even as the IAF pilot gave a dignified "roger" and kept silent, an expatriate pilot flying in an aircraft from the Far East registered his protest. "Why are you shouting," the pilot asked the air traffic controller. His reply: "It's only human nature. I am stressed because of the traffic." Three other pilots approaching Chennai joined in. "This is very bad language and I guess we have to report this," said a pilot flying in from Kuala Lumpur. The exchange was being heard over several cockpits, including those of aircraft which had taken off from Bangalore, as the frequency they were on has a range of 220 miles.
"....Our men work under testing conditions, with increasing traffic and failing radars. We are organising yoga sessions once in three months to destress air traffic controllers," a senior AAI official said.
Chennai airport has two radars -- an approach radar and an area radar -- which often fail, forcing air traffic controllers to make manual calculations for landings and take-offs.
13/12/08 Arun Ram/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2008