FSS Rant

ARFlyer

ARFlyer

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ARFlyer
Well LockMart lived up to their nickname tonight. :mad:

I was doing a night x/c flight with a student and noticed a line of thunderstorms moving in from the south. Lets just say it was a continuous cloud to ground lightning show. Fort Worth wasn't being slightly helpful and Flight Watch wasn't answering. So I had to resort to using the local FSS RCO.

A very annoyed lady answered with this is "FORT WORTH RADIO NOT JONESBORO RADIO". Umm, the chart says Jonesboro but fine. All I requested was a weather radar summary with my current location included. She comes back saying I need to give her my complete life story. I replied back that I am just requesting a current RADAR SUMMARY.

This whole time the storms are starting to get within our FOM limits and about to cut us off from the airport. Well, a few sly comments back and forth I got this as a radar report.

FSS- "The radar currently shows areas of green returns with no convective activity forecasted".
Us -"Ma'am, we are seeing areas of heavy lightning at about our 10 'o'clock".
FSS - "Well nothing like that is forecasted and the radar doesn't show what your seeing"
Us - " Can you give us a speed and direction?"
FSS - "We are not able to provide that contact Flight Watch"
Us - "Flight Watch is not answering and I need a CURRENT Radar Summary"
FSS - "Information is as told earlier, have a good night"

Going back to Fort Worth I got handed off to the local sector for TXK. First call he told us that we "might" want to divert. :yes:

Both Fort Worth and FSS were not helpful or pleasant tonight. :dunno:
 
If it went down just as you described, then...........

1- There are tapes of your conversation so you can ask for them..

2- If the chart /sectional gave the data as Jonesboro as the FW 122.2 or whatever, and you were at that geographical spot, then the FAA charting office needs to know about that mistake.

3- I am not sure of the actual reporting mechanism for this, maybe a NASA form is it..:dunno::dunno:..

I am sure someone alot smarter then me will chime in..
 
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I believe Lockheed-Martin will WANT to know about this; several reasons why:

1. I have gotten almost universally goods ervice form them since they changed over, and I believe good assistance is encouraged;

2. According to one LockMart guy who spoke to the flying club (and he retired from the FAA to take the job), they have the ability to terminate the employment of people who provide persistently poor service, something which was much more difficult under the FAA (government employer) banner.

I would try to get in touch (in a polite, informational, respectful way, no emo rant) with management and tell them about it; dates, times, details. Without useful feedback, there is no possibility of change or improvement. Flight safety could have been affected; you're entitled to an answer.

Let us know what you find.
 
Some times you get what you give. Review the tapes and if you didn't give an attitude then by all means file a report,and follow up with a phone call.
 
I would've just stuck with ATC. They've got real time data and can vector you around it. If they've been on position for awhile they'll know the general movement and trends as well. All the FSS guy is going to do is look at radar returns that any online service provides. FSS is good for filing flight plans and that's about it.
 
GeorgeC said:
File a complaint on https://www.afss.com/ .
Click to expand...

I filed one last night while everything was fresh. How long do I have to pull the tapes ?

Velocity- ATC wasn't being helpful. I asked first there and all he said was I don't have that information. I was kinda shocked because he was vectoring IFR guys around it. I guess he didn't really want to provide VFR services beyond basic flight following.
 
There are limits to what a person at a FSS position can do to help you, and your request exceeded that. Flight Watch positions have a lot more capability, which is no doubt why the FSS person suggested contacting them. Further, I sincerely doubt the specialist requested your whole "life story", but rather only your position, altitude, destination, etc, as required by their operating rules. Also, one cannot give a "Radar Summary" over the radio since that is a fairly complicated graphical product.

I've obviously not heard the tape, but I always figure there are two sides to every story, and it's possible the specialist on the other end of that conversation may have felt abused by what you said, too. Regardless of that, if you want to make a complaint about it, you have the channel with which to do it; ranting here will not do anything to improve FSS service in the future.
 
Mark the tape. Give me your phone number please. I'll call you in a few hours. Has come out of my mouth more than once and would have in this instance without delay.
 
ARFlyer said:
I filed one last night while everything was fresh. How long do I have to pull the tapes ?

Velocity- ATC wasn't being helpful. I asked first there and all he said was I don't have that information. I was kinda shocked because he was vectoring IFR guys around it. I guess he didn't really want to provide VFR services beyond basic flight following.
Click to expand...

How did you ask atc? I've never had atc, when they have the ability, decline to help me avoid a thunderstorm.
 
You don't have to say "mark the tape" or ask for phone numbers or initials or any of that nonsense. Note the time and frequency and call back to the facility (either the FSS or ATC) during the next business day.
 
FSS can be a bit cumbersome to deal with. They're always going to ask for your position (in relation to an Airport or Navaid; don't give them a fix), altitude, departure airport, destination airport, and ETA to destination. If you're within 60nm of the DCA VOR they will ask if you're familiar with the SFRA and whether you have the required training. All of that just to tell them you're bouncing around like a tennis ball inside a front loader can be annoying.
 
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