Ex-Gulfstream International Airline pilot files complaint with FAA

[Buzo]

Is that what GIA has installed?

TCAS-II is certainly available for the 1900 (we had it at CommutAir), but an operator can get away with TCAS-I if they're cutting corners.

It had TCAS 1

 

[tomcat]

Okay, coming out of my slumber for this one. Hate to 2nd guess PICs but:
Unpressurized doesn't mean you're flying at practice area altitudes, just not above 10k'
Again, in that weather that was so awful who is going to be out practicing chandelles?
Need more info on the TCAS, i.e. did he try switching encoders, etc.? (Could have been the fix MX performed)
You don't climb/descend with TCAS I unless you see the traffic and decide you need to (especially in radar environment)
Definitely sounds like the guy was just having a pepe contest.
Andy, way to get a wonderful job but you sound a little too defensive of the GIA regime.
PCL, nevermind not worth it

Peace out

 

[T-prop]

Nevermind

 

[BOHICAgain]

The MX in TPA is horrible. They will just find out were the airplane is going to overnight and ask if you can wait to get it to FLL to write it up.

If the CA feels its unsafe then pull him off the flight and find someone else who will do it. To fire him over the phone or threaten another pilot with termination is just crap. Im glad that this pilot is going ahead and blow a whistle kinda. I have had freinds recently leave there because the crap that MX pulls is not worth his life

I thought Herfort was no longer a qualified CA because he cant pass his 441

 

[PCL_128]

PCL_128.....Dude, you must have a huge set of balls and a short memory. I've read all your posts on here for the past few months and you are quick to bite the hand that feeds you. You GET OFF on bashing Pinnacle and now GIA. Funny thing is dude, where did YOU come from...where are YOUR roots......Oh yeah....you were at BOTH Gulfstream AND Pinnacle and if it weren't for your experience at both of these carriers you would NOT be at Air Tran today. If it wasn't for Tom Cooper putting together GIA you would have had a much different career path. As for Tom Herfort being a former flight attendant...WHO CARES? He's was also a Captain at GIA for over 10 years before he moved into management...you failed to mention that. You love to bash Pinnacle at every opportunity but if they had not hired you, employed you and an given you an upgrade opportunity you'd...again.....NOT have ended up at Air Tran.

As for who I fly for? www.newglobalairline.com The "Blue" side of the house.

By the way, I am a big supporter of Alpa and a firm believer of clear and concise boundary's between managment and employees spelled out in a great contract. I have been managment (not airline) before so I do tend to think like one, however I have no desire to go down that path again, I enjoy being an employee without the respondsibilites beyond the cockpit. One thing that I was curious about Pcl...if your such a HUGE Alpa cheerleader then WHY did you sell yourself short and accept employment at a non-alpa carrier?

Not even worth a response.

 

[Abbey]

.....

 

[AWACoff]

You are made for airline management!!!

That was the argument from great lakes management trying to get a crew to fly a 1900 with the GPWS mel'd and the Flaps mel'd. So when you get close to the ground you would not get the "to low flaps" or "to low gear" call out. So what happened to this legal and safe flight?

They landed gear up in ORD. The FAA then decided that maybe it was legal to mel the gpws and flaps at the same time but it WAS NOT SAFE. And know they you cant mel those two items together.

Also I have refused flights in the 1900 because of the is tcas mel'd and mel'd pressurization and used the ORD accident as evidence that just because the FAA says it is legal does not mean it is SAFE.

Will there have to be a mid air with a 1900 and C-172 before the we dont allow these two items to be mel'd at the same time?

Don't believe all of the fairy tales Lakes is telling you. I was taxiing out that night in ORD when those yahoos landed gear up on 4R. The reason they landed gear up is gross disregard for sterile cockpit and professionalism. They did not run ANY checklists (as proven by the CVR). They flew a pretty good airplane onto the runway with the gear up. On a side note, the brakes on the 1900 still are functional with the gear up. Great job Captain Pascal!

 

[Say Again Over]

Again, what airline do you work for so I can make sure never to fly on one of your flights? Any pilot that is dumb enough to believe legal = safe shouldn't be allowed to sit in an airplane, let along fly one with people in the back. The PIC is responsible for determining the safety of a flight, not some bureaucrat or some management dweeb that moonlights as a flight attendant

Ouch, you really have me there, now please answer the question, have you ever been in a court of law?

