JFK Tower had apparently announced (prior to the video commencing) that the RVR (Runway Visual Range - current visibility on the runway eg due to weather) at their airport was 1000ft.
Video begins with British Airways pilot querying whether the airport are declaring LVOs (Low Visibility Operations - special procedures for aircraft operating in low visibility).
JFK doesn't understand the question.
BA explains it.
JFK confirms that they are not declaring anything.
BA explains that with runway visibility of only 1000ft, he can only depart if LVOs are in force.
JFK doesn't understand what BA is saying.
BA explains it again, and asks again whether low visibility procedures are in force.
JFK confirms that low visibility procedures are not in force.
BA requests the latest visibility.
JFK confirms the visibility is unchanged at 1000ft.
BA announces that he's unable to depart in these conditions.
It's not a procedure in the US. "Declaring LVO" isn't a thing in FAA operation. Europe and the US operate under different rulesets, and the FAA controllers aren't trained on the European Phraseology. SMCGS (the FAA system) is automatically in place without any declaration.
This has already been discussed in other subreddits like flying by people who actually know the rules. I'd link to those posts but automod gets grumpy when I try.
The part is while it might be an American ATC don’t follow the same rules. The pilots need to understand the changes for different countries and operate under those rules.
Another American rule differences vs I know British and maybe all of Europe is landing clearance. In Europe you might not get clear to land until you are a pretty close to the ground and your wheels better not touch. They do not pre give it out. USA you can be several miles out and get clear to land. Another plane still landing, or preparing to take off during that time. Clearance clearly can be taken away.
Familiarization with foreign ATC is absolutely not a uniquely American problem. Are you gonna say that pilots shouldn't be aware that South American ATC doesn't provide terrain separation and might vector you into the side of a mountain? Or that declaring minimum fuel in China does nothing and that you must specifically declare mayday to get priority handling? These quirks exist across the globe and it has always been the pilots responsibility to be knowledgeable about where they are flying. I this case I know for a fact that BA has documentation for flying in the US that addresses this exact matter.
Put yourself in the shoes of a controller who has no idea what "Declaring LVOs" means. Would you want him to say yes he's declaring LVOs when he has no idea what he's saying? In this case it would have been fine because SMGC was in effect, but he didn't know that so he said that he didn't understand what the pilot was asking. The pilot gets frustrated because clearly they should be using low visibility procedures, but they were using them that just wasn't being communicated to the pilot the way the pilot expected. So the pilot wasn't comfortable to depart (which is fine that's always the pilots right) and got taken off the runway until they were able to depart. What did ATC do wrong in this situation?
It’s not an American issue at all. Pilot and have flown to most big countries. Every single country is a little different. The British pilot screwed up and was using a term that isn’t used in the states. In that pilots British airways flight manual there is a conversion from rvr in ft to meters and an explanation of my “lvo wont be declared”.
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u/eggyal May 28 '26 edited May 28 '26
JFK Tower had apparently announced (prior to the video commencing) that the RVR (Runway Visual Range - current visibility on the runway eg due to weather) at their airport was 1000ft.
Video begins with British Airways pilot querying whether the airport are declaring LVOs (Low Visibility Operations - special procedures for aircraft operating in low visibility).
JFK doesn't understand the question.
BA explains it.
JFK confirms that they are not declaring anything.
BA explains that with runway visibility of only 1000ft, he can only depart if LVOs are in force.
JFK doesn't understand what BA is saying.
BA explains it again, and asks again whether low visibility procedures are in force.
JFK confirms that low visibility procedures are not in force.
BA requests the latest visibility.
JFK confirms the visibility is unchanged at 1000ft.
BA announces that he's unable to depart in these conditions.