Diverted plane blamed on AA FA

[Skygod]

09:10 PM CDT on Friday, May 28, 2004

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tennessee -- An American Airlines flight attendant is facing a criminal charge in a bomb threat that diverted a Dallas to Boston AA flight.

The FBI said 37-year-old Gay Wilson was responsible for the threatening note that she claimed to have found yesterday in one of the plane's lavatories. The note said there was a bomb in the cargo hold. The jet was diverted to Nashville, but nothing harmful was found on board.

Wilson was arrested in Dallas Friday and charged with unlawful interference with an airplane. The federal charge carries up to a 20-year sentence.

The Arlington woman faces a court hearing on Tuesday.

Doug Riggin of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force said the crew and passengers were put in jeopardy and inconvenienced by the incident and the government expended a lot of resources for the investigation.

 

[hopeful]

37-year-old Gay Wilson

Aren't they all gay?

 

[jetexas]

Wow, they must be getting pretty desperate for meal breaks.

 

[FLB717]

Ahhh, for the days that Gay meant happy, being a pilot was a respected profession, flying was dangerous and sex was safe. The good ole days.

 

[jhill]

Ahhh, for the days that Gay meant happy, being a pilot was a respected profession, flying was dangerous and sex was safe. The good ole days.

Aint it a bich. What the he!! is wrong with this world? If you don't mind I'm going to borrow this.

 

[328dude]

I thought back in the day, safe sex meant a padded headboard.

 

[BigMotorToter]

The Captain on that flight was ex-TWA. Got the plane down from FL330 in 7 minutes. Dispatch tried to tell him to go to a different airport and he said no. Glad to see someone doing there job right. Just think if a lesser pilot had been at the controls and it was a real bomb. That plane and all the pax could have been spred all over Tennessee.

 

[80drvr]

The Captain on that flight was ex-TWA. Got the plane down from FL330 in 7 minutes. Dispatch tried to tell him to go to a different airport and he said no. Glad to see someone doing there job right. Just think if a lessor pilot had been at the controls and it was a real bomb. That plane and all the pax could have been spred all over Tennessee.

You're right..it was a nice job by the pilot getting the airplane down. However, your comments get a bit melodramatic from there. There was no bomb and if there was you wouldn't have any idea on the detonation device. Unless it had an old fashioned ticker, odds are having Chuck Yeager himself at the controls wouldn't have mattered much.

 

[pylut]

"lessor pilot"

to read as aa SNB

 

[ILStoMinimums]

The Captain on that flight was ex-TWA. Got the plane down from FL330 in 7 minutes. Dispatch tried to tell him to go to a different airport and he said no. Glad to see someone doing there job right. Just think if a lessor pilot had been at the controls and it was a real bomb. That plane and all the pax could have been spred all over Tennessee.

Where did he land? Is that from FL330 to the ground and stopped in 7 minutes? That would have to 4000-5000 fpm descent - Awesome!

 

[YEAGER1]

From 330. It would of had taken at least 10 min. A lessor pilot. How hard is it to open the boards and pull the power to idle ?

 

[ILStoMinimums]

From 330. It would of had taken at least 10 min. A lessor pilot. How hard is it to open the boards and pull the power to idle ?

I'm assuming he was flying a 757 or 767? How does the 757/767 do in a steep descent? Can the airspeed be controlled easily?

 

[Stifler's Mom]

I believe it was a Super 80.

 

[flx757]

Where did he land? Is that from FL330 to the ground and stopped in 7 minutes? That would have to 4000-5000 fpm descent - Awesome!

Hardly "Awesome". 757 or "Super" 80 (I must be reminded that only AA's MD-80s are "Super" ), a 4000-5000 fpm descent is not all that difficult to accomplish using standard emergency descent procedures, which are routinely practiced. I would imagine ANY properly trained pilot, even a "lessor" one, should be able to accomplish this maneuver. Even those that are not ex-TWA, or those working for other operators.

