I am surprised nobody noticed how I messed up a word while I was talking but anyway thanks for watching.

I think we can all figure out they haven't invited Kelsey to design an airport because having a pilots' lounge with free snacks would bankrupt the airport.

I don’t even wanna be on the taxiway too long. You never know when Harrison Ford is flying in.

I'm actually surprised incidents like this one don't happen more often. And by the way, I wish ATC would always say "cannot" instead of "can't". It makes a huge difference .

I've found that German, Dutch and Polish controllers among others speak noticeably far clearer and more intelligible English than far too many controllers in The States.

4L can be interpreted as "for left" which when literally translated into Portuguese is "para a esquerda" which means "to the left". Many Brazilians will translate "vira para a esquerda" literally as "turn for left" when speaking English. So when the controller says "turn left Golf, left turn_on [pause] Fo(u)r left hold short o'foxtrot" - the Brazilian pilot just heard they had to make a bunch of left turns after turning left on Golf. After the first time the controller said it like that, the damage was already done. Sorry, but it's really not that clear to begin with, however much the controller tried to fix it later, because the first thing you heard psychologically sticks with you. I'm in the business of localization and internationalization, I speak 6 languages, and I'm married to a Brazilian. My job is to flag things like this situation which can be an impediment to good understanding.

My favorite JFK taxiing scenarios are when Ground tells a plane to relay an ultimatum to Ramp that they won't be clearing any more planes out onto their taxiways until Ramp clears them into the ramp. Ground and Ramp have completely opposite priorities, they don't talk directly to each other, and they don't work for the same organization. So the flight crew are like kids mediating a bitter dispute between divorced parents who are not on speaking terms. Conflict is built into the system.

As a foreigner living in US for 21 years and a fellow pilot, I also have a hard time understanding ATC sometimes. I had times when couldn’t clearly understand ATC instructions and used “say again” some of them seem to be angry at me. Which makes believe that these controllers are showing sign of being overwhelmed and under staff and FAA needs to address that, before a tragedy happens.

You mentioned about the foreign accent issues and I said to myself, "You are right, that controller does have a bit of a brogue", then I realized you were talking about the pilot :-). The controller was running his own shorthand as well, he said "Fox" instead of "Foxtrot" a few times. One reason the alphabet code is about two syllables is to insure no confusion. Trying to shorten it WILL force confusion. Thanks Kelsey!!!

JFK...the airport where pilots go to age 20 years in 10 minutes and the conga line goes on for a mile...Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! Have a great week everyone!

Props to the pilots for assisting. In today's digital age there is no reason why JFK cannot implement a system where the controller can see clearances in real time, they should review their procedures and not pass on airport clearance duties to pilots.

I’m a controller here at SCEL, glad to have you here! We would never give a runway involved taxi clearance without a specific “cleared to enter runway 04L, turn left onto 04L and hold short of F”, even when controlling in Spanish due to the rarity of the clearance.

4 things: 1-You are amazing in dissecting this case. 2-So kind of the regional pilot to jump in and help Latam pilot. 3- felt bad for Latam pilot, he could have been using his due diligence by not going into the runaway. 4-Controller need to be more empathetic to pilots and less patronizing. Pilots could be sleep deprived, jet lagged, tired, hungry...etc. so the last thing they want is an irate controller...

One thing I like about England is that in public communications speakers most use "received pronunciation." When announcements are made over PA systems and train stations in airports, the speakers are easily understood by anyone who speaks English . When I listen to New York controllers with their rapidfire New York pronunciations I understand why foreign pilots have a hard time understanding them. I am an American, and I find them sometimes find them hard to understand.

Its times like this that i recall how much I miss Kennedy Steve.

I was arguing with the very controller last week because none of us 3 at the F/D didn’t understand more than 30% and my English is pretty good. And I fly mostly in Asia and Africa, so I’m used to bad English, but this is hard stuff to listen to 😮 My F/O was Australian and the 2nd F/O was from Canada and even they had a very hard time.

