Dangerously Heavy -

[Torey15]

This post is not meant to degrade or make fun of people in any way. Anybody out there in cyberspace who gets their britches in a wad over the PCness of this can sue me -

I recently saw a dangerously obese (had to be 350-375 pounds) pilot flying for one of the premier frax operators come into an FBO in a major metropolitan area. When I say dangerous, I mean this guy was big enough that not only his health (heart attack, stroke) would be of major concern, but also his ability to egress from the airplane in an emergency would be in doubt. He wasn't driving anything of the small cabin nature, but still you have to be somwhat of a contortionist to climb into and out of the front office of the ship he was in. I know - I have sat in both seats of one.

This guy may be agile enough to do everything he needs to and perfectly healthy. I hope he is. My only thoughts were about his overall health, his mobility in an emergency, and if someone had to assist him out of the aircraft, it would have looked to be impossible.

Flame away guys, I am sure you will.....

 

[Lrjet55]

Thats a fair commentary. I see the same thing everyday when I airline and there is a 6 month pregnant pilot on UNITED, the same overweight 767 captain at Delta and, my personal favorite, the just shy of 70 flight attendant on USair express commuter I was recently on. This lady could not close the boarding door by herself because it was too heavy. Plus she was wearing bedroom slippers...

Its everywhere. How these people pass a medical or company training is beyond me. Its not a fractional , airline or corporate thing. Its just aviation.

 

[TX_DFW]

In a time where america is getting more lazy and fatter every year, this will be a problem that won't be cured any time soon. People are too busy to excerise and eat a proper diet. So we live off of fast food and don't excerise. Lets hope people in our profession care about their health and do not give in to obesity.

 

[Flywrite]

I used to fly Jetstreams for a regional that had a few pilots who had trouble getting in and out through the cabin door, let alone the DV window we were supposed to crawl out of when things went pear-shaped.

As for the 70-year old FA...she is a sweet lady, and it sure is heart-warming to read her story of reaching her dream at her age, but I have to agree. All the sweet stories in the world don't mean squat when things start going downhill. Not to mention the fact that in today's environment the airlines should be recruiting former Marines as FAs, not septugenerians, no matter how sweet they are.

You're not PC on this, but you're right.

 

[WileE]

Begs the question

Why aren't there better standards to who is allowed to issue a medical? Everyone seems to know that there are some docs that you want to go to and some that you don't. I've had everything from not much more than turn your head and cough up to a full blood work up and the sound proof room with the little tones in your headset. Strangely enough both gave me the exact same Class 1 sheet of paper. Which do you think most pilots will go to?

I don't want to have to go through the third degree every six months, but I have seen several people flying in the left seat on a major airliner that you have to wonder if they will be able to wake up the next morning, much less physically evacuate an aircraft in an emergency.

 

[Lrjet55]

I most certainly was not trying to offend anyone. If we are discussing the same FA she was extermely sweet but her ability to perform her job safely was in question. As is the over weight pilot. Its sad really, thankfully it is the exception rather than the norm.

 

[bartpearl]

I'm pretty sure I know who you're talking about, and I wondered the same thing myself.

He was hired back when NJA was growing at light speed and the pool of resume's was small. Just goes to show you guys that NJA is not the aviation nirvana some may think it is.

 

[Lrjet55]

On the lighter side, how'd the guy get so big? We dont make nearly enough money to eat that much...

 

[FracPilot]

On the lighter side, how'd the guy get so big? We dont make nearly enough money to eat that much...

Maybe he ate the FOs on those longer flights. I just can't understand when people are that grossly overweight. It's not that difficult. Don't eat if you're not hungry. Don't eat just because you're bored. When you are full, quit eating. Get in some excercise now and then, and you're golden. I find time to lift weights and run 30-40 miles per week while on the road. I can hit twice that if I spend a significant amount of time in MX.

 

[Northern Lights]

Americans in general are over weight. When I have been in Europe, I have noticed that in general, the people are not over weight like they are here.

What probably helps is that they tend to walk a lot instead of driving door to door, and they don't eat the sugars and fats like we do here.

