I got this e-mail forward from a member of my family today. Included is the text of the e-mail and my response to it:

Dallas ATC:  “Tower to Saudi Air 911—You are cleared to land eastbound on runway 9R.”

Saudi Air: “Thank you Dallas ATC.  Acknowledge cleared to land on infidel’s runway 9R—Allah be Praised !!”

Dallas ATC: “Tower to Iran Air 711—You are cleared to land, Westbound on runway 9R.”

Iran Air: “Thank you Dallas ATC.  We are cleared to land on infidel’s runway 9R.- -Allah is Great !!”

Pause: Static………….

Saudi Air: ” DALLAS ATC !  DALLAS ATC !!! ”

Dallas ATC: “Go ahead Saudi Air 911?”

Saudi Air: “YOU HAVE CLEARED BOTH OUR AIRCRAFT FOR THE   SAME RUNWAY GOING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS !!!  WE ARE ON A COLLISION COURSE !!! INSTRUCTIONS PLEASE!!!

Dallas ATC:  “Well bless your hearts.  Y’all be careful now and tell Allah ‘hey’ for us—y’all hear?

This was my response:

I really don’t find it that funny.

Besides, the other runway would be 27L, not “9R Westbound.” 9R indicates a landing on a compass heading of 90 degrees, or due East. Since “R” was specified, that must mean that there are two runways running East/West. Traffic landing on runway 9R would be heading East and landing on the on the right, or Southernmost, runway. The other direction is 27, or heading 270 (due West). Consequently, the Left runway heading West is the Right runway heading East. Hence 27L.

Unfortunately, Dallas Fort Worth Airport (KDFW) does not have any runways on headings 90 or 270. The closest runways to those headings are runways 13R/31L and 13L/31R, but those runways could never be mistaken for 9 or 27, being off by a good 40 degrees. They are also not major runways, being 9,301 and 9,000 feet in length, respectively. And although the types of planes were not specified, the runways are most likely not long enough to land the size of jet necessary for non-stop international flights from the Middle East, setting aside the slim possibility that two of them would be arriving at the same airport at the same time.

Saudi Arabian Airline’s website does not list Dallas as a destination, nor does Iran Air. (http://www.iranair.com). In fact, Iran Air does not list any United States destinations at all, although one could fly to London from Iran on Iran Air, but they could never be mistaken for the friendly Air Traffic Controllers of Texas.

One must make distinctions between Islamic Fundamentalist Extremists and Islamics or we shall be no better than the indiscriminate fundamentalists themselves or our own home grown KKK.