Ah, judge, even though the aircraft was perfectly airworthy, I as PIC decided that it was unsafe, I am smarter than the aircraft manufacturer and the FAA.

Judge: "case dismissed, run along now"

 

[EMB170Pilot]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/service...local/sfl-flbpilot0504pnmay04,0,1147673.story

I don't get.

Maybe you guys figure this one out.

Anyone that works for f******* gulfstream is an idiot period!

Shut that f******** place down along with majority of the other POS 135 our of FLL

 

[BOHICAgain]

Ah, judge, even though the aircraft was perfectly airworthy, I as PIC decided that it was unsafe, I am smarter than the aircraft manufacturer and the FAA.

Smarter than the FAA?? HA just because you its airworthy

DOES NOT MEAN ITS SAFE just legal

its legal to have a blood alcohol level of .04 while you are operating an aircraft I dont think its the safest thing to do

Also according to you the PIC has no say what so ever?

No one can force you to do anything if you really not comfortable, if you can explain what you did and it makes sense then you should not have to worry about loosing your job

 

[Say Again Over]

Again, for those of you not paying attention, what is the unsafe condition that the pilot in question could sue for?

 

[navigatro]

Think outside the box...

All the pilot had to do was to have everyone on board hold their breath for a minute while they climbed to 15000 feet to overfly the practice areas.

Problem solved!

 

[Gobblin21]

Andyd, I agree with you on all points. I've never flown for Gulfstream, but I know James Bystrom, from when he was in the service, CHS 315th. For those of you who bash him...have you ever held the position of Chief Pilot? Didn't think so, you try it for awhile and post me your thoughts. He's recieved numerous commendations and was squardon airman of the year, back in the day. He has a dedication to service,that many of you "Members" do not understand. So, understand the source newspaper and a fired employee.

 

[be-400xpdriver]

Don't believe all of the fairy tales Lakes is telling you. I was taxiing out that night in ORD when those yahoos landed gear up on 4R. The reason they landed gear up is gross disregard for sterile cockpit and professionalism. They did not run ANY checklists (as proven by the CVR).

According to the cvr they ran the checklists they were suppose to but just did not put the gear down when the flap up landing checklist called for it..

Also the cvr showed that the gear warning horn was not working when they were on approach. It was only after they hit the ground that the gear warning horn could be heard on the cvr.


http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=CHI01FA084&rpt=fa

 

[007]

Great job Captain Pascal!

OMG...no way... I think I went to school with that guy!

 

[PCL_128]

even though the aircraft was perfectly airworthy

Legal does not = airworthy. It's up to the PIC to determine whether the aircraft is truly airworthy.

 

[WSurf]

Legal does not = airworthy. It's up to the PIC to determine whether the aircraft is truly airworthy.

Boy, this thread is getting old! I can't wait for a big red MESA SUCKS sign!

 

[Say Again Over]

Legal does not = airworthy. It's up to the PIC to determine whether the aircraft is truly airworthy.

Close but no cigar, I think I understand the point you make but the pilot in question will need a bit more, valid concerns that will defend his final decision.

 

[DashTrash400]

It's a sad day in aviation when not just management but regular line pilots are doing their part to tear down Captain's authority.

 

[Say Again Over]

Dash, hope you aren't referring to me, just trying to get the full story, trying to get PCL to point out wasn't safe about taking this flight, if I understand this right, the aircraft pressurization and TCAS was MEL'd, is this a valid reason to turn down the trip, or is there more to the story?

 

[PURPLEHAZE21]

the TCAS isn't the issue...the management is. I've flown with those guys from Gulfstream and heard the horrors. I thought MESA was bad....it does get worse. As a former commuter pilot, stay strong and dont ever let the company/ management make "Your flying decisions". Whats the worse that happens....you lose your job at a poorly run company who would self disclose on you in a heart beat to the FAA. Yes...You can get hired somewhere else !!!

 

[PA31Driver]

If it is mel'd, then the FAA has deemed it to be both legal AND safe.

Yeah, the FAA has also deemed the current duty/rest times legal and SAFE.

