I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (or appropriately enjoyable holiday if not Christmas) and a happy New Year!
I’ve received the e-mail below on a couple occassions. I figured it was worth posting here. I’ve received a Navy and a USMC version, but I’m posting a USAF version. Hat tip to whomever started this one, it looks like it was written by someone who knows an airline pilot. Enjoy!
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In addition to communicating with the local Air Traffic Control facility, all aircraft in the Persian Gulf AOR are required to give the Iranian Air Defense Radar (military) a ten minute ‘heads up’ if they will be transiting Iranian airspace.
This is a common procedure for commercial aircraft and involves giving them our call sign, transponder code, type aircraft, and points of origin and destination.
I just flew with a guy who overheard this conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai. It’s too good not to pass along. The conversation went something like this…
Air Defense Radar: ‘Unknown aircraft at (location unknown), you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.’
Aircraft: ‘This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.’
Air Defense Radar: ‘You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!’
Aircraft: ‘This is a [United States Air Force F-16]. Send ’em up, I’ll wait!’
Air Defense Radar: (no response … total silence)
Sounds like something you would do, given the opportunity. I guess all jet jockeys sound alike.
This morning DH asked me if I saw the article on the internet about some woman trying to poison her husband with Visine. I hadn’t. I asked DH how you could poison someone with Visine and he said he didn’t know if you could poison someone but you could make them pretty sick. He went on to relate that when he was flying commercially he knew flight attendants that would put Visine in “unruly” or “demanding” passenger’s coffee. A few drops – you only get stomach cramps; half a bottle and you will be quite ill. I never even knew this until that you could make someone sick with Visine until this morning – and of course never knew that DH knew flight attendants that would actually do this!
Will have to share your joke with DH, later. I suspect he’s probably already heard a similar version.