As a native English speaker from the UK I struggle to make out what the controller is saying. I can't imagine how hard it must be for a non native speaker, especially under pressure (+possible fatigue) in an airport with unusual set up. I feel it would be much safer to slowy and clearly say the directions once the controller hears there might be communication issues. That being said, it would also make sense for pilots to make sure they are ready to receive fast instructions in English before landing too. All around seems dangerous. (Including the waiting on a runway)

14:52 Kelsey, you’re spot on. This is EXACTLY the technique one uses to confirm foreign language statements you “sort of understand” from a foreign language speaker. Based on what you THOUGHT you heard, you try to state it back to them in the form of a narrow question (focused but limited use by you of the language) to try to get a YES/NO. If it is a NO, you ask a narrow but different question, and repeat the process iteratively, until you get a CONFIRMATION.

My 2 cents worth. I was on the jump seat (ATC famil. flight) of a DC3 (yes, I am showing my age) and a controller I knew read out the METAR VERY fast. The co-pilot turned to me and said "did you get that?". After some discussion I think we all ((3 of us in cockpit)) agreed we only got the runway in use and the QNH. Lesson 1) for a new ATC - the pilot needs to write this information down, speak at a rate that allows for this. Lesson 2) For any pilot unfamiliar with the airfield/airspace or ESL (english second language) - cut them some slack and be helpful with your information and rate of speak delivery - you won't have to repeat yourself and P people (including yourself) off. Thanks for calling this one out Kelsey

Hi Kelsey. I am a Falcon 50 and Falcon 900 pilot and a retired air traffic controller. I have commented before on your channel so I hope you remember me. This is the first time I have ever heard you say something that is completely wrong. I was a controller for 35 years. I worked 3 different towers, including JFK, and I was in the New York Center where I worked the KZNY oceanic area. There is not a single tower where ramp control is “sitting next to the ground controller” in the USA. Ground, local ( called tower on the frequency) and clearance delivery are in the tower, which is usually an FAA facility. Ramp control is not staffed by controllers. They are airline or sometimes municipal employees in a separate facility located at the terminal building. At terminal 4 at JFK ramp control is run by the Port Authority, and they are physically located on the 7th floor of the 36 story tall tower structure. In your graphic, it is clearly visible sticking out about halfway up the tower. They are notorious for poor planning of ramp traffic. At many airports you will see what looks like a small tower cab on the roof of a pier or finger where the gates are. There is usually little to no communication between the tower and the ramp at most airports. Every airport is a little different. Ramp areas are “non movement areas”. The ground controller taxis the plane to whichever ramp, and the pilot calls ramp control upon leaving the movement area for gate assignment and as some places which taxi lane to use. Taxiways are controlled by ground on the movement area, and taxi lanes are not controlled by ground because they are in the non movement area. Most control towers have a poor to no view of the various ramps and would be a terrible place for ramp control. I don’t know why you would think that they would be up there. At DFW for example, they have 2 FAA towers. An east and a west tower. They are both more than a mile from the ramp areas. Look closely at the terminal and you will see several ramp control cabs on the roof of the terminal buildings at the gate areas. As was pointed out by someone else in the comments, JFK evolved over time. The passenger terminals are in a central circle surrounded by perimeter taxiways. Taxiways alpha and bravo. When I first started working JFK tower, I was told by my instructors to keep the perimeters clear so as not to gridlock the airport. The controller in your video wanted the plane to wait for his gate on Runway 4L for this reason. Ground clearly “owned” the runway, and any inactive runway is available as a taxiway. KBOS does this all the time as an example. I appreciate the apprehension instilled in you by a mentor you had, and you would be wise to verify the instruction before proceeding onto the runway, but I think that pilot wasn’t exactly right about the use of the runway for taxing or holding either. Let me give you some inside information about a nationwide ATC procedure designed to prevent active runway incursions and any confusion among controllers as to which runway is active and which is not. The FAA implemented a policy where each tower would make runway ownership strips. The controller who has the strip in their strip bay owns the runway. If a controller does not own a particular runway, that controller has to get permission from the controller who owns it to cross or use that runway. I also don’t understand why you think JFK is not “fixing” its deficiencies. There is a massive construction project just getting started. Terminal 3 was torn down, opening up more ramp space for bi directional traffic in the alleyways around terminal 4. Terminal 1 and 2 is undergoing major renovations and there may be a plan to tear down terminal 2 and replace it with a new terminal east of the present terminal so that there would be a 2 way alleyway for terminal 1. In the next few years there will be a lot of changes. I just wanted to put this information out there. The other 90% of what you said is spot on. I have been doing a lot of flying in the Caribbean, and I just completed my first flight in Europe. I flew 4 legs in Europe in or over 6 different countries, so I can appreciate what you were saying, especially concerning briefing risk factors. Interesting being the “foreign” pilot on the frequency. The preverbal shoe on the other foot.

I totally agree with what Kelsey said about what the old pilots said about 'you never want to get onto a runway unless you are taking off or landing'. I am not a pilot but am a risk manager in very complex high risk situations and telling a plane to turn onto and then go along or even holding on a runway to get somewhere else is just screaming 'unnecessary risk' and 'avoid'. In risk management the concept of probability and potential impact of a bad outcome is front and centre. I know planes do cross runways and there have been terrible accidents or near misses in the past. Surely, telling a plane to turn onto and hold on a runway should be a last resort and an extreme exception. I know experienced pilots on here will likely tell me 'we do this all the time' but familiarity is a major contributor to catastrophic risk outcomes.

Thank you Kelsey for saying that taxiing can be more stressful/difficult than actually flying, now I don't feel like such an idiot anymore :D

This actually reminds me of a big mistake I made when I was a freshly minted private pilot. Taxi for departure at KCMI, I was given instructions to 32R at A5, and was cleared for an intersection takeoff. I got confused and thought I was cleared to 32L, so I crossed 32R and came nose to nose with a big twin. Luckily the ground controller sorted me out, but I could feel the irritation in his voice. He never gave me a number to call though. This taught me a lesson to ask when in doubt.

I am grateful there are professionals that understand how all of these systems work. I can barely muster the cognitive ability to find the airport, park, get through TSA, and find the correct gate. Making it onto the right plane and into my assigned seat fills me with such a giddy sense of accomplishment that I wanna call someone and brag about it.

As a Brazilian airline pilot I’d never think to taxi on a runway unless I am specifically cleared to enter it for taxing purposes. Empathy is much needed in a situation like that, specially if you’re an ATC dealing with foreign pilots carrying around 300 passengers at your airport seeing that they’re having issues understanding you. Stick to the standard icao doc 9432 phraseology, speak slower, speak clearer! If we all stick to the ICAO standards we ought to understand each other quite clearer! Big hugs from Brazil! You’re all most welcome here

I am English. Not a pilot. No hearing impediment or other problem understanding my language. BUT, I can not understand half of the rapid-fire poor pronunciation of some of the traffic controllers on your vlogs. Its no surprise to me that a foreign native would be confused.

*My biggest fear in wanting to get my pilot's license* is not being able to clearly hear instructions given by ATC, _even in English-speaking countries._ Even on KZfaq using my Sony bluetooth headphones, I can't make out words occasionally and have to fall back on auto-captions for a second opinion, so that really kills my confidence on being able to hear ATC clearly on the crazy staticky and low-fidelity aviation communications.

There's another component to this. I am a native English speaker, and *I* can't understand the instructions. For me, they are speaking entirely too fast. It was only after you clarified what they were saying that it made sense. Runway came out Run-a, for instance. That's important. As someone with hearing loss, I am always solving puzzles based on vowels, consonants, whatever my ears hear. For a non-native speaker, I can't imagine it's much different. Not only do they need to learn the words they are going to use, they need to learn how to understand them when spoken quickly. Hopefully, they listen to controllers and pilots speaking back and forth at different airports. Or maybe that's just my idealism talking, and not reality. I'd think it would be tremendously helpful, though. Thank you for what you do, Kelsey. You educate some of us who are not pilots, will never be pilots, who are simply curious about everything. Thank you. :)

There is “understanding English” then there is understanding “JFK English.”