Once again, just because it's legal does not mean it's safe.

 

[Poahi]

Legal does not = airworthy. It's up to the PIC to determine whether the aircraft is truly airworthy.

True dat! The day you take away the Captain's authority to determine whether or not the flight can be completed safely is the day you take away his responsibility if it doesn't.

And when that happens, the traveling public should know we have lawyers flying airplanes from the ground. Lawyers may be able to argue with a judge over a legality issue, but they can't argue their way out of on-coming traffic.

Here's another thought. If you have a mechanical discrepancy and all a mechanic does is reset a CB and ops checks it okay on the ground, I think it's entirely reasonable for a Captain not to trust it especially if your airline has a history of doing that sort of thing and it gets written up multiple times.

 

[Say Again Over]

The day you take away the Captain's authority to determine whether or not the flight can be completed safely is the day you take away his responsibility if it doesn't

Well whatever you and PCL are smoking it must be the same brand, good luck with that defense.

 

[Poahi]

Well whatever you and PCL are smoking it must be the same brand, good luck with that defense.

Say It Again Over,

I am so glad that someone with over 13,000 hours in this industry has the ability to come on a message board and complain about how TCAS wasn't necessary.

Many who have come before you and me have died giving us the tools to help keep us safe and have made this industry what it is today. Maybe if you had family or friends on Aeromexico 498 you would have a different view.

MEL relief doesn't give you the relief from using good judgement. I probably would have taken that plane, but from what I understand, his actions were reasonable and not worthy of termination. Let's see what the jury comes up with.

 

[Poahi]

the TCAS isn't the issue...the management is. I've flown with those guys from Gulfstream and heard the horrors. I thought MESA was bad....it does get worse. As a former commuter pilot, stay strong and dont ever let the company/ management make "Your flying decisions". Whats the worse that happens....you lose your job at a poorly run company who would self disclose on you in a heart beat to the FAA. Yes...You can get hired somewhere else !!!

Just imagine what the posts would look like on this board if something would have happened on that flight.

"I can't believe that guy took an airplane without TCAS at a low altitude and flew it all over southern Florida with passengers on board." "What an idiot!" "My family will never fly on Gulfstream again!"

"Those pilots are inexperienced and can't think for themselves!"

Yet when a pilot makes a decision based on reasonable judgement and safety concerns some people on this board can't wait to bash him. Very sad.

 

[BOHICAgain]

Just imagine what the posts would look like on this board if something would have happened on that flight.

"I can't believe that guy took an airplane without TCAS at a low altitude and flew it all over southern Florida with passengers on board." "What an idiot!" "My family will never fly on Gulfstream again!"

"Those pilots are inexperienced and can't think for themselves!"

Yet when a pilot makes a decision based on reasonable judgement and safety concerns some people on this board can't wait to bash him. Very sad.

excellent point...

That would have been the nicer of the post, im sure that the FI folks would come up with much worse than that

 

[JustaNumber]

Well whatever you and PCL are smoking it must be the same brand, good luck with that defense.

I guess a lot of us captains are smoking the same brand, thank goodness.

Straight from the preamble to our company's MEL (which is probably similar to all approved MEL's):

"Operators are responsible for exercising the necessary operational control to ensure that an
acceptable level of safety is maintained. When operating with multiple inoperative items, the
interrelationships between those items and the effect on aircraft operation and crew workload will be
considered.

WHEN USING THE MEL, COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATED INTENT OF THE PREAMBLE,
DEFINITIONS, AND THE CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS SPECIFIED IN THE MEL IS REQUIRED."
(I didn't even have to add the all caps).

In addition, FAR 91.3(a) states that "[t]he pilot in command of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft."

I'm no lawyer, but I believe that this defense is quite clear and more than adequate. I have to add, that I hope for your passengers' sake, that you are not acting as PIC at present.

 

[Say Again Over]

So let me see, you guys are now scared to fly without TCAS, because you are the final authority, and look what happened in Los Angeles, yata yata... You guys are hilarious.

 

[Say Again Over]

I'm no lawyer, but I believe that this defense is quite clear and more than adequate. I have to add, that I hope for your passengers' sake, that you are not acting as PIC at present.

That's obvious, and yes, I was probably a PIC before you were born.