Burnt out nav light on Christmas Eve

[rettofly]

Defer the light per the MEL and amend the release. Then slap the FO for finding the burned out light and telling you when the CVR is on.

Slap the FO for EVER mentioning ANY MX item within earshot of anyone but the PIC.

 

[AA717driver]

rettofly--Ain't that the truth. I had a ramper, on a flight that was already late, find a ding in the leading edge about the size of a dime. He came in the cockpit, in front of the pax and FA's and told me about it. Game over, dude!

Twenty-five minutes and five mechanics later, we got moving.

The real pisser was that the ding was on the left wing. What the hell was a ramper doing on the left side of the plane anyway. AND, it was a DC9! How can you distinguish one ding from another... Dip***t!TC

 

[Draginass]

Either the aircraft is adequate for dispatch or not. If the nav light is burned out then it is not, unless the MEL says otherwise. This is not the captain's perogative to ignore. If management wants the aircraft to fly, then they'll change the light. End of discussion.

 

[kevdog]

dragginass, i agree...

like i said it's a quick fix.

 

[rettofly]

Either the aircraft is adequate for dispatch or not. If the nav light is burned out then it is not, unless the MEL says otherwise. This is not the captain's perogative to ignore. If management wants the aircraft to fly, then they'll change the light. End of discussion.

Agree. But.. it IS the Captain's prerogative to do the right thing and to be the first to know if the FO finds a potential oroblem.

 

[xjcaptain]

I'm not sure how you other guys operate, but as a Captain, I EXPECT, and RELY on other people to tell me if they see something wrong with the aircraft, because I am not usually the one doing the preflight. To discourage ANYBODY from passing on what they think is relavent information wheather it's a rampie or FO has the potential to someday KILL you. After getting chewed out, rather than thanked, they probably won't mention anything next time, and the next time it might be something valid, and on MY aircraft. Even though most rampies are not pilots, they are around aircraft enough to know what looks "right", and "normal" vs. "different". They can come up and discuss it with me any time.

 

[vclean]

Safety issue, I need to know now. Nav light, overhead pax light, static wick, etc, we discovered on post-flight.

 

[rettofly]

Safety issue, I need to know now. Nav light, overhead pax light, static wick, etc, we discovered on post-flight.

Agree. But...not to be paranoid, if a Fed at the end of a bad day happens to see you taxi and launch without the required nav light , he or she might just decide to make a phone call. Of course, if it breaks after brake release and breakaway thrust is applied, you can legally keep going and write it up at next time you put the parking brake on.

Bottom line: If it's broken, fix it or MEL it, no matter who finds it. That's just me.

 

[Draginass]

I love some of you guys. It's not your discretion to ignore a problem with the aircraft. And guess what, when you do that captain a favor and DON'T tell him and the FAA finds it, what's your excuse now. Oh, and BTW you've probably screwed the captain also. Any FO that thinks that behavior is ok doesn't deserve his ticket, much less to be in command of anything.

When I do a walk around I tell the captain about ANYTHING that I find even questionable. And, to the man, every one has told me to get mx to check it out.

 

[Skybusdriver]

The answer that a "non-airline initiated" person should give is:
WE ARE NOT GOING UNTIL IT IS FIXED, EVEN IF IT IS THE LAST FLIGHT OUT ON CHRISTMAS EVE AND THERE ARE 20 NUNS and ORPHANS ONBOARD, AND THE CAPTAIN NEEDS TO GET HOME TO HIS PREGNANT WIFE.

But we all know what we would really do...