If only US ATC people would talk more slowly and clearly. Big respect for any international pilots flying there trying to understand them as non native speakers.

English is my first language, my hearing is fine, but I had about as much trouble understanding the tower as I did the pilots. If I were the pilots I think I would have died of anxiety.

the ATC should have said things more slowly and clearly at least once! ATC was emphasizing his anger and frustration more than his instructions. Willing to solve the problem and avoid the risk should be the priority, not enforcing some sort of communication power distance.

Kelsey, I'm going to weigh in here. I grew up in Bergen County, NJ, about 45 minutes from JFK. Even I have a hard time understanding these controllers' version of 'English'. Let's place the blame squarely where it lies. These controllers need to stop clipping their words, learn and use the "Mid-Atlantic English" dialect when communicating with pilots that are having trouble understanding them. As a US taxpayer, I believe that this should be the standard in the interest of safety, and these highly compensated controllers need to be held to that standard. It isn't difficult to take a step back, and take an extra 1-2 seconds to slow down, think about what that pilot needs, and deliver it. Especially when they're paid.. no, OVERpaid to do exactly that.

One of my favorite things about you Kelsey, is your humility. Simply saying you might have done this or thought about that, gives any pilot food for thought. You're an absolute teacher. Limited judgement, advice that can help everyone from a zero hour student to a multiple thousand hour commercial pilot make this channel a must follow. You're awesome!

If the ramp indeed cleared them "VIA HOTEL INTO RAMP" (17:30) then we can understand why they wanted to go via hotel and not 4L. They were getting conflicting instructions from the ground controller and ramp.

English is my native language and I still found understanding ATC was the hardest part of my flying experience as a private pilot in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sometimes, reusing the same sequence of words, which were not understood the first time, just maintains the confused status quo. When I detect that what I'm saying isn't being understood, I try to vary my words, their order, their intonation--something. This ATC continues to parrot the same exact, rather fuzzy sequence of words that are not sinking in at the other end. Yes, the pilot(s) should have read all their notes before arriving at JKF, but the controller isn't helping.

Im actually Brazilian and I have spoken English most of my life, I learnt it as a little kid. The past 7 years I have worked in a 5 star hotel attending mostly to English speaking customers. There is something about this radio transmission that even READING what Im supposed to be hearing, I dont get it. I dont think the controller is speaking any faster than Im used to hearing the language however there is something here that is a bit harder than usual for me to understand. I gonna show this to my coworkers and my brothers to see if they agree with me. Thanks for the awesome content as usual!

Even people whose native language is English have difficulty understanding the controllers and pilots. I knew I could never be a pilot when I, by the recommendation from my flight instructor, started listening to the communications between pilots and the tower from outside the airfield.

I enjoyed this one a lot. You made it very clear what the shortcomings were and offered your own definitive opinion. Very well done.

I served in the Artillery in 1991. Back then, all fire missions was transmitted using radio. At lot of training went in to radio discipline as it was important to get _right_ shells to land at the _right_ time at the _right_ location, _every_ time. Oh, yes, and quickly too. Life depended on that. IMHO that JFK controller sucks. He's trying to do things fast; but ends up doing them slower because he have to repeat - end he didn't even get the correct result.

In regards to the first part: You gotta appreciate Kennedy Steve how he started to speak very slowly and started to emphasize the important things once he noticed that the pilots were not native english speakers and had a hard time understanding the instructions. Ie. "Taxi to G O L F, H O L D S H O R T of X Y Z". I think these pilots got very confused and concerned to taxi onto a runway. Something normal in JFK but unusual almost anywhere else.

I've just watched 10 of your vids in a row. So good. Thanks.

I'm "just" a truck driver. On and of for last 30 years between other jobs like crane operator or heavy forklifts. Ive passed those 30 years without any major insedents cause i listen and learn from other people that has been in bad spots. Listen and learning from other people is good education. I belive Kelsey here is learning from everything he puts out here. And that is going to make him one of the safest pilots on the ground and in the air. I'm 50 now and i love planes. These Videos realy makes me want to take the final leap and go for a PPL. Keep up the good work, you inspire a lot of people. Sorry for my bad English.. not my native language.

