Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Troubleshooting; Situational Awareness; Distraction; Confusion; Workload; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach
Human Factors; Procedure
On the arrival and approach into CHS the controller began to give us vectors to the final approach course for the ILS 33.  He turned us well inside SHRMP and gave us a heading to intercept the localizer right outside GAATR; the FAF for the ILS.  Instead of descending us after we had intercepted; he kept us at 3;000 feet for crossing traffic underneath us; which caused us to be far too high to make any sort of glideslope intercept.  The GS was showing well above two-dots above at the time he cleared us for the approach.  He then cleared us to descend to 2;000 and managed to notice that we were not in a position to catch the glideslope.  He asked us if we could catch it from there; and I said No.  He then turned us 090 and climbed us to 3;000 feet and vectored us back in for an uneventful ILS 33.This was entirely avoidable.  The controller was displaying very; very poor situational awareness while working several aircraft from a nearby airport.  Had he extended our downwind to outside the IAF of SHRMP and then slowed and turned us inbound there would have been no conflict at all with any aircraft crossing below us.  He seemed to be in a hurry to get us into the airport; perhaps because I think there was another arrival behind us but in solid IMC to minimums what is the hurry to get anything done?I think that some education and review of this for the controller would keep this from happening again; as well as setting some sort of metering from that nearby (Executive?) airport which seems to have a lot of [specific type of] aircraft departing.  When we were vectored back and cleared for the approach again; another one of those aircraft missed or misunderstood their climb instructions and had leveled out at 2;000 feet when they were supposed to climb to 8;000 feet.  My First Officer and I were already preparing for another go-around/missed approach but the controller did catch that in time to get him climbing and turning out of our way.  If that airport is going to operate departures in IMC there needs to be better coordination between ATC facilities that release those aircraft when CHS is IMC and doing approaches to minimums so there is traffic de-confliction.  I could see this type of situation ending badly if there were a misunderstanding or lack of communication/Situational Awareness between the flight deck and the controller.
A pilot reports of being held up high by what he describes as a very poor situational awareness on the controllers part. The controller issued clearance to intercept ILS but did not clear aircraft because of crossing traffic. The controller descended aircraft and asked pilot if the could get to the glideslope ok. The pilot said no and the aircraft was then sequenced for another approach.