Say what?

As air traffic controllers, our stock in trade is communication. All day long we listen and talk. As you might imagine, periodically something is said that makes us look at one another and ask "Did he really say that?" This question is often followed by the observation that "You can't make this stuff up." Naturally, I have a few examples; all the callsigns have been changed to protect the guilty:


AAL2621: "Tower, American 2651, final 25 Left"

LAX tower: "American 2621, LA tower, wind 230 at 5, Runway 25 Left cleared to land"

AAL2621: "Cleared to land, 2261"

LAX tower: "Verify that's American 2621"

AAL2621: "Affirm, 2631"

* * * * * * *

LAX tower: "Execjet 594, following B737 traffic on a 2-mile final, Runway 25 Left cleared to land"

EJA594: "Roger, cleared to land. Is he arriving or departing?"

* * * * * * *

This last one needs some illustration:


LAX tower: "Delta 798, preceding traffic is a heavy Boeing 747, report him in sight. Runway 24 Left, line up and wait. "

DAL798: "Looking"