FAA investigating after plane emergency ignored

[FlyGy]

DENVER (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after an air traffic controller was accused of ignoring a request for an emergency landing in Denver after a commercial airline pilot reported smoke in the cabin.

The controller thought it was a prank and dismissed the emergency call, according to recordings obtained by KUSA-TV

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... 182af918c9

[FlyGy]

Over 400 views and no comments?

[Beefitarian]

Sorry, I didn't think I had anything to add. I hope it's media hysteria and there is more to the story. If not that's totally scary and unacceptable. I also noticed at the time you were Rocking with up to the minute reports on incidents. This was right near the time of the Navy F-18 thread.

Have a great week!

[sanjet]

Although I know its always easier said than done in stressed time like mentioned above. I always believed that in an emergency a pilot should be blatantly clear regarding his call sign and intentions. Seems to me this guy spoke way to fast and omitted his company name call sign and only stated his flight number which in fact started this whole confusion.

[CpnCrunch]

If you listen to the recording, it is pretty clear that he says 5912 twice, but the controller hears "united 12", so the controller definitely screwed up. And anyway, he should have investigated it a little bit more instead of just automatically assuming it was bogus.