 

[steveg]

TWA taught their pilots to THINK. aa teaches their pilots that they can't do anything without asking permission. If it was an aa Captain, he'd still be up there trying to figure out why nobody will tell him what to do. If you'd ever flown with both, you'd know what I mean. Ask an aa Captain when he is in charge. The book answer is when the gate agent lets him be. Pretty sad....

Right or wrong, the Captain of the flight took action and did what he thought was right. How hard is it to get get from 330 to the ground in 7 min's? How many of you have ever had the balls to try it, and stick with your decision once you started? No debating, no asking for advice, you're on your own and have to make a hard choice and live with it. It's easy to sit here and second guess, but if that Captain hadn't acted and done what he thought was the right course of action, it would have been another step back. Shoot, might as well let computers take over and do it for us. After all, we're just pilots and we can't be that smart. Let's just look at the book, or call and ask directions before we make a decision on our own. And NO, I don't mean to turn this into a TWA vs. aa debate, but it's sad to see the general trend.

 

[Saabslime]

Very well said Steveg.

 

[flx757]

And all I"M saying is it takes no heroic effort to achieve a safe 4000-5000 fpm descent in a B-757 or MD (eh...I mean "Super") 80, if the proper procedures are used.

As far as a pilot making a decision and sticking with it...again...I would think that ANY properly trained Captain should have this capacity. If not, they have no business being Captain.

 

[80drvr]

TWA taught their pilots to THINK. aa teaches their pilots that they can't do anything without asking permission. If it was an aa Captain, he'd still be up there trying to figure out why nobody will tell him what to do. If you'd ever flown with both, you'd know what I mean. Ask an aa Captain when he is in charge. The book answer is when the gate agent lets him be. Pretty sad....

Right or wrong, the Captain of the flight took action and did what he thought was right. How hard is it to get get from 330 to the ground in 7 min's? How many of you have ever had the balls to try it, and stick with your decision once you started? No debating, no asking for advice, you're on your own and have to make a hard choice and live with it. It's easy to sit here and second guess, but if that Captain hadn't acted and done what he thought was the right course of action, it would have been another step back. Shoot, might as well let computers take over and do it for us. After all, we're just pilots and we can't be that smart. Let's just look at the book, or call and ask directions before we make a decision on our own. And NO, I don't mean to turn this into a TWA vs. aa debate, but it's sad to see the general trend.

I think your post is full of it. AA has a lot of Captains. Some are better leaders than others. The corporation has its interest and the Captain has his...I've seen plenty stand up to do the right thing in a wide variety of situations. I've also seen some that were week and knuckled under to external pressures. This is no different than what I witnessed at another airline or in the military.

One of the scenarios in the AA interview process was a situation which required you to throw the book out the window and take charge of the aircraft to resolve it. They were specifically looking for leadership and decision making in their hiring process. This doesn't make AA any better than anyone else, but it is evidence they aren't out to hire a fleet of automons. Thus far, I don't think any airline has a lock on the perfect gene pool yet.

From our perspective as drivers, you take the best job offered based on the information and circumstances of the day. It's natural to have some pride in our respective organizations but some of the stuff I see on this boards gets a bit crazy. We're all along for the ride to some extent and if it works out it works out.

p.s. How many AA Captains have you actually flown the line with? Have you personally seen one make a bad decision in a non normal situation? If so, please elaborate.

 

[pylut]

Hey 80driver,
Sorry but the gate agent called and said she didn't authorize your last post.
Guess you better pull it

 

[rudderdog]

One of the scenarios in the AA interview process was a situation which required you to throw the book out the window and take charge of the aircraft to resolve it.

How about the sim? Ever had to actually do it working as a crewmember? TWA almost did this exact scenerio in the sim during recurrent about 3 or 4 years ago. Their trainning was very good. Don't know about AA except that they are changing their checklist philosophy (Bet it'll be alot like you-know-who) and isn't their recurrent training cycles reduced to 9 months instead of 12 or greater. If so, it probably isn't because of good performance.