As an aviation geek, I love interesting air traffic control interactions. Well, here’s an entertaining one, where an air traffic controller at Newark International Airport (EWR) isn’t happy with a pilot. She gives really confusing instructions, only to then say “it’s not confusing for me,” when the pilot can’t follow along.
Pilot frustrates air traffic controller at Newark
VASAviation has the details of an incident that happened in the very early morning hours of July 5, 2025 (so the night of July 4). While Newark has been in the news for all kinds of issues lately, this is a generally quiet time of the night. This incident involves a 44-year-old Twin Commander 840 with the registration code N840JW.
You just have to watch the roughly four-minute clip for yourself below to really appreciate what’s going on.
To summarize, you have two planes on the ground taxiing — N840JW (a private aircraft) and an Emirates Boeing 777 bound for Athens.
The pilot of N840JW makes some wrong turns, and gets a little lost. Okay, maybe he should’ve been a little more prepared, but the core of the issue is that the air traffic controller’s instructions are nearly impossible to follow.
There’s value in air traffic controllers keeping their transmissions as concise as possible, so that they’re easy to follow. After all, pilots will often scribble down the instructions, so there’s not a need for some overly complicated narration.
After a miscommunication over a turn, the plane eventually ends up nearly taxiing onto an active runway, at which point the air traffic controller gets angry — “what are you doing, man?” After then giving an additional series of instructions, I love how she says “it’s not confusing for me,” in regards to her own instructions.
I mean, I’d hope that you don’t find your own set of instructions to be confusing. Also, your entire job centers around this plot of land and these taxiways, so one would certainly think that it’s possible that something may still be confusing to someone else, who isn’t focused on these exact taxiways for 40 or more hours per week.
This comment on the VASAviation video sums it up nicely, and gave me a good laugh:
Possible pilot deviation, I have a number for you to call. Advise when ready to copy. Ready to copy. Okey, so the number is 9 – that’s on the bottom right of your keypad, they you go 2 buttons to the left for number 7, then 3 which is diagonally across the keypad….
What an exhausting interaction
Okay, in fairness, the pilot should’ve probably been a bit more familiar with the layout of Newark, and should’ve pulled up charts. But given how the situation unfolded, he was apologetic and calm, unlike the controller.
Meanwhile in the case of the controller, I’d say that her narration only added to the confusion, rather than making things simpler. Furthermore, the taxiway setup where this situation happened is anything but simple, so I can see how the pilot would get confused, especially in conjunction with the instructions.
Regardless, telling a pilot “it’s not confusing for me” has to be one of the most absurd things we’ve heard an air traffic controller say in response to their own instructions. It’s probably even worse than that LaGuardia controller who loves to say “fuel management is your priority, not mine.”
I couldn’t imagine this air traffic controller actually working at Newark when it’s at capacity, because she seems to just about be at her limit with this interaction…
Bottom line
An air traffic controller at Newark Airport got quite angry at a pilot, after he made a couple of wrong turns. While I think the pilot should’ve probably been a bit better prepared, the air traffic controller only added to the confusion, with her very lengthy instructions. I actually think she was being well-intentioned (at least initially), but sometimes less is more.
What do you make of this ATC interaction?
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