Business Week Article

[embpic1]

At Great Lakes we had a 1900D land gear up in ORD. The GPWS and Flaps were Mel'd. This was legal per the MEL at the time. The only unsafe gear waring the crew had was the gear horn which the crew could cancel. The flap MEL stated that the crew was not to cancel the gear horn. Unfortunately it is almost a natural reaction to cancel the gear horn because it comes on whenever you pull the power to idle regardless of altitude. Well the crew cancelled the horn and landed gear up. The MEL was changed so that these two could not be differed together.

 

[Whine Lover]

“You need a place that doesn’t smell like sewage,” he says. “I feel very strongly about having a quiet place, a secure place and your own bed to get the rest. It’s all about saving lives.”

Oh, Brother. GMAFB. I can see the Headlines now:

" Slum Lord Crash Pad Owner Saves Thousands From Certain Death! "


What a Dope.


TYW

 

[andyd]

I was in that crash pad for a while when I was on the shuttle...as far as pads go it's pretty nice, everyone chips in to keep it clean, Mark keeps up on the maint. and cleaning supplies, the only way it could be more convenient would be if it were IN the terminal (TIC)...i wish I could find something similar to walk from from JFK!

 

[pilotyip]

rewrote rules

At Great Lakes we had a 1900D land gear up in ORD. The GPWS and Flaps were Mel'd. This was legal per the MEL at the time. The only unsafe gear waring the crew had was the gear horn which the crew could cancel. The flap MEL stated that the crew was not to cancel the gear horn. Unfortunately it is almost a natural reaction to cancel the gear horn because it comes on whenever you pull the power to idle regardless of altitude. Well the crew cancelled the horn and landed gear up. The MEL was changed so that these two could not be differed together.

A error crew was discoverd and the rules were rewritten. That is pretty standard. Remember NWA 1975, crew covered up Pitot Heat Lights on the ground because they bothered them. T/O with pitot off, climbing through FL270, Pitot froze over, crash, burn die. So the Far's were rewrittne to siad it was illegal to cover a warning light. As they say most rules are founded in blood.

 

[Kalifornia]

Don't you think a professional would not wait for the rules to necessarily change in exchange for saving some blood? Then again, the FAR's already have catch all rules like the Pilot-In-Command has final authority to decide whether the aircraft is safe to operate so Gulfstream is breaking regulations and deserves the scrutiny earned in the article.

 

[Hose A. Jiminez]

PilotYip,

As a former (and proud) freight dog, I say this with all due respect. When flying car parts from YIP to MMCU, it may make great business sense to find the lowest bidder. When putting the kids on a plane to go see Grandma for Christmas, the dynamic changes.

 

[doh]

How many times was the TCAS written up and signed off prior to his refusal of the airplane? Did he write up the door seals? I need a little more info.

 

[IBNAV8R]

TCAS inop. Restricted below 10,000' - where nearly ALL GA fly VFR. Dusk, where not all GA pilots turn on their lights. None of these by themselves are inherently dangerous. Add to this, he had supposedly just had a near-miss on the previous flight where a working TCAS had apparently saved the day.

We all know that accidents are generally not caused by singular failures but by a chain of events and circumstances. It is up to any pilot to recognize when the links to an accident are starting to form and to sever the chain. Sounds to me like he did that.
Just wondering if the flight in question had met with disaster? Would these same people stand-up to defend that captain's actions for taking an acceptable risk? Or, would they swear that THEY would have acted like a REAL captain and refused the flight.

 

[pilotyip]

don't think much difference between pax/carg

PilotYip,

As a former (and proud) freight dog, I say this with all due respect. When flying car parts from YIP to MMCU, it may make great business sense to find the lowest bidder. When putting the kids on a plane to go see Grandma for Christmas, the dynamic changes.

The guys in the front of the airplane are normallythe first ones to hit something when things go bad. So looking out for yourself in the cockpit is the same as looking out for your pax.

 

[waveflyer]

Dumb argument.

Point is that passengers are a lot more valuable a payload than car parts.
With respect, look at Fedex- think any airline could have that accident record and so little press.
The responsibility is simply much greater flying people.