Kelsey's way of describing how things go wonky is so cool.

I listened to many of your videos and what never ceases to amaze me is the primary communication between controller and pilot is the spoken word. It is easy enough to misunderstand someone who is speaking right in front of you in a quiet room, but what is amazing is that any pilot understands anything once it is transmitted by voice radio. I think it would be much better to have a dedicated system that communicates between pilot and controller in both the written word and a graphical interface (like a HUD on a car's navigation system). Combine that with computer control of the airplane, and then the pilot has to just watch over the system to make sure it is working, rather than directly fly the plane or manually navigate around an airport. It seems like a computer controlled system that includes flying the plane and driving around airports could reduce accidents, both in the air and especially on the ground.

Thnx Kelsey for posting all those awesome and interesting content! Keep up the good work 👍

This is an amazing video, you have explained everything so well which is one of the reasons why I enjoy your videos so much. I could not be a pilot simply for the reason that I can't understand the Controllers because they talk way to fast for me. You are so knowledgeable about all aspects of aviation. I have learned so much from you in the short time that I've been watching your videos. I have just recently taken up the hobby of Plane Spotting watching it all take place on KZfaq. And I have found frequencies of the Air Traffic Controllers at different airports to listen to them and try to understand all of what they are saying. Thanks again for sharing your videos, keep them coming.

At one of the Air Force bases I was assigned to, had parking for 80 large aircraft. We always used a follow me truck to guide the pilots to their spot. At overseas bases, where our pilots are not familiar with, a follow me truck was highly recommended.

I was once deadheading on an Air France flight to Heathrow. At TOPD the English controllers gave a complicated bunch of descent,speed and holding instructions which bamboozled the French pilots. After some tense exchanges the controller threatened to send them back to French airspace if they couldn't get it right. I knew exactly what the controller wanted so asked the captain if he wanted me to do the radio, which he was grateful for. English ATC saw the funny side as a native speaker came on the radio and off to Heathrow we went. As for JFK, for those of us who don't operate there regularly its often not easy, even for us native speakers.

It makes one appreciate all the people who are involved in getting us from gate to gate safely.

Love the new graphics. So helpful to get a full view of the issue.

I don''t speak Portuguese but I have some Spanish and I can see in some instances that the Brazilian pilots were using English vocabulary and Portuguese grammar. That has the potential to flip questions into declarative sentences.

I have to disagree a little bit. First the controller is not easy to understand because he speaks with no separation. 4 left sounds like forklift. I listened to this several times on both this and another platform and I never did understand every word the controller said, and I’ve spoken English for 68 years. There’s no separation of words until he gets upset. Second his compartmentalized culture and work ethic both of where he lives and the airport makes the situation dangerous. He can’t think outside of the box. He just wants what he wants.

This is an absolutely knowledgeable breakdown of the setup of JFK. Now I have a better understanding of how complex this place really is. Previously, I had no idea how bad it was, but only thought it was just a busy airport. I remember during the pandemic watching (and I still do) the videos of the world famous Kennedy Steve. He would occasionally have issues with getting pilots cleared and making sure they go on the correct taxiway. It was fascinating how he handled all these planes on a busy day. Or if an alley was clogged up, getting them some place until the alley clears up. It was entertaining for someone like me-a nightmare for someone like Steve. Watching Kennedy Steve videos was a highlight for me (and many others) as we sat cooped up in our apartments while we were all in quarantine. He (allegedly) told a pilot to follow a 747 that was also on the taxiway: "yeah, it's the plane with the 4 hair dryers under the wings". If you have never watched a Kennedy Steve video, you have missed a lot.

It's mind blowing that there isn't a computer program that queues the planes and lets the air traffic control know what stage in the system a plane is. Everyone keeps saying how safety conscious aerospace is but the more i learn about it, the more i feel like no one thinks to question things that don't work well.

