The pilot was just trying to get home. He filed a route from Pennsylvania to his destination in Delaware. The weather was acting up. He'd already delayed his departure, waiting out weather over his destination and along his route. Once in the air, he wrangled a few shortcuts from Cleveland Center, shaving plenty of mileage off of his filed route. So far so good. He was saving time and getting around the remaining weather. Once he got into Washington Center's airspace, though, things got a bit more difficult. Instead of letting him go direct to his destination, Washington ATC issued him a clearance all the way down to Baltimore, Maryland, then back up to his destination. With a quick look at his chart, he knew that would put him in a minimum fuel situation. Most ungood.
展开▼
