Freight Doggin' in Syracuse - Volume 2
Rob Belisario, Chief Flight Instructor for Executive Air Services at KSYR, tells us more about some of the interesting experiences he had as a freight pilot.
Flying night freight gives you plenty of time to think, and you develop a lot of strategies for staying awake. If you have a good autopilot, the weather’s nice and you know your route, then trying to keep the lids from drooping becomes a real battle. One night I was leafing through the AIM, of all things, and I read where an international airport was defined as one where, “Customs is available”. Accordingly, a field like Watertown can be considered “international”, but it started me thinking about a truly INTERNATIONAL airport. One that handles huge airplanes on 10,000 to 14,000 foot long runways in any weather, in a city that never sleeps. JFK fits this description.International is definitely the word here. English is the universal language of aviation, but the various accents heard on the frequency at Kennedy add a rich flavor to the communication stew. There is, however, one type of aviation English that tops them all. Nothing on this planet compares with the “in your face” delivery of a native born New York City air traffic controller in full song! When the weather’s snotty and they’re working 25 airplanes through the Clag, the rapid fire delivery of these professionals is an incredible thing to experience. You’d better listen up, though, because asking him or her to “say again” your approach clearance, could be hazardous to your ego. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 747 Captain or a lowly freight dog, a repeated ATC instruction WILL be delivered in a very terse Brooklyn accent. No nation or experience level is exempt! Consider it an equal opportunity “Dis”.>Sometimes things would get really exciting. One snowy night in the early 1990’s as a bunch of us were being vectored for the ILS 4R, the approach controller interrupted his regularly scheduled broadcasts to issue an immediate climb and turn vector to a “heavy” that had just departed runway 31L. He then proceeded to let this air carrier Captain know that he was never once following the assigned Kennedy 7 departure with the Canarsie climb, explained angrily about SID’s and clearances and caustically reminded him of the danger he just posed to inbound traffic. A very sheepish “Roger” was the only reply. Whew! When you’re solid IFR, coated with ice and being vectored for the localizer at 2,000 feet, ten miles out over a very cold Atlantic Ocean, hearing that exchange is pretty sobering. I still get goose bumps wondering which one of us he came close to.
It’s pretty easy to get lost on the ground at Kennedy, too. One pretty February night with severe VFR for hundreds of miles in every direction, the VOR 13R approach was active for arrivals. This is a bit out of the way for me coming down on the arrival from Bridgeport, so I’d usually get the visual to 13L if I asked for it, and this night was no exception. No problem, just keep it in tight to maintain separation with the LaGuardia arrivals and contact the tower.Checking in with tower, she cleared me to land on 13L, but, “keep your speed up and make short approach”. Freight Dogs love to hear those words because packages don’t complain, and as I maneuvered my trusty F-16 (I mean, Caravan) into the right downwind with the two LaGuardia arrivals in sight, she started calling a foreign air carrier. Several times she tried him, each time with no results, and each time with mounting frustration in her voice. Seems he was unaware that he missed the 13L stop line on taxiway “U” and part of the wing of his DC-8 was hanging out over my runway. Finally, when I turned a one mile final, she came back to me utterly disgusted with, “Wiggins 7116, go around, there’s an aircraft on the runway and I’m not talking to him!” As I powered up and started to climb, she offered me 13R, if I had the American 757 at Canarsie VOR in sight. I had the traffic, sidestepped to 13R, landed, and took “N”’ “B” and “U” the 2 miles around toward the cargo ramp. By the time I got to “C-B” to cross 13L, the old 4 engine jet was just starting his takeoff roll. Comms had been restored, the controller had her say and I can just imagine the trio of red faces in that cockpit!More next time.
Rob Belisario