I had flights to jfk, Newark, Miami, Boston. Usually there is a lack of radio discipline in American controllers. They speak, fast, eat words, and with the so called American accent and not aeronautical technical English. Flying to any airport in Great Britain, it’s still English but with perfect timing, clear instructions and proper pace. Even German controllers that have a very different mother language are much more professional in terms of language and talking in the radio then in those airports. Not saying that they don’t know what they do, they do and they are operational, but they lack proper language, proper timing and proper aeronautical English even being the “americano English” their mother language. In Europe there is no need to coordinate with ramp. That is a task for the ground controller. Pilots ar full of work taxiing, doing checklists and usually after long flights. It’s the system it self that is poorly designed, making pilots coordinate airport service. Pilots should pilot. Period. That enough workload.

This is one of the most informative discussions I have heard on this channel! It is amazing there have not been more accidents attributed to language / communications misunderstanding. I would bulk to hold on an active runway! I think this is on the controller for not being more elaborative.

Just found your channel. Love it!

I landed into O’Hare this morning which is much the same as JFK, Ground and Ramp are two separate entities and one has to coordinate between two frequencies (Ground & Ramp) to access the Ramp. Heavy traffic congested frequencies added with fast and heavy American accents and attitudes to boot always make for a tense experience and reduced safety margins. Why on earth can’t Ground and Ramp work together as one team as in most international airports is beyond me.

You do such a good job I can`t stop watching your channel thanks

the edits are getting better and better, great work

I've recently switched to a job with a lot more travelling, and your videos have really made me appreciate the whole airport side of things a lot more. Such as why delays happen and why it sometimes seems you spend ages rolling around the airport before take off or after landing.

I think that JFK ground controller should have said (left on G, ENTER RUNWAY 4L, hold short F) however, he just said 4L with no details that they should actually enter and hold short in the runway and this is not a usual preceder to wait while your are holding in the runway. In addition, in all airports there are intersections to taxiways or runways called A5 or B7..etc, so maybe they were just looking visually or on their charts for an intersection or a taxiway called 4L. As an international pilots they should have easily understood the first transmit, but in my opinion the controller could have just explained (ENTER RUNWAY 4L) in the second transmit to let them actually understand that they should go and enter the runway.

4L (four left) is a hell of word combination for non-native speakers' ears. It could be easily mistaken for 'for left', which makes no sense for a native speaker but can be very confusing for non-natives. If the controller would have said 'runaway 4L' it would make things much easier...

When I first flew in a 172 decades ago, they were not so concern with hearing losses. I worked on the ramp before that and some of the workers did not bother with their ear protection, they wanted the tough guy image . Those second generation 707s (low by-pass) emit a loud high frequency fan whine at the frontal arc. Many of those guys have near total hearing losses by age 55. In the 172s, they used a speaker located about 2 inches from the pilot's ear, it took me many lessons before I start to get what was coming through the speaker. By year 2000, we have progressed to the point headsets are mandatory, and it is a big improvement. But you still have to kind of expect what the controller will say to you so you can guess the last 10% you did not hear properly. It gets much worse when they are busy.

I can’t tell you enough how much I love your channel. Kelsey you are so awesome at what you do 🎉. I’ve been learning so much since I started watching your videos. Blessings and always safe travels to you and your crew. Tons of love and respect, Carlos ✝️🙏❤️😊🇺🇸

Hi...I am a pilot, a retired air traffic controller, and now work at ramp control. I have worked at many large congested airports in the tower, approach controls, and now my first ramp tower. Just an FYI...ramp control never sits next to the ground controller. Not even in the same building. Keep up the good work tho sir I enjoy your channel!

Kelsey, I must say that you yourself have actually expressed what may have been an underlying factor to the confusion the LANTAM pilots suffered - that is - the reluctance to be taxying onto a runway and to hold. They may well have been thinking to themselves - that cant be right? In all my years of flying into the USA as a pilot for a foreign carrier I have never been instructed to enter and hold on a runway upon arrival, but have been cleared to enter a runway to utilise a short segment of the runway to get to an area where we coukd hold because our gate was not available. This happened only a few weeks ago going into Chicago, but the controller was very precise in using standard phraseology, particularly a specific clearance to enter the runway which allayed any doubt as to what was required. The controller also added a plain language description of what he had in mind for us so that we had a shared mental model. I think he was also considerate of the 16 hours we had spent in the air knowing how fatigued we were likely to be.

