Controllers at New York Kennedy Airport (JFK) are notorious for their attitude, and the general way they interact with pilots. Well, here’s what’s perhaps the most stereotypical interaction I’ve ever seen, in terms of the overall chaos in the airspace. Where does one even begin?
JFK ATC & EL AL 777 pilots are both terrible communicators
YouTube channel You can see ATC has the ATC audio and a visualization of an incident that happened on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at JFK. Honestly, I recommend just watching the entire clip below, because all of it is just such chaos that it perfectly sums up the typical hot mess that is JFK.
There are piloting issues, and there’s also the typical cavalier attitude and incoherent rambling of an air traffic controller (it sounds to me like *that* guy), with no regard for what procedures are supposed to be.
In this situation, you have EL AL flight LY7, which is a Boeing 777-200ER arriving from Tel Aviv (TLV). Before this even all goes downhill, here’s the first concerning interaction:
EL AL pilot: “Tower, good afternoon, EL AL 7 heavy, established on the localizer 4R.”
JFK tower: “EL AL 7 heavy, Kennedy, runway 4R, cleared to land.”
EL AL pilot: “Cleared to land, thanks.”
EL AL pilot: “Wind check.”
JFK tower: “Who’s asking?”
EL AL pilot: “EL AL 7.”
JFK tower: “Okay, EL AL 7, Kennedy, runway 4R, cleared to land, wind is 100 at 13 gusts 22.”
Guys, this is all before the actual core issue arises, but c’mon, what kind of amateur hour is this?
- So the EL AL pilot accepted the landing clearance without confirming the runway or even confirming the callsign? And the JFK air traffic controller just let that slide? That’s totally unacceptable
- It’s hilarious that the thing that somehow concerned the air traffic controller was who was asking for a wind check, rather than confirming the runway and callsign for landing clearance
- Oh, and I love how the controller didn’t proactively share wind conditions with the landing clearance, as he is supposed to; never mind the fact that there were actually really gusty crosswinds
It’s just incredible the extent to which controllers in the US totally get away with deviating from norms, and how we rarely learn anything. And before anyone says “does any of this matter,” let me remind everyone that in the recent Amazon Air Boeing 767 crash at Miami Airport, the controller failing to provide winds during gusty conditions was cited by the NTSB as a factor in this incident.
EL AL pilots struggle with basic go around procedures
The above is just the tip of the iceberg, as things go downhill from there. A pilot reports that there’s a dead animal on the runway (likely a goose), so the air traffic controller asks the EL AL pilots if they want to go around. They confirm they do, yet somehow, the pilots seem totally ill equipped to handle a basic go around:
JFK tower: “You wanna land or you wanna go around?”
EL AL pilot: “Go around.”
JFK tower: “EL AL 7 heavy, go around, turn right heading 130, climb and maintain 2,000.”
EL AL pilot: “Stand by. Performing go around procedure.”
*extended gap*
EL AL pilot: “EL AL 7 heavy, which heading?”
JFK tower: “I don’t know, I’m not sure”
EL AL pilot: “EL AL 7 heavy, go around, climbing 4,000.”
JFK tower: “EL AL 7 heavy, turn right heading 130.”
EL AL pilot: “Right 130, EL AL 7 heavy, climbing 4,000.”
*extended gap*
EL AL pilot: “EL AL 7, turning right again. Confirm heading 120?” (at least that’s the number I understand — I don’t hear 130)
JFK tower: “Heading 130, EL AL 7 heavy, traffic off your left.”
JFK tower: “You need to turn right heading 130, EL AL.”
EL AL pilot: “Right 130.”
But then they don’t actually turn any time soon, and it gets close to causing a traffic situation, given the other plane on departure. Eventually the EL AL plane landed, and they were given a number to call, presumably for a possible pilot deviation.
Again, both the pilots and controller are just falling way short here:
- While a go around can be busy for pilots, if it’s properly briefed, you should also be ready to accept instructions about the direction and altitude you need to fly, especially since an immediate turn is often important (as was the case here)
- What kind of an absolute jerk is the controller for responding to the question of what heading they should fly with “I don’t know, I’m not sure?”
And let’s not even talk about the pilot of the Saudia Boeing 777-300ER trailing the EL AL plane who was like “meh, if it’s only a little animal, sure, we’ll land.”
Bottom line
In the United States we have an issue with air traffic controllers using non-standard phraseology and failing to adhere to standard protocols. Of course not all controllers are like that — most are very professional — but this one dude at JFK certainly is that way, and it seems that none of his superiors are interested in coaching him.
In the latest incident, an EL AL plane landing at JFK just had a combination of bad communication and bad piloting, and it really feels like all of this should’ve been handled really differently.
What do you make of this interaction between the EL AL 777 pilots and JFK ATC?
But they were promised preferable Treatment 3000 years ago.
Oof. Apparently, 'the struggle is real'...
Let's face it.
We need to eliminate humans from both positions. All these needless errors that on a perfect storm would lead to catastrophe.
But in this case, obviously El Al pilots are never wrong.
Oh yeah, let's do it with maximum AI, because we know AI will protect us and have our best interests at heart. Said no one, other than Mark F***erberg, Sam Altman, or that cyborg Peter Thiel.