The list...

Here is a list of everything you've done today. Then you are handed a blank sheet of paper.

MSAW Alarm

The MSAW system is designed so that it can provide both an aural and a visual alarm to alert a controller when an aircraft is at an altitude that may place it in unsafe proximity to another aircraft, obstruction, or terrain. The aural alarm is a buzzer that sounds in the radar facility and/or tower. FAA Order 7110.65, “Air Traffic Control,” directs that once a controller observes or hears an MSAW alarm and recognizes that an unsafe situation may exist, the controller’s first priority is to issue a safety alert to the pilot.

When this alarm goes off in the tower the most common things that are shouted out are...

"That will never work!"

"Hey did you lose one over there?"

"Can you put that in your ear?"

Welcome...

I've decided to write about the things I hear daily in the control tower. I work at a major airport in the southwest region of the US as a controller for the FAA. Some will be funny, and some will be serious, but most of all we try to have a good time while doing our job. So sit back relax and enjoy our odd since of humor.