The Bashing Begins

[Captain Morgan]

Yeah, but even Yeager ran his P-51 off of the runway. Sh!t happens. I'm against the puppy mills but I'm also not perfect. I honestly feel bad for the guy, his crew, and his family, the vultures are circling.

 

[Baronman]

Not directly related to the Colgan accident but come on...There are lots of people in this career that shouldn't be here but are because they were friendly, had a good attitude and could pay the training costs. Fail a checkride, retrain, good to go to the next level and do it again....Then when regionals need bodies they get into a 121 job.

You've never been in the sim with a partner who couldn't quite get a V1 cut down? Or the single engine landing to mins ended up with the plane banking like hell to get aligned at the last minute? I mean...we know the engine failiure/fire is about to happen in the sim yet they still can't quite get the plane in a satisfactory position. Over and over....But eventually they get it to come out "satisfactorily." You're telling me the day when it really happens, when they have no idea it's coming, that same guy is going to nail it? I'd put my money on the guy who could do it in the sim the first time.

 

[Fubijaakr]

If the shake up in the Colgan Training Dept. is any indication, they're going to take a big hit on this one.

 

[ehaecker]

They said the guy had been at Colgan since 2005. Since he went through a puppy mill, that means he was probably just a student pilot in 2004. That means he has failed a checkride every year since he has been a pilot. That should raise anybody's eyebrow. That many failures over such a short period of time would indicate that his failures were more than just a simple case of s**t happens.

 

[V-1]

Welcome to the future of the aviation industry.

 

[LearLove]

not that it matters but,

Yeah, but even Yeager ran his P-51 off of the runway.

I may be wrong but I think it was a T-6 down in GA somewhere (5 or more years ago) and it went off the side of the runway (and ground looped - strong x-wind). Or do you know of another incident?

 

[Morettis]

The only checkride I've ever failed was my first multi engine stage check back when I had all of 70 hours probably. In the 3000+ hours since then I've passed every one on the first try including my single pilot type ride in the Metro. There's just no excuse for screwin 5 checkrides, they aren't hard, you know exactly what you're going to have to do and exactly whats expected of you well before you ever get near the plane.

Isn't this the exact reason that PRIA was created for? Whats the point if airlines don't care?

 

[veneratio]

5 is way way way too much.

 

[Gobi Gred]

Unfortunately I think this accident shows that recent up and coming pilots are not getting "seasoned" enough. Years ago you really had to pay your dues if you wanted to make it even to a good regional flying turboprops. Normally someone would spend years instructing then they maybe would move on to charter, banner towing, freight, etc. After acummulating around 3000 hours you would be competitive for a good regional. Then it might be another few years before you upgraded. What you saw in the last few years was new pilots instructing a bit and then heading straight to the right seat of a big complex turboprop or regional jet. I have lost count of how many FOs I have flown with in the last few years that have that type of background. A lot of them are good pilots and can handle the airplane fine but frankly there are times when it is painfully obvious that they are not seasoned pilots. There is no substitute for good ole fashioned hours and experience. I don't care what high priced school you went to. I agree that 5 failures is a lot considering the length of this captain's career. I would argue that perhaps his failures weren't always necessarily due to incompetence, but rather simply taking on more than he should of.

 

[V-1]

Just prior to age 65 the industry was hiring three hundred hour pilots who had been trained by three hundred hour pilots. There's a veritable cornucopia of experience and knowledge from which to learn.

 

[HOMER D POE]

methinks you're on to something....over 40...never flew..wanna be pilot... from the pattern to a Q...recipe for well...what happened... there aren't any comebacks...no excuses...he had no business in a left seat of anything but a cherokee...

 

[Salukipilot4590]

so i guess a dr who inadvertently kills someone shoudlnt be allowed to practice-- how may times have the wrong limbs been amputated?

and a lawyer who allows a guilty man free and a not guilty man jailed should be disbarred?

and tilