Well I think we’d all hope that pilots act a bit more professionally than this…
Pilot caught ranting on San Jose ATC frequency
Twitter user @lostpckt flags some interesting ATC audio (thanks to @olouie for bringing this to my attention). Specifically, this audio is from March 13, 2021, and is from the air traffic control (ATC) tower frequency at San Jose Airport (SJC) in California:
- You can find the entire ATC audio clip from LiveATC here (the audio in question starts 20min52sec in)
- You can find the relevant snippet here
In this audio clip you can hear a pilot ranting about San Jose, as he seemingly has a stuck mic that everyone on the frequency can hear. It’s hard to make sense of what exactly the pilot’s point is (especially since we only hear one side of the conversation, given the hot mic), but here’s what I’m understanding:
- “F*ck this place, g*ddamn liberal f*cks”
- “Eight guns out here somewhere as it is”
- “F*cking weirdos, probably driving around in f*cking Hyundais, f*cking roads and sh*t that go slow as f*ck
- “You don’t have balls unless you’re f*cking rolling coal man, g*ddamnit”
Who says stuff like this?! And what exactly is his point? He has a problem with… Hyundais?
Do we know which pilot this is?
The person who flagged this audio suggests that this was a Southwest Airlines pilot, though I’m not positive that’s accurate.
Southwest Airlines flight 531 is on the frequency around the same time, which was a flight from San Jose to Seattle. The flight was awaiting takeoff at the time that this happened.
So while it’s entirely possible that it’s a Southwest Airlines pilot behind it, I can’t be sure. It seems to me that the rant starts with something like “1043 is ready to go.” However:
- It’s possible I’m missing something, but I’m not seeing any flight numbers of 1043 out of San Jose
- Then again, I’m not convinced that’s what he was actually saying, because once the hot mic is off, we hear no more talk of a flight 1043
- In that sense if this pilot was indeed caught on a hot mic, it wouldn’t be surprising if the other pilot picks up communicating from there, in hopes of not being caught
So yeah, I can’t be positive which airline this pilot worked for, but he sure could use a talking to…
Bottom line
A pilot was caught on a hot mic at San Jose Airport a bit over a week ago, going on a bizarre rant. While a vast majority of airline pilots are professionals, there will of course be some bad apples.
Are there any clues I’m missing that could tell us with certainty what pilot is behind this? Did I misunderstand the “1043” number, or?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.