Tower asked me to fly right downwind. And when I was given landing clearance, I flew final. A frontier cut me off, without maintaining separation. We almost crashed. I was number 1 cleared to land, frontier should follow me.
I quit the flight because I have no idea what is going on.
Can anyone explain this, or am I doing anything wrong?
Youâre fine. You couldâve proceeded and nothing wouldâve happened to you (and if it did, easy appeal). I find it odd ATC told you to maintain slowest practical to resolve instead of reporting Frontier, seems like a slam dunk case to me and very obviously traffic interruption.
If Frontier is #2 then they should be behind you if youâre #1.
Itâs always fun being told to slow down when youâre the one that was cut off lol
Seems like another anecdote that supports this, standards definitely seem to be a little more lenient these days vs when I first got to Expert 5-6 years ago.
ohhh, it seems this happens frequently 
I donât know about frequently but definitely way more frequently than it should for ES. Regardless, youâre in the right here, and you can stand your ground if it happens in the future. Given the 30 kt closing speed you have and the fact that the airspace is empty, calling GA and having tower re-sequence you is probably the move, but if you elected to continue and youâre the one who got reported then I would highly question the judgment ability of the ATC.
hello!
I believe this would better be resolved in DMs.
but thank you for pointing this out!
Actually I should probably amend that because Iâm sure there would be some ATC who would report FFT for not following sequence and then you for not GA, so maybe the move is just to call the GA. Treat every flight on ES like driving; pretend everyone around you is stupid and has no idea how to do anything and act accordingly. Thisâll make it a lot less jarring when it does happen.
Thank you very much for your ideas! Yes, going around is indeed the best option.
Hello !
I totally understand your frustration and this is my honest opinion as IFATC myself.
As a pilot :I would have âunableâ the slowest practical speed since thereâs no way there would be any separation gap increase as the two of you were on final and unfortunately force the G/A. That way honestly you make the controller realize he could have done better by being more proactive and avoiding this.
As a controller: I can attest to this; a lot of times some pilots would totally not check for an actual sequence and think they are just being told a sequence just for saying. Unfortunately these pilots would keep going on their FPL and carelessly cut off the aircraft ahead of them. In such scenarios there are different ways to go about it and these are it:
a. âExtend downwind, Iâll call your base â just to make sure the aircraft ahead ( you ) is actually going first.
b. The min the aircraft does cut off the sequence, a G/A would be the way to go for me since he just totally interrupted the sequence- if he doesnât comply then thatâs when the report button comes in. However, pilots are also responsible for making sure the sequence given is followed so this could have also been a straight up report for âunable to follow proper sequenceâ.
Overall: it is okay to show your frustration here in the community and I am all for it, but next time you can also send a dm to a supervisor if u think that the service given to you wasnât up to the professional standard that IFATC is supposed to give you and they would be more than happy to help.
have a good one !
Sebastian.
Thank you very much for the detailed explanation! learned a lot!
