The following is a real-life exchange between air traffic controllers and British Airways 747.
The German controllers at Frankfurt Airport were a short-tempered lot. They not only expected you to know your parking location but how to get there without any assistance from them, so it was with some amusement that pilots listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt Ground and a British Airways 747 (Speedbird) after landing.
Speedbird: ” Good morning Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of the active.”
Ground: “Guten Morgen, taxi to your gate.”
The BA747 pulls onto the main taxiway and stops.
Ground: “Speedbird do you not know where you are going?”
Speedbird: “Standby Ground, I’m looking up the gate location now.”
Ground: (with typical German impatience) “Speedbird 206 have you never been to Frankfurt before?”
Speedbird: (coolly) “Yes in 1944 but I didn’t stop.”
