http://waynefarley.com/aviation/2009/09/the-dangers-of-assuming-in-atc/ The Air Traffic Management Weblog Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:13:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://waynefarley.com/aviation/2009/09/the-dangers-of-assuming-in-atc/comment-page-1/#comment-81 Mike Vitti Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:53:32 +0000 http://waynefarley.com/aviation/?p=356#comment-81 I just had that discussion with my trainee the other day at the MILLE sector. We had an aircraft eastbound to New York Center nonradar airspace. The pilot request "20 offset, when able direct GRATX." My trainee heard it [and] never bothered to determine whether the pilot referred to a 20 mile or 20 degree offset. My trainee assumed a 20 MILE offset which was fine. The pilot turn 20 DEGREES and immediately became a conflict for another aircraft. Assumption is the mother of all F-ups, ESPECIALLY in ATC. Good point to bring up. I just had that discussion with my trainee the other day at the MILLE sector. We had an aircraft eastbound to New York Center nonradar airspace. The pilot request “20 offset, when able direct GRATX.” My trainee heard it [and] never bothered to determine whether the pilot referred to a 20 mile or 20 degree offset. My trainee assumed a 20 MILE offset which was fine. The pilot turn 20 DEGREES and immediately became a conflict for another aircraft. Assumption is the mother of all F-ups, ESPECIALLY in ATC. Good point to bring up.

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