Lazy Afternoon with a Hot Coffee

Giving Credit

When I first told people about the new job that I'm going to go into, their first reaction is-- "Oh, so you're the one that's waving those flags in front of the plane huh."

NO.

NO. NO. NO.

For the record-- they're called Aircraft Marshallers.

Although both our jobs are very similar--- we direct the pilots when the aircrafts are in our airspace; the jobscope is totally different. For me-- we work with radars, high-tech equipment, and just a lot of radio communications. For them-- they communicate with pilots visually on ground.

Here's the 'official' description of Marshallers: "On airports, the marshaller signals the pilot to keep turning, slow down, stop, and shut down engines, leading the aircraft safely to its parking stand or, in some cases, to the runway.

On aircraft carriers or helipads, marshallers also have the ability to give take-off and landing clearances to aircraft and helicopters, where the very limited space and time between take-offs and landings makes radio communications a difficult alternative."

Here's some basic signals that they use.



The next time you see them, please don't call them 'those guys with the stupid flags and earmuffs'. They work with beacons, not flags. And most importantly, without them, the aircraft might not block-in precisely and safely. Maybe from now on, you might want to stop laughing when you see them working on the runway, cos they're contributing to the safety of the flight which you'll be on.

Their job is definitely not easy, and they deserve much more credit than they receive.

posted by A Lone Fighter @ 12:54 AM