[ccmay]

The pilot/ATC relationship is a little like the doctor/nurse relationship.

If the nurse gives the wrong medicine or marks the wrong limb for surgery, the attending physician will take the brunt of the blame and pay for the ambulance chaser's new Ferrari. Likewise, even if ATC directly ordered a plane to fly into a mountain side, the pilot would be the one responsible.

Someone has to be the captain of the ship and be accountable for the actions of the entire team. Legally, the doctrine is known as "respondeat superior".

[Painful]

Unless you are an air traffic controller employed by the FAA (and I am), I don't think you realize exactly what the pilot/ATC relationship is all about. You make it sound like we are not held accountable for our actions. I can assure you that if I instruct a pilot to "fly into a mountain" (or any other incorrect instruction), and the pilot does execute that instruction and crashes... I will be held FULLY accountable for it, and the FAA will be liable for millions of dollars worth of litigation.

A pilot/controller relationship is NOTHING like a doctor/nurse relationship. ATC is there to insure the safety of the aircraft under our control, and we tell the pilots where to go and what to do in order to insure that safety. Yes, the pilot-in-command does NOT have to comply with our instructions, but if he/she doesn't, they are on their own --- and will have to answer for any reprocussions that may arise from not following our commands.