Narrative:

During a flight lesson with students on board; I was given a clearance by ZZZ tower to enter a left base for runway xx and report [waypoint]. I reported [waypoint]; and then was advised by ZZZ tower; that there is a cessna aircraft on a left downwind for runway xx; report it in sight. I was getting closer to the rwy environment and was well inside the base leg for runway xx at ZZZ and advised tower in response; that I did not have the traffic in sight. Tower; to my surprise; then instructed me to my surprise; to make a wide right turn into the downwind; towards incoming traffic; where no visual contact was reported; or established on my part.I exercised my authority as pilot in command to prevent a midair collision; by departing the pattern and reversing course to prevent a midair disaster. The controller did not accept this course of action. I advised him; that under far 91.23; as pilot in command; I had the right to deviate from a clearance; if I believed it would result in a hazard to safety and that he issued a clearance for us to turn into incoming traffic and we did not confirm that we had the traffic in sight. This was a safety issue and again; we elected to reverse course to avoid a possible midair collision. The controller became irate; was disrespectful over the frequency and advised us in a very rude manner; to call him upon landing for a possible pilot deviation. The students on board became very disgusted by the controller's manner of communication over the frequency and never returned back to my school for flight training and thanked me for my professionalism. This was in fact not the first time this same controller had conducted himself in this unprofessional manner over the frequency; with repeated lack of knowledge of basic flight operations and proper aircraft clearances in the air and even on the ground; again on repeated occasions. I had in fact; in the past; reported this same controller; for multiple ground and tower clearance errors on many other occasions to the manager of ZZZ tower and FSDO.upon landing; as requested; I called the tower and spoke with the controller; after I immediately called; left a message for the tower manager on his cell phone. At first the controller; continued in his same disrespectful tone over the phone. I advised him at that I am an airline transport pilot with many years of experience as professional pilot in all facets of aviation and now the business owner of the flight school; and didn't appreciate to be spoken in that tone over the frequency or over the phone. I also advised him that he attempted to force us to turn into incoming traffic without his confirmation of us having visual contact and therefore could not accept the clearance; because; in my opinion; it may have resulted in a possible midair collision. He explained his side of the situation and what he saw on radar. I explained to the controller; that regardless of what he saw; we didn't and all we could surmise of what he had in sight and until we had confirmed and verified and had the traffic in sight; it would be dangerous and a hazard to safety of the students on board; the other aircraft and people on the ground to continue in that direction; because again no visual contact was ever confirmed on our part. In fact we had advised him over the frequency; we did not have the traffic in sight and that that it was job to make sure there was visual traffic confirmation on our part; before turning us into incoming traffic. This was for the benefit of safety for all. As a result of a situation at hand; I believed to have turned into incoming traffic without having visual contact; would have left open of a possibility of a midair collision to happen. Even if that possibility may have been 1%; I couldn't have taken that chance. There have been situations where controllers have made errors in similar situations; where in fact the pilots did nothing. In some of those situations; fatalities occurred. The midair collision at night [at this] airport was an unfortunate example of this kind of safety situation; where the pilots did nothing and blindly accepted the controllers unsafe clearance resulting in a very bad disaster. I finally explained to the controller; as pilot in command; I exercised my authority; in the best way I could to avoid a safety hazard and a possible midair collision by turning away from the traffic pattern. At first he rejected this procedure; comparing it to vectoring under IFR and how did I know the location of other traffic. I explained to him; that there were no other reports of incoming traffic and we were diligently looking for other traffic and that he was misinformed. This was VFR and not IFR and I also explained to him that even under IFR in IMC conditions; regardless of what he thought; under the fars the pilot in command would still have the ultimate responsibility of the aircraft and I exercised that authority to avoid a safety hazard by not continuing into incoming traffic; that I did not have in sight.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: General aviation instructor pilot reported engaging in a dispute with a Local Controller over best practices for aircraft separation in the landing pattern.

