ASApilotboy
Member
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2005
- Posts
- 6
stereotyping / and the tragedy
As a non-professional pilot, one whose background is Ops, I have a lifelong love for aviation, and an admiration for the folks who dare to soar into that long delirious burning blue. Way north of not only 40, but 50, I have a few thoughts on the 3701 tragedy...
It has been my privilege to jumpseat and observe type A guys flying with type Z guys, and in my limited but valuable experience I've always been impressed with the professionalism exhibited in the cockpit as rigorous training procedures are followed by both older and younger pilots.
I've observed younger men - whose vocabulary in the pilot lounge is peppered with popular items from the contemporary lexicon - revert immediately to standard cockpit English and comport themselves in totally professional manner when in the plane.
In days gone by, I always felt more comfortable when I saw some gray hair in the cockpit. Now, after my experiences jumpseating, while having an experienced pilot still goes a long, long way in emergency situations, I've come to appreciate that rigorous training and professional dedication helps make our younger generation of aviators every bit as capable.
Three things stand out, to me, in the 3701 tragedy: the pilots absolutely did not conduct themselves in a manner remotely resembling professional airline pilots - even given the status of the repositioning flight; the pilots' behavior after clearly realising the seriousness of the situation did not present the level of alarm, or urgency, one would expect to see; and that raises clearly the spectre of at least the possibility of impairment - either physiological or induced by some other agent.
In the end, along with all of you who care about aviation and aviators, it's indeed a tragedy to lose folks - even if they're at fault. Most of us - if not all - have memories of things we did that could have cost us our lives. Most of us - if not all - don't do those things anymore.
All of you have made valid contributions to the thought processes we share concerning 3701's end. My hope is that we don't try so hard to build walls between our different vantage points that we can't see the lesson.
Fly safe. I appreciate what all of you do up there.
As a non-professional pilot, one whose background is Ops, I have a lifelong love for aviation, and an admiration for the folks who dare to soar into that long delirious burning blue. Way north of not only 40, but 50, I have a few thoughts on the 3701 tragedy...
It has been my privilege to jumpseat and observe type A guys flying with type Z guys, and in my limited but valuable experience I've always been impressed with the professionalism exhibited in the cockpit as rigorous training procedures are followed by both older and younger pilots.
I've observed younger men - whose vocabulary in the pilot lounge is peppered with popular items from the contemporary lexicon - revert immediately to standard cockpit English and comport themselves in totally professional manner when in the plane.
In days gone by, I always felt more comfortable when I saw some gray hair in the cockpit. Now, after my experiences jumpseating, while having an experienced pilot still goes a long, long way in emergency situations, I've come to appreciate that rigorous training and professional dedication helps make our younger generation of aviators every bit as capable.
Three things stand out, to me, in the 3701 tragedy: the pilots absolutely did not conduct themselves in a manner remotely resembling professional airline pilots - even given the status of the repositioning flight; the pilots' behavior after clearly realising the seriousness of the situation did not present the level of alarm, or urgency, one would expect to see; and that raises clearly the spectre of at least the possibility of impairment - either physiological or induced by some other agent.
In the end, along with all of you who care about aviation and aviators, it's indeed a tragedy to lose folks - even if they're at fault. Most of us - if not all - have memories of things we did that could have cost us our lives. Most of us - if not all - don't do those things anymore.
All of you have made valid contributions to the thought processes we share concerning 3701's end. My hope is that we don't try so hard to build walls between our different vantage points that we can't see the lesson.
Fly safe. I appreciate what all of you do up there.