A female pilot flying the same Learjet that crashed in Florida was heard being scolded by air traffic control months before for downplaying turbulence.
The woman was flying over Newark in New Jersey in May when an air traffic controller asked ‘Why are you climbing?’
‘We are just about to call you, we are experiencing moderate [turbulence] and unable to hold altitude,’ said the female pilot.
The exasperated controller responded firmly: ‘That is not moderate, descend to 4,000 [feet] immediately.
‘If you cant maintain altitude that is not moderate, that is severe turbulence, are you experiencing severe turbulence?’, he added.
The woman and a man
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