Last night I lugged several 40 pound bags of water softener salt down to the basement (one at a time). I kept thinking that if I weighed another 40 pounds that is what I would be lugging around all the time! It was motivation to stay trim.

 

[LJDRVR]

I flew a trip acouple of weeks ago with a nice FO, who happened to be a skinny guy. He and his wife recently took a trip to Israel, Everyone they came into contact with was convinced he was from Canada or Australia or England. When he would insist he was an American, most Israeli's refused to believe him because he wasn't fat. Pretty sad.

As I look around at the populace lately, it's become really obvious: Americans are a bunch of pod-people. I for one, don't want my tax dollars to support the health costs of a gazillion fat-a$$ baby boomers who have type 2, and heart disease after spending a lifetime shoving immense portions of un-healthy food into their maws, all washed down with obscene amounts of soft drinks. The average American eats 157 pound of refined sugar a year, yet yet "Joe six-pack" thinks that his weight could be controlled better if he just cut back on a little bit of fat. That pehaps, is the biggest food lie ever, perpetuated by an 8 billion dollar a year low/no fat food industry, and a well meaning but misinformed consumers. Heck, they're teaching it to our children; "Don't eat too much fat." as the words leave their lips, the vending industry has bought off our school boards, and the halls of schools are lined with time-bomb dispensing soda machines. Enough of my ranting. Sugar and over-indulgence are the root cause of this nation's obesity.

I think professional pilots as a whole are more disciplined than their "civilian" counterparts, but I too have noticed that some of our brothers and sisters are becoming a bit "ahem".....stout. Really does just about eliminate the chances of getting the quick-don on if they ever had an explosive decompression.

 

[Lrjet55]

Jumping off onto a tangent...

It infuriates me that there are currently law suits tying up our court system because civil liberties union and the "grossly overweight" members of society are suing the fast food industry for allowing them to become grossly overweight.

Its a sad state of affairs...

 

[Fly BI]

A few months ago I helped one of our Japenese female students dispatch her flight. This act of kindness prompted her to ask if I was European. I replied that I was American. She said "you no American, you too skinny, not fat like rest of Americans". While I took it as a complement, I reflected on our fat society and it's many supporters. Folks, we need to take PC and throw it out the window. Call a spade a spade. Fat people need to hear how nasty and repulsive thier condition is. Maybe if we start offending them, they'll get pissed off enough to change their lifestyle. While a small precentage of fatbodies are actively trying to change for the better, I believe the majority seem to think it's perfectly OK to disgrace the human body. Bottom line is laziness.

FAT PEOPLE LISTEN UP, TURN OFF THE T.V., PUT THE QUARTER PUNDER DOWN AND TAKE A WALK! AFTER YOU WORK UP A THIRST DON'T REACH FOR A DIET COKE!

Flame away................

 

[Snakum]

CAJD ... you're my new hero.

Thanks for saying what everyone else in entire phuk'n country under 200 lbs is thinking! I will not, nor will I ever, buy that 'metabolism' or 'thyroid' crap. I have not yet met a fat person who ate like a normal human being, and I'm 40 so I would have met one - I know a lot of fat people. .

That's about as ridiculous as some a$$wipe telling me he has a 'disease' that makes his arm muscles involuntarily pick up a drink of alcohol and get smashed.

Personal responsibility ... nothing more ... mothing less.

Minh
rant = off;

 

[WileE]

HERETIC! HERETIC!

Stone the Heretic!

Don't you know that nothing is every anyone's fault? It's always someone elses fault and every American has the god given right to sue for lots of money because they should never take personal responsibility for their own screw-ups. To think otherwise is blasphemy!

At least that's how the All-Powerful American Bar Association acts. Watch your backside Snakum, you might have a lawyer after you soon with a rock.


(Disclaimer for Aspiring2be: This post is meant to be humorous. I don't need a 200 line lecture on the morals of lawyers, how the American Bar Association promotes the betterment of all Americans or on how irresponsible it is to encourage stoning Snakum.)