What are your intentions?
- Mar 21, 2022
- 1 min read
On 31 July 2015, I was flying my plane from Bournemouth, where I had just done a day’s instrument flying training, back to base at Blackbushe. I was about 20 minutes away when the air traffic controller told me there had been a crash at Blackbushe and I could not land there.
When something unexpected happens and you are not going to be able to continue with a flight as planned, there is a standard phrase that all controllers use: “What are your intentions?”.
The bland wording has always amused me a bit, because it invariably comes at a time when, as a pilot, you are suddenly confronted with something quite unexpected and have had no time to formulate any thoughts except ‘Oh shit’, let alone any proper intentions.
It is the signal that you need to do so, and fast.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, I had the same feeling of calm disrupted, and a call to action. It brought to mind this phrase, and sparked the poem “What are your intentions?”
There are more details of the crash I am referring to here
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