Chicago O'Hare International Airport July, 2001
O'Hare is one of the oldest, largest and busiest airports in the United States. As the airport grew, and new runways were built, some older runways were closed or transformed into taxi-ways for aircraft to maneuver on the ground. The vast network of criss-crossing asphalt can be confusing to many pilots who are not used to the lay of the land. During times of heavy traffic, a controller has been known to have an airliner "hold" on a closed runway until he has time to give the pilot turn-by-turn instructions to his destination. Pilots refer to the practice as being put "in the penalty box". On one particular day, my friend (Frank)is riding along in the "jump seat". In uniform, in the cockpit, but not a part of the flight crew, just a glorified passenger on his way to his next job. when his plane is placed in the penalty box for over 45 minutes. Eventually..... he got bored.... and realized he's not used the radio at all on this flight
Frank: I'm fucking bored
O'Hare Ground Control: Aircraft Calling, Identify yourself Immediately!
Frank: I said I'm fucking bored, not fucking stupid!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks