Ntsb Notes First Officer's Failure....in 2003 Fedex Crash

[Huck]

1. There was a policy that lowered the bar for certain people in the mid-90's at FDX. It was done away with a long time ago. Anybody hired in the last ~7 years has at least 1000 PIC turbine. The girls I've met here have considerably more than that.


2. What pi$$es me off is the findings about the slide and the bags. The story around the schoolhouse is this: the j/s deployed the slide on the upwind (non-inferno) side. The wind was so bad, and the roll so pronounced towards the gear collapse, that the slide tucked under the fuselage. The j/s didn't see the picture he expected, so he kept pulling handles, thus releasing the girt bar. But it MADE NO DIFFERENCE, the slide was unuseable.

And as for the bags - 7 people standing in line to slide ~30 feet or so down a rope (again on the high, upwind side). This took so much time, the guys standing in line back in the courier compartment chucked some luggage out the previously opened 1L door. BIG F#$$#ING DEAL. How dare they criticize! Does anyone HONESTLY THINK those guys got out of a burning jet any slower than they absolutely had to?

 

[Chronic Jetlag]

Hey Yank McCobb:

Well said! Since we're on the subject of naming names. I think the person you're referring to regarding PRIA was Ron Hillis from Comair. He made the cover of USA today back around 1996. I think he got fired from several commuters before Comair picked him up. Feel free to correct me if I have my facts wrong; I'm going by memory.

 

[Stifler's Mom]

http://www.generalaviationnews.com/contact.html

You know, I clicked on the following article, and sad to say it wasn't what I was hoping it was about.

John Carroll’s perfect pair 8/6/2003
More...

 

[HAZ-MAT]

Haven't seen this one posted yet...

December 18, 2003

Looking at the date, me thinks that some of those bags being thrown out might have had some nice christmas presents in those bags. Thats a wild guess though, I mean thats just my angle, but i'm christian, so who knows
cheers!

 

[HAZ-MAT]

Haven't seen this one posted yet...

......

 

[100LL... Again!]

When you suck as a pilot, you suck. Regardless of gender.

The issue is not whether women are suited to fly airplanes - we all know they are.

The issue is that you cannot easily discipline a femle due to PC-think.

She should hang her head for her crappy airmanship, which seems to be far from an isolated incident. No male would have ever been given this many chances.

 

[Inconceivable]

Disclaimer: my wife is a pilot also and flies like a freaking machine. (Though I'll never admit this in person) She is a far better sick-and-rudder pilot than I am--just unbelievably instinctive.

At a former employer, the airline formerly known as Express Airlines I, there was a female SF3 FO--she'd been in the right seat a little over two years before going to upgrade (an admittedly quick-and-dirty process). Busted her type ride. Retrained, rechecked--another bust. Here is where you and I would be sitting in the right seat for another year if not terminated. She was given the first and only (that I know of since 1995) THIRD type ride. Ths time the union, the feds watched, with the CP while another check airman rode right seat--that's 6 people in the sim! Another pink (I would have too with that many people breathing down my neck). Sent back for right seat retraining, something went wrong there too and the feds pulled her instrument rating for a 709.

The company then decided to pick up the cost of her retraining IN THE SF3 SIM!!!! to prepare her for her 709 ride. A few months later (when Johnny McFed could get around to doing it) she passed the 709, then passed her 441 for the right seat and nine months later got her type (contractual limitations of waiting a year). After the seat-lock transitioned to the RJ and passed on the first go. From everyone I've heard, a wonderful person and a good pilot.

However, during this time new-hires were being cut loose for needing an extra sim session--often these were unpaid, PFT-ing newhires. The VP FltOps thought that extra sim sessions cost too much (but explain the money lost in throwing away someone who only needs a few hours more until the checkride--especially coming straight out of a PA44 heavy?)

I have seen both sides of it with my wife--the easy hiring is often countered by a check airman determined to make you pay/earn your dues/see you never make it to a major/put you in your place/etc. I flew with a retired field grade (female) AF officer who had "troubles" as an FO and in CA training--how do you get command wings when you can't plan your own descent profile from FL290 150 miles out in an RJ?

But if you think you get pi$$ed about "bad women pilots" being promoted beyond their ability, bring it up with a chick who actually CAN fly--and has to prove herself to the rest of her her whole career because of them.

 

[Dodge]

I always told my folks that it would be just a matter of time before an airline crashed a plane and the investigation led to a pilot with 10 times less experience than required for other pilots and/or a poor training record.

I always bet that it would be United, not Fed Ex.

 

[Hung Start]

Inconcievable:

Very well put. My wife and daughter are both pilots. Both have no ambition to go to any commercial operations, but both are very insulted by the "get the job because your a gal"
Get the job because you deserve it.

 

[sleepy]

I am glad to see a lot has changed in this buisness. I remember when pilots use to have certain biases against women. This thread makes me sick. I have flown with just as many weak dudes as chicks. Karma is a B1tch guys. You know what they say about judging other pilots. If she was weak....as it apears, I am sure she will or has been dealt with. But does this really need to turn into a "girls aren't qualified to fly" thread. I mean when is the last time you heard of pilot in the Mil or Civ doing something stupid in his plane ( almost weekly). We all have friends who are chicks that fly, and I am sure most of us know some pretty fre@k1ng good women pilots so lets lay off that issue, it's old. And if you are gonna post a name put yours up as the author..that seems fair.

Let me be clear, I have no opposition to a qualified person getting a major airline job. I only have a problem with obvious quota hires (like this woman). I have no fear of "bad karma", as I have always done things the right way in this business. Maybe the bad karma ended up with the right person in this case (the quota).