Narrative: During a flight lesson with students on board; I was given a clearance by ZZZ Tower to enter a left base for Runway XX and report [waypoint]. I reported [waypoint]; and then was advised by ZZZ Tower; that there is a Cessna aircraft on a left downwind for Runway XX; report it in sight. I was getting closer to the Rwy environment and was well inside the base leg for Runway XX at ZZZ and advised Tower in response; that I did not have the traffic in sight. Tower; to my surprise; then instructed me to my surprise; to make a wide right turn into the downwind; towards incoming traffic; where no visual contact was reported; or established on my part.I exercised my authority as Pilot in Command to prevent a midair collision; by departing the pattern and reversing course to prevent a midair disaster. The Controller did not accept this course of action. I advised him; that under FAR 91.23; as Pilot in Command; I had the right to deviate from a clearance; if I believed it would result in a hazard to safety and that he issued a clearance for us to turn into incoming traffic and we did not confirm that we had the traffic in sight. This was a safety issue and again; we elected to reverse course to avoid a possible midair collision. The Controller became irate; was disrespectful over the frequency and advised us in a very rude manner; to call him upon landing for a possible pilot deviation. The students on board became very disgusted by the Controller's manner of communication over the frequency and never returned back to my school for flight training and thanked me for my professionalism. This was in fact not the first time this same Controller had conducted himself in this unprofessional manner over the frequency; with repeated lack of knowledge of basic flight operations and proper aircraft clearances in the air and even on the ground; again on repeated occasions. I had in fact; in the past; reported this same Controller; for multiple ground and tower clearance errors on many other occasions to the Manager of ZZZ Tower and FSDO.Upon landing; as requested; I called the Tower and spoke with the Controller; after I immediately called; left a message for the Tower Manager on his cell phone. At first the Controller; continued in his same disrespectful tone over the phone. I advised him at that I am an Airline Transport Pilot with many years of experience as professional pilot in all facets of aviation and now the business owner of the flight school; and didn't appreciate to be spoken in that tone over the frequency or over the phone. I also advised him that he attempted to force us to turn into incoming traffic without his confirmation of us having visual contact and therefore could not accept the clearance; because; in my opinion; it may have resulted in a possible midair collision. He explained his side of the situation and what he saw on radar. I explained to the Controller; that regardless of what he saw; we didn't and all we could surmise of what he had in sight and until we had confirmed and verified and had the traffic in sight; it would be dangerous and a hazard to safety of the students on board; the other aircraft and people on the ground to continue in that direction; because again no visual contact was ever confirmed on our part. In fact we had advised him over the frequency; we did not have the traffic in sight and that that it was job to make sure there was visual traffic confirmation on our part; before turning us into incoming traffic. This was for the benefit of safety for all. As a result of a situation at hand; I believed to have turned into incoming traffic without having visual contact; would have left open of a possibility of a midair collision to happen. Even if that possibility may have been 1%; I couldn't have taken that chance. There have been situations where Controllers have made errors in similar situations; where in fact the pilots did nothing. In some of those situations; fatalities occurred. The midair collision at night [at this] airport was an unfortunate example of this kind of safety situation; where the pilots did nothing and blindly accepted the Controllers unsafe clearance resulting in a very bad disaster. I finally explained to the Controller; as Pilot in Command; I exercised my authority; in the best way I could to avoid a safety hazard and a possible midair collision by turning away from the traffic pattern. At first he rejected this procedure; comparing it to vectoring under IFR and how did I know the location of other traffic. I explained to him; that there were no other reports of incoming traffic and we were diligently looking for other traffic and that he was misinformed. This was VFR and not IFR and I also explained to him that even under IFR in IMC conditions; regardless of what he thought; under the FARs the Pilot in Command would still have the ultimate responsibility of the aircraft and I exercised that authority to avoid a safety hazard by not continuing into incoming traffic; that I did not have in sight.

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.