Ever flown with Captain Queeg?

[CL60]

rumpletumbler,

Maybe not Captain Queeg but... worse if you can believe it. I was only one among many in a long list of FO's this person used as human toilet paper. Here are just a few characteristics of my least memorable captain:

Egomaniacle, bullying, extremely confrontational, demeaning to subordinates, "knows it all," "did it all," undermining of even the slightest amount of confidence his F/O managed to build, verbally threaten to do physical harm to F/O, threaten to fire F/O at least once a week, unable to accurately remember any of his own mistakes, (he just remembered his mistakes differently than they actually occurred... he lied), able to remember all and even the smallest F/O mistakes, etc, etc, etc... Good news is, these people don't usually go very far if they survive.

Bitter, me? At first, yes. I eventually learned to treat it as a learning experience though. If you have had similar experiences, pm me and I'm sure I can give you some advice.

 

[CL60]

Oh yeah, this is the best part!!

His first words to me in the cockpit were:

"I don't need you here, I don't want you here, the only reason you are here is because this aircraft requires two pilots."

I'll never forget it!! Now, I have to laugh every time I recall the day he said that to me. He could have starred in the posted video.

 

[checkessential]

An infamous Capt. brief at our airline states that the F/O can be replaced with a magazine rack, and the F/A with a Coke machine...

 

[Captain X]

Ahhhh...Panic Boy.....

The memories. That dude would run back to the lav on the 120 as soon as the sterile light went off. And every single **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** time, I had to turn the freakin' recirc fans off so I wouldn't pass out.

As far as the whole CO-Captain thing............ Have I got some stories about that!!!

 

[ShawnC]

The memories. That dude would run back to the lav on the 120 as soon as the sterile light went off. And every single **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** time, I had to turn the freakin' recirc fans off so I wouldn't pass out.

Well there is always 100% O2.

 

[Typhoon1244]

I never flew with a Queeg...I may have been a Queeg once or twice, we all have...but I did get an object lesson early on about the advantages of being in the left seat.

One of my IOE captains would do the walk around while I shuffled paper...until it started raining. Then it was my turn to walk around.

 

[ShawnC]

And umbrellias are probally considered deadly weapons by the security screeners huh?

 

[~~~^~~~]

The memories. That dude would run back to the lav on the 120 as soon as the sterile light went off. And every single **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** time, I had to turn the freakin' recirc fans off so I wouldn't pass out.

Don't you know your emergency action items?

Pressurization controller - Manual
Cabin Altitude - Increase

Blows the poo back towars the outflow valves.

 

[BigFlyr]

Then there are those who proceed to quiz you on the airplane systems when there is nothing else to talk about... Of course they just finished recurrent training and you, as a typical pilot, may not have cracked the book in a while... Or they make every ride feel like a check-ride... Got to love it!

 

[Timebuilder]

Just the other day, I was sent to search the aircraft for some missing strawberries...

 

[bobbysamd]

And don't forget about those practice vectors to fly across that target towline!

 

[#21]

Captain's briefing to a new F.O. :
"All of the instruments and controls on this side of the panel are mine.
All of the instruments and controls in front of you are also mine.
Occasionally, I may allow you to use them.
Any questions ? ?"

CRM: Captain Runs Machine.

Ha! Ha!

 

[kilomike]

Queeg Chief Pilots

What's even worse is a Capt. Queeg Chief Pilot who takes delight in firing people for frivolous reasons.

I remember someone who was a civil engineer who had alot of flight experience as well being unceremoniously dumped at a regional airline for no other reason than not scoring 100% on the final, written examination! (Missing by a couple of points, I would add!!)

Also a fine ex-Army helicopter pilot who was the best student in class was washed out in the simulator for minor mistakes. This kind of aggressive washing out at the pleasure of a chief pilot to fill his vendettas needs to be stopped. It's a waste of money and resources to wash out good people who will make good employees, especially over minor mistakes! WE ARE ALL HUMAN, and these b$$$ards have GOT to realize that!! I think there needs to be some way to regulate this kind of stuff--workers need to have more rights than this.

 

[bobbysamd]

Chief Pilot Queeg

Well said, kilomike. Aside from paranoia, don't forget about insecure and immature chief pilot and sim instructor types who wash out people unfairly and who make them suffer an unjust PRIA hit. Did I hear "sadist" just now??

PS - I was going to write this earlier. Of course, there are the Captains Queeg and "gear up, shut up" types. However, a new FO I met at Mesa who had his first line flight told us his story. This was a MAPD 300-hour who was working part-time on the desk at the school. At any rate, he told us how he alternated legs on his first trip. I vaguely recall that the captain might even had given him the first leg out. I don't believe this was an IOE trip, either. So, there are captains who are decent people and professionals.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Don't forget that Lieutenant Commander P.F. Queeg was once Ensign Queeg. You can't have a Queeg in the left seat without first having him (or her) in the right seat.

I had one guy, a former military type with lots of fighter time, practically tell me that he deserved to be a captain more than I did. I smiled patiently and told him "I'm sorry you feel that way...but I got here first." (I couldn't help wondering, since he was such a first-class hot throttle jockey, why he was sitting in my 30-seat turboprop instead of a 737 somewhere....)

A quick way to spot a Queeg: ever had a captain royally screw something up, and then either deny it or come up with some outlandish excuse for it? I've been lucky to never have been in that situation, but I'll bet some of you have, and I'd love to hear those stories.