Just when I thought it was safe to get back in the pattern and that pilots were finally taking to heart proper radio discipline, I got a frantic call from my friend Jim. He was very upset about an incident that had occurred two days earlier as he was approaching the Morristown (New Jersey) Municipal Airport from the west in his Cessna Skylane, N828JT (the N-number's been changed to ensure Jim's anonymity). (New Jersey) Municipal Airport from the west in his Cessna Skylane, N828JT (the N-number's been changed to ensure Jim's anonymity).
"I called the tower for landing instructions and after telling me to plan a right base to Runway 23, the controller called traffic about three miles away," Jim related. "I was looking for the other airplane when I heard someone call in, 'I have the target in sight. I'm armed and shooting down Eight Two Eight Juliet Tango.' That scared me! I didn't know what to think."
Jim then heard the controller admonish the pilot. "That's something you don't fool around with," he said over the frequency.
When the controller cleared Jim to land, he said he wanted to get down as quickly as he could. "I asked to land long so I could get right off the runway near the hangar. I was still frightened and as soon as I got stopped I asked the ground crew to put my airplane away as quickly as possible."
Jim, who's been flying his 182 since he got it new several decades ago and is old enough to remember when Newark Airport had gravel runways, has relegated his flying to strictly VFR days. He's a tough old bird and not easily frightened. But when he called to tell me about his "shoot-down scare" several days after it occurred, he was still obviously upset.
I asked if he thought the pilot was responding to the controller after the controller called him as traffic to the other pilot. "I don't know,' he said. "I was so shook up I didn't really hear what he said."
A controller who didn't hear the radio call, but was later told what had transpired, said he was told that the pilot asked, "Can I use Eight Two Eight Juliet Tango for target practice?"
As luck would have it, an FAA inspector was onboard another airplane in the pattern and heard the exchange. She called the tower and asked that they get the name and information about the "alleged" perpetrator.
The pilot landed and taxied to the airport's west tie-down area where he was approached by authorities. According to the Morristown tower, the pilot's actions have been reported and it's expected he'll face counseling if not more dire consequences for his indiscretion.
The "attack" airplane was a restored Bird Dog, the Cessna Model 305A, a redesign of the Model 170 that was used in Korea as the (Liaison) L-19 and later re-designated the O-1 (Observation) Bird Dog for service in Vietnam. I wondered if it was the military history of the airplane that prompted the pilot to want to pretend to be a fighter pilot.
A controller who listened to the tower tapes said that the pilot probably thought he was being funny. "But that's something you don't fool around with, especially in this day and age."
By this day and age, he was referring to post-9/11 anti-terrorist provisions. As a result of the scares, we've become hard-wired to react almost without thinking to potential terrorist threats. Hearing someone threatening to shoot him down, it's not surprising that Jim's first reaction would be to think that an F-16 doing TSA deterrent duty was asking permission to shoot him down for straying into a pop-up TFR. That's got to be frightening.
If the encounter was as disconcerting as it was to someone as experienced as Jim is, imagine how a student pilot, returning from an early solo cross-country flight might react. Not a demonstration of good communication skills.
On the other hand, it's a pretty good example of what not to do on the radio. I've climbed on this soap box before, but a recent flight in the local area once again reminded me of how inconsistent-and often unhelpful-some pilots' radio calls really are.
