Narrative:

After taxiing in my personal aircraft a dakota; from the FBO to runway xx at charlie intersection; I was given a hold short instruction which I complied with. A private jet ahead was given a 'line up and wait' instruction and did. Tower then directed the jet to taxi to charlie 1 intersection and exit the runway because 'you are going to eat up the aircraft that just departed.' I then heard a radio transmission from a commercial aircraft reporting a 5 mile final; and tower cleared the carrier to land. Tower then instructed a cessna on the other side of the runway to 'line up and wait' which the pilot complied with; and was then cleared for take off which the pilot did. I was watching the carrier approaching now probably three miles out and thought that was risky clearing the cessna to depart. Tower then instructed me; 'dakota XXX line up and wait.' I read back the instruction and began taxiing; adding' that carrier looks very close.' tower replied;' who's the controller here; you or me?' I replied you are; and I am following your instructions but concerned about my safety. Tower then cleared me to take off and I did without incident. Later; I realized this was a potentially unsafe event with the carrier now less than two miles and one minute from landing and what if I had experienced a delay from a multitude of possibilities; mag or tire failure; etc. And what if I had departed and the carrier had to conduct a missed approach at 150 knots with my plane climbing out at 80 knots right in front. I did not appreciate the tower controller's rude and abrasive comments and question the safety of the instructions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Pilot cleared for take-off questioned the Tower Controller about traffic on short final cleared to land.

Narrative: After taxiing in my personal aircraft a Dakota; from the FBO to Runway XX at Charlie intersection; I was given a hold short instruction which I complied with. A private jet ahead was given a 'Line up and Wait' instruction and did. Tower then directed the jet to taxi to Charlie 1 intersection and exit the runway because 'you are going to eat up the aircraft that just departed.' I then heard a radio transmission from a commercial aircraft reporting a 5 mile final; and Tower cleared the carrier to land. Tower then instructed a Cessna on the other side of the runway to 'Line up and Wait' which the pilot complied with; and was then cleared for take off which the pilot did. I was watching the carrier approaching now probably three miles out and thought that was risky clearing the Cessna to depart. Tower then instructed me; 'Dakota XXX Line up and wait.' I read back the instruction and began taxiing; adding' That carrier looks very close.' Tower replied;' Who's the controller here; you or me?' I replied you are; and I am following your instructions but concerned about my safety. Tower then cleared me to take off and I did without incident. Later; I realized this was a potentially unsafe event with the carrier now less than two miles and one minute from landing and what if I had experienced a delay from a multitude of possibilities; mag or tire failure; etc. And what if I had departed and the carrier had to conduct a missed approach at 150 knots with my plane climbing out at 80 knots right in front. I did not appreciate the Tower Controller's rude and abrasive comments and question the safety of the instructions.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.