Put Down The Laptops and Fly the Plane NWA

[Fugawe]

Guys shoulda stuck with a 'sleeping' story. Might have been defensible with all the attention on fatigue today.

Laptop story will get them fired, and probably tickets pulled.

They screwed up, they know it and we know it. We've all screwed up. No metal was bent fortunately, just tons of egg face.

I don't condone what they did -- it was a professional screw up, no matter what the excuse is. But, I do know that I (and any of us) can be a heartbeat away from a hearing on any given day of flying. So save the personal attacks on these guys.

 

[b82rez]

CNN is interviewing a flight instructor in a Cessna simulator right now. Awesomeness

 

[Fugawe]

CNN is interviewing a flight instructor in a Cessna simulator right now. Awesomeness

Gotta love how the press goes right to the experts..............

 

[densoo]

If that's the case then I think we'll see USA Todays blowing around taxiways everywhere...

...........

 

[rigger]

Guys shoulda stuck with a 'sleeping' story. Might have been defensible with all the attention on fatigue today.

Laptop story will get them fired, and probably tickets pulled.

They screwed up, they know it and we know it. We've all screwed up. No metal was bent fortunately, just tons of egg face.

I don't condone what they did -- it was a professional screw up, no matter what the excuse is. But, I do know that I (and any of us) can be a heartbeat away from a hearing on any given day of flying. So save the personal attacks on these guys.

Of course they were asleep! You are right they should have told the truth and moved on, but they did not have the balls to admit a screw up and now it get's worse for all of us.

I have a real problem with this whole thing....we are professionals, we are always on here harping on being a professional, but when it's time for two of our brothers to stand up and be a professional we make excuses for them and fall back on the "anyone of us could be here next" Well no kidding, If you screw up as a professional then stand up make no excuses and take what is going to happen, Then put your head down and work your butt off to make sure it can't/wont happen to the next guy!

I and you have all screwed up plenty of times...the big difference in todays world is it's not MY fault!!! I am so damn sick and tired of that attitude....this is no different then landing on a taxie-way or missing your altitude or _______________ fill in the blank!!!! If you make a MISTAKE admit it move on and help the industry get better....don't act like these two losers and try to hide inside the industry and make it worse for those of us who have tried to be a true professional during the good and the BAD times.....

 

[Whine Lover]

"I don't think there is a single FOM out there that dosen't say something to the effect of "reading of books, newspapers, listening to music or use of personal computers is prohibited"

Hmmm...Both airlines I worked at had no such policy or prohibitive statement in the GOM/FOM or anywhere else for that matter.



YKMKR

 

[skyaddict]

"I don't think there is a single FOM out there that dosen't say something to the effect of "reading of books, newspapers, listening to music or use of personal computers is prohibited"

Hmmm...Both airlines I worked at had no such policy or prohibitive statement in the GOM/FOM or anywhere else for that matter.



YKMKR

Rest assured that every company will soon have it plastered all over the place and even added to some checklists- just pray one is not paired too long with a FOM Nazi. Plus, I am betting this publicity just subtracted ten years from the time until cockpit video recorders are forced on us. Chuck Schumer or some other grandstander is probably calling for new FARs and a special task force as we speak.

 

[Secret Squirrel]

I keep hearing that the CVR was pulled for investigation. I thought the CVR could not be used to go after pilots in investigations? They should have kept their damn mouths shut and let the union handle it. Now they are screwed.

 

[CaptJax]

Another Wag on NWA Flt 188

Jon Carroll - SF Chron

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Well, this is mysterious. It seems that a Northwest Airlines flight bound from San Diego to Minneapolis overshot its mark by about 150 miles, then had to turn around, come back and land, more than an hour behind schedule.

Now, I know Minneapolis is not Mexico City, but surely something must have been visible even at 37,000 feet. And besides, as I understand it, airplanes are now equipped with instruments that tell the pilots where they are on the globe (your car may have a similar device), so the confusion is, well, confusing.

Maybe they had the woman's voice switched off. You know, the one that says "Turn left in two blocks" or, my favorite, "You have reached your destination." It's hard to imagine that the woman was being annoying, as she sometimes is, because she can't have been saying much. "You're still flying toward Minneapolis. Good going!" That would be unprofessional.

But the story gets more bizarre. The pilots did not respond to radio calls from various ground control functionaries saying, "Uh, guys, you might want to start descending to Minneapolis because it's, like, right under you."

And you have to wonder about the passengers. They knew they were supposed to get in at 8:01; they might have become suspicious at 8:05 when the plane had not started descending and they were still free to move about the cabin and it was entirely OK for them to have their seat backs in the full downright position.

I envision at least one person asking a flight attendant what was going on, and the flight attendant (who might also have been aware of the time, because she probably wanted to have a real meal just like everyone else on the plane) saying, "Let me just ask the captain" and going up to the front. And what would she have found?

Well, according to sources, the pilots told the FBI that "they were in a heated discussion over airline policy and they lost situational awareness." Now, that's never a phrase you want to hear in an official airplane report - the pilots "lost situational awareness." I mean, I don't care how heated your discussion is, if the flight controllers are squawking at you and the little clock is saying 8:20 and you haven't even begun to take the plane down, that's gotta be one hell of an argument.

"OK, Ted, you want to take it outside? Let's take it outside. Put this damn thing down anywhere and we'll pop the emergency chute and we'll see who has a better understanding of corporate governance."

One online friend suggested: "Perhaps they were in a serious argument about their likelihood of being laid off, having their salaries cut by 75%, being shifted to the airline's nonunion, cut-rate regional affiliate, or losing their health insurance or pension plan."

It is true that being a pilot is not quite as glamorous as it used to be, but that's true of being a doctor too. Heck, I remember when television shows featured newspaper columnists as heroes. Still, one would hope that the pilots would be able to control their resentments while they were on the job, just as I do, except in the previous sentence.

In a way, I suppose it's comforting to know that the plane can just fly itself off into the vasty wastelands of the North Woods while the pilots debated FCC regulations in re: cockpit safety. Although, personally, I think there was a woman involved, or a man, an object of affection who had claim to the hearts of both pilots, because only physical passion can make a person forget that he or she is carrying 144 passengers on a big airplane.

Another suggestion has been made: In February 2007, a plane overshot the Hilo airport in Hawaii by 30 miles, and both pilots eventually acknowledged that they had fallen asleep. Ah, that island languor; so intoxicating. So maybe the pilots, rather than being deep in a complex argument about airline regulations, were in a deep snooze, dreaming of good times to come in St. Paul.

In which case, I think, even better news. A plane can fly itself safely and comfortably for 150 miles (beating the old record by 120 miles) while both pilots are in the arms of Morpheus. Didn't the flight attendants suspect something? Where was that deadheading air marshal who's supposed to be guarding our welfare? Maybe terrorists just have to wait for the pilots to doze off before initiating their evil plans. OK, that last part is not such good news.

I think maybe cabins need another automatic voice device that just screams "Wake up!" at random intervals. What could it hurt?

Uh, tower, we have a situation here.

I think I see Nome, Alaska, off to my left. Can you check my position?

 

[crashpad]

I and you have all screwed up plenty of times...the big difference in todays world is it's not MY fault!!! I am so damn sick and tired of that attitude.......

Amen brother! I threw a middle aged man off my plane last week when he told my flight attendant: "You need to get your $hit together!"...
The look on his face when he was escorted from the plane was one of utter confusion as to what was going on.
Hmmm, let me check my tolerance meter for people who don't take accountability for their behavior......Yep, still at zero. Buh-Bye Pretzel-Boi.