Short Final: The Lighter Side of Flight

Overhead on SoCal Approach frequency near a busy Southern California airport last year: N12345:“SOCAL, Cherokee N12345 is with you, with X-ray for the ILS to 26R.” SOCAL:“Roger. N12345, fly heading 280 and descend to 3,000.” N12345:“SOCAL, N12345. We have a problem. We seemed to have lost our squawk code. Can we have another one?” SOCAL:“N12345, would you look around the cockpit? Sometimes stuff falls on the floor.” Bill Kelseyvia e-mail

Updated Apr 12, 2019 2:39 AM EDT

Overhead on SoCal Approach frequency near a busy Southern California airport last year:

N12345:
"SOCAL, Cherokee N12345 is with you, with X-ray for the ILS to 26R."

SOCAL:
"Roger. N12345, fly heading 280 and descend to 3,000."

N12345:
"SOCAL, N12345. We have a problem. We seemed to have lost our squawk code. Can we have another one?"

SOCAL:
"N12345, would you look around the cockpit? Sometimes stuff falls on the floor."

Bill Kelsey
via e-mail