Really enjoy your videos and I'm learning a lot My son was a pilot and now I can have conversations with him out it.

Thank you for your great informative videos

I miss Kennedy Steve. I hope he is having an amazing retirement. I am a radio amateur. I'm one of the many when disaster strikes, you want to know. I run a couple of nets (very similar to ATC) every week. As a net control operator, it does throw you for a loop when you hear something unexpected and takes you a moment to recover. I do know how to moderate, "doubles." It happens all of the time. It takes practice, but it is relatively easy. You ask everyone to hold up on the radio, get the partial call sign that you heard, acknowledge and then ask for the second. Then you are back in control and you (me) can address everyone one station (for this channel, one airplane) at a time. Saying this, it is only audio for me. I don't have any visual or a RADAR screen in front of me. So I am a bit slower in responding to unexpected calls. But then, I'm not moving airplanes from one spot to another in critical life or death situations. However, when things do downhill, you want me and my friends to be your friends, because one of the reasons we run open nets is to practice for when sh*t hits the fan. KB7QOD

I'm an American and have lived in the US my entire life. I am also an instrument-rated private pilot who owns my own Cessna 182. I have never had problems understanding ATC at Airports, but I have had issues understanding ATC in the "Centers" and the "Tracon" facilities all over the southeast. I remember a controller working at "Indy Center" who I could not understand his words. I was not the only one either. He was working low altitude and there was not much activity on the freq, still, he had to speak like there was. Another pilot and this controller were about to lock horns when finally a female voice came on the freq. I could hear her and went on to my destination Airport.

Listening to the live ATC of a new airport prior to the flight helped me with how they word radio calls. JFK is crazy, the Hudson Corridor is crazy. Good thing they had other pilots helping them out 👍

I agree that navigating an airport is far more difficult than navigating in air. I always have my EFB with geo-referenced airport plates on when taxiing around any airport. For compraison, there are some routes where I never look at the EFB in flight because its such a simple and obvious routing. I feel fortunate to have learned to fly at a field with a very cranky controller. (There are KZfaq videos of him). I learned to confirm, question, assert myself, and reject clearances because of him.

It always surprises me that not more incidents/accidents happen because of the verbal interaction between the pilots and the controllers special when there is static. I guess an accident needs to happen (again like Tenerife) before measures are taken like an automatic speech conversion to an electronic instruction in the cockpit on a display and vice versa.

Kelsey, I am a new flight simmer, and I find your videos to be quite informative. Thanks for the education! 😁

Love your videos ✈️👍🏼

I've always felt that dealing with ATC would be the most difficult part of being a pilot. This confirms it - even as a native English speaker. I think if I were going to a new airport I would spend a few hours listening to to ATC and looking at the charts so I at least had some idea what I might be told to do. JFK is obviously stressful for all - ATC always seem grumpy and under massive pressure.

LHBP Budapest Airport is not a really complicated airport, this is where I work as a GSE driver. However, when there is a 31L landing, and the pilots have to go through Apron 1 back towards Apron 2, someone usually gets lost where taxiway Golf takes an S-curve. Maybe because it is not marked on the concrete that they have to turn left to follow taxiway Golf, they taxi straight to the small hangars where only small private aircrafts fit. The last time was just this week, I think on Tuesday. This is when we get into action, run about 6 kilometres with the pushback tug, then we push them back to Golf. :-D

Haven’t flown anywhere in about 4-5 yrs; internationally in almost 10. Have spent enough time around airport procedures to know major airports can seem like a labyrinth on the ground & JFK worse! Good video & thanks for watching out for safety!

I was a FA out of JFK in the 70s and my favorite thing was when we were ferrying a plane in with no passengers the cockpit crew would let me sit on the jump seat and listen to the ATC and pilot exchange. I loved listening in. Braniff used to get teased because of their colors and the ATC would say Your turn to land sweetheart. Good days. United was a good company to work for.

I literally can't understand a single word they are saying over the radio. How do you pilot understand anything without subtitles?

JFK ATC Is like a warm security blanket to ease whatever anxiety you may feel

I worked in a construction crew building plane parking areas at Logan Airport in Boston in the late 1960s. One of my jobs was to communicate with the control tower via handheld radio when it became necessary to cross taxiways or runways with construction equipment. Even way back then I could not believe the amount of radio traffic the control tower personnel had to deal with. It was absolutely insane! One day an overworked control tower person gave me clearance for a bulldozer crossing of the impact zone of runway 22 left. About 2” after the bulldozer made the crossing a 727 passenger jet landed on that runway! His wingtip missed hitting the bulldozer by about 25'!

To satisfy my curiosity about English with a Scottish accent, I went to Boeing 100 Aviation Videos to a video about Edinburrough. In addition to some Scots, I also saw what might be technology usual in Europe. I wonder if the JFK tower operates at an equivalent level. Also, before that I saw how Dutch controllers train on simulators which generate artificial pilot feedback in response to controller instructions. And I wonder if American controllers prove their mastery of their job in the way pilots do. Somehow, controllers must get certified for coordinating planes.

The fact that the local pilots are helping out while the controller just doesn’t seem to care is insane. How are the local pilots more helpful than the controller lol

The most important thing to do: If you have a doubt, ALWAYS confirm.... once, twice until it is clear

Hey Kelsey, I love your videos. I’m a retired ATC (GSP, CVG, COS, D01 [Denver TRACON]), also a 2000hr pilot. A couple of insights that might be of use: it’s not uncommon in certain situations for the cab coordinator to give a runway, or part of it temporarily to ground control for a period of time if it’s more useful as a taxiway at that moment, which can really expedite the movement of ground traffic. Re the coordination between ground and ramp, at the places I’ve worked ramp is worked from a separate tower that is run by the city or the airlines, not FAA, and there’s usually not much real time communication between the two. The controller needing to know if you’ve been cleared in is probably to determine “can I get rid of this guy, or do I need to find a place to hold him” type thing. Keep up the great work!

Love your videos! On some of them, like this one, your audio of the ATC transmissions is much louder than the parts where you are commenting on it. Makes it a little difficult to find a comfortable listening volume. Thanks for all you do!

A big hello from a small town Thurles in Ireland 🇮🇪

I think that the controller would save a lot of time and heighten the security if he honored the fact that only native speakers or very experienced persons understand language spoken so fast, and sometime unclear because of radio interference. I think that controller stressed the pilot to near breaking point. If that controller slowed down and spoke very clear English, he would save a lode of time and blood pressure.

Went to Laguardia in my PA32 to check out the US Open tennis tournament. No issues to land (IFR). But to leave… WOW…what an ARTIST that ground controller. The guy was giving instructions to taxi…non stop. Not even pausing for 1 second…not even having time to take a sip of coffee. Incredible. Took me a good half hour to get my clearance. Not going there ever again. Good experience but next time: Republic !!

Very informative. Thanks.

I just wanted to say thank you for continuing to make your great videos, even though you are essentially doing the same stuff, I really enjoyed all of the different situations , and how you present them. You are a master at it!

74 Gear...making you love aviation even more..#1

Always a delight!😀👌🇺🇸

I have flown through JFK many times, in fact, I was based there for 2 years. They hold traffic on the runways quite regularly, so I doubt you’d get away with telling them, “You’ll have to find somewhere else to hold us.” Also if they are holding you on 4L, they’re not landing on the 4s, they’re landing on the 31s or 13s.

I couldn't agree more, Kelsey. As the child of immigrant parents I know that it is all too easy to be a parrot and read something back without actually comprehending what your instructions are, and that is very dangerous.

JFK calling Kelsey soon to get input on how to fix the airport 😂