I dunno what happened. Do CFIs usually wait close to the checkride for those flights?
Most syllabuses no.
My initial reaction was “she’s never been there”.
If you’re teaching in a building block fashion there would be ground school discussing the topic, a trip with the CFI to a towered airport, demos, now do some yourself, etc... before you signed them off to go do it the first time by themselves.
Not to mention a little help with the flight planning that would include looking at the taxi diagram and understanding at least the concepts of where you might be going and what it would all look like. Runway markings, taxiway markings, etc.
Can’t run before you walk.
The instructor didn’t prepare her correctly.
I hate to say it but the briefing about the towered airport probably went something like this...
“Do what they tell you, don’t let the controller fly the plane, and you’ll be fine.”
I hope it was more and the student forgot in the heat of battle, but my gut says it was something about as bad as that.
The getting lost, controller assisting with progressives, maybe happens occasionally.
We also teach to just say the magic words “student pilot”. The controller isn’t a mind reader. All controllers understand those two words. You don’t have to remember hard words like “progressive taxi” under stress. KISS principal.
Heck a twenty year pilot can say “student pilot” if they want to. It’ll work if you want to convey a sense of WTF to any controller.
Okay maybe don’t say it at the main airport of a Bravo. Hahahaha.
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