Always Learning

After enjoying a spectacular local flight along the eastern foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, I returned to the airport to land. Approaching from the northeast, I called the tower 10 miles out and was told to report a five-mile final for a straight-in landing to Runway 23. Standard fare. But it didn’t take long to realize that the traffic pattern had quickly filled up during my joyride. Three airplanes were in left closed traffic, a helicopter was in a right pattern for the same runway, several aircraft were lined up for a straight-in landing, and more were calling tower with the ATIS information seeking permission to land.

Suddenly, the airport and the air traffic controller simultaneously reached their saturation points; something had to give. An aircraft on final was told to go around. Another on base was instructed to stop descending and fly upwind at pattern altitude. When I reported a five-mile final, I was told to execute a left 360-degree turn for spacing. Upon calling a two-mile final, I was told to turn left, exit the Class D airspace, and reestablish contact with tower when clear. It was the first time I was kicked out of controlled airspace.

Suddenly, the airport and the air traffic controller simultaneously reached their saturation points.Other than flying into EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, I had never experienced a traffic jam of this magnitude flying into a towered airport. To be clear, this backup had nothing to do with the competence of the controller, it was simply a combination of great flying weather and vibrant general aviation activity.

There are many ways pilots can help controllers when things get hectic. First, before you make your initial call for landing, gain situational awareness by creating a mental map of the traffic flow and position yourself for the easiest entry into the pattern. Second, keep your transmissions brief and to the point. When the airport is this busy, just fitting your call into the rapid-fire stream of controller instructions can be a challenge. Third, remain calm and civil. The controller has enough stress in this situation without hearing angry readbacks from pilots. And, most important, keep your head on a swivel. If the controller is saturated, he or she may begin to lose some situational awareness. If you see a traffic conflict or you’ve made a position report and the controller has not responded, be proactive and ask the controller for next steps.

Take, for example, the pilot who was instructed to remain at pattern altitude and fly upwind. After a few minutes he called the tower to say he was about to turn base at pattern altitude and asked permission to begin his descent. The controller sheepishly apologized and cleared the pilot to land.

After exiting the Class D airspace, I waited for a small gap in the arrivals before calling tower. He again instructed me to make a straight-in approach, but soon asked for another three-sixty—then a third three miles out. Finally, 30 minutes after my initial call to land, I was on the ground.

I had originally approached the airport from the northeast because straight-in landings are routine here. But on this busy day of follow-the-leader in the pattern, it turns out downwind and base leg arrivals were getting in, while straight-ins were a challenge rather than a help to the controller. I’ll remember that next time. This flight turned out to be an interesting lesson in patience and reinforced my appreciation for the controllers and pilots who demonstrate great teamwork to operate safely during unexpectedly frenzied situations.