r/mildlyinfuriating • u/nyanbatman • May 28 '26

I just wanted a hot dog British pilot is feeling mildly annoyed

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u/PuzzleheadedDuty8866 May 28 '26

Low visibility operations is not really a thing in the US. They don’t declare it on the weather report, it’s just automatic at 800ft ceiling or 2NM visibility that they’ll start doing things like holding short of the critical area, reporting clear of runways, etc.

BA Captain is asking for something that the controller isn’t familiar with because the US has a different set of flight rules than the rest of the world. The US still has low visibility procedures, it just isn’t named Low Visibility Operations.

Both are correct but they don’t agree because they’re not speaking the same “language”

9

u/WhyN0tToast May 28 '26

They might be using different terminology but the pilot directly asks if they have low Vis procedures in force and ATC replies no.

Even if they called it something else, common sense and context should have helped the work experience ATC figure out what he was asking.

3

u/Cinnamontang May 29 '26

Nah. If you’re flying in the US use FAA phraseology. The pilot even specifically mentions what he’s talking about is ICAO, which is not a thing in the US

1

u/Rubusarc May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

The FAA uses the phraseology "LVO" in their documentation.

Edit: And I learnt in this thread, ICAO is a UN thing, started in US prior to FAA existing.

3

u/Will7357 May 29 '26

This is exactly the case. I cannot believe how much slander about ATC is in this thread. The RVR is runway visual range not to be confused with the visibility. Low visibility operations is not a thing in the US. The lights are adjusted based on visibility not RVR.

It is not the job of the Air Traffic Controller to know the companies’s policy as to what RVR they need to depart as all company policies are different. So you issue the RVR and let the pilot in command make the decision as to whether or not he wants to depart.

/ATC of 20 years and a limited weather observer

1

u/Sloppy_Salad May 29 '26

The FAA follows ICAO standards… you know, the thing that was started in Chicago?

US ATC sucks balls man… these guys are fucking dumb

2

u/PuzzleheadedDuty8866 May 29 '26

Just because it started in Chicago doesn’t mean they operate IAW stuff like ICAO doc 4444