The Voices in My Head Made Me Do It

Let’s try something different. The next time ATC tells you to look outside, don’t do it. Resist. Push down that initial hardwired urge to follow orders. Stand firm. Look down instead. Even if ATC is directing you to look for traffic, you should think twice and ask yourself, “What is ATC really telling me?". Consider the following.

Scenario 1

You’ve been vectored by ATC to an extended downwind at a busy class D airport when you get the following call.

It's worth considering the value of looking outside at very this moment. You will never see the Challenger from eight miles away, and it’s likely that your airplane needs your attention at this very moment. If you focus all your attention outside, when you finally do see the airport, you will not be prepared for what is coming next.

Uh oh. Do we have the tower frequency in there? What’s pattern altitude? Oh crap, we gotta lose 1000 feet to get down to pattern altitude. There’s the Challenger off our wing. I think we should turn inbound. Can you see the runway? How far from the airport are we? We should get our gear down. Ugh. Too fast. We’re doing 200 knots in the descent. We better pull back the power. Where’s the runway again?

Always make sure your aircraft is ready.

In some situations when ATC tells us to look outside, we should not forget to look inside too. We should realize that “report the traffic in sight” is code for, prepare to fly the visual approach.

If we are fast, we reduce power. If we are above pattern altitude, we configure for descent. We select “Activate Vectors to Final”, displaying an extended runway center line on the PFD to enhance situational awareness. During the approach phase of flight, we should not be staring out the window, searching in vain for an aircraft that won’t appear visually for another minute or so. Tend to your airplane. Look down. Here’s a similar radio call that prompts the wrong response in us.

Scenario 2

The problem here is that we really want to be helpful pilots. And because we are human beings with evolutionary hardwired brains, we readily comply with such strongly worded statements like, “Report the field in sight”.

There it is! I think.

So, we dutifully look out the window, straining to differentiate the airport from the other visually similar expanses of space that may also be an airport. Meanwhile, we drift ever closer to the airport without considering our airspeed or altitude. We ignore our airplane. We miss our opportunity to prepare for the most challenging phase of flight, the approach to landing.

The Big Lie

It’s not that ATC is misleading us, but we don’t hear what is really being said. This is our mistake. In the spirit of clear communication, I offer the following alternative ATC translations.

Here's another one I get all the time...

Because we aren’t thinking about what happens next when we call the field or call traffic in sight (Hint: It’s always the visual approach), we look out the window instead of anticipating what comes next in the sequence of events. So when ATC tells you to look outside, consider looking inside instead. Look down. Resist the urge to comply, to be helpful. Instead you should remember that your primary responsibility is to the airplane and to the passengers inside of it. A quick check of your instruments will tell you if you’re ready to accept the approach or if you have more work to do.

Remember

Seeing the traffic won’t help you if you’re not ready to land behind him. Seeing the airport won’t help you if you’re too high or too fast to make a safe approach.

They're always watching.

Of course, there are times that ATC will issue critical traffic alerts that require you to look outside the aircraft to visually search for traffic. I don’t mean to suggest that every directive from ATC is intended to misguide you. Only some of them. With experience you’ll see more examples of this in other situations too. I encourage you to look for them.

So next time ATC tells you to “report the field in sight” or “report the traffic in sight”, take a moment to consider what they really might be trying to tell you.

“TBM, as soon as you call the field in sight, I’m going to issue you the visual approach and pass you off to tower. It doesn’t matter that you’re too fast to get your gear down, or if you have to drop 3000 feet to get to pattern altitude. It’s the end of my shift, and you are no longer my problem sir. Contact tower. Good day.”