Delta Pilot Spots Passenger’s Pantyhose On Taxiway In Atlanta—’I Don’t Want To Know How You Even Lose Those?’

The pilot of Delta flight 539 from Atlanta to Portland called ground control on departure to report a hat on a taxiway, and myriad other items were reported nearby: pantyhose, a shoe and gloves. Someone appeared to be losing an outfit. The pilot describes a hat on the taxiway as they exit Ramp 2, around where the engine would be, and asks about having someone come out to retrieve it? The response is that someone can handle it. “You know, I think somebody lost their luggage, ’cause this is like the fifth report of FOD we’ve had around there.” FOD here means foreign object debris. Loose items around aircraft need to be picked up because they can get sucked into engines or blown around by jet blast. Apparently a piece of checked luggage wound up on the ground – open – spilling its contents. Watch the Atlanta ground-control exchange shared by Thenewarea51. The pantyhose are more striking that the shoes and gloves. “I don’t even want to know how you lose your pantyhose.” The controller wonders how the pilot “was able to see that they were pantyhose” which earns a “touché.” What does the pilot’s ability to identify hosiery from the cockpit say? One online reply suggests “Tower, confirming visual on sheer-to-waist, slightly off-center of the yellow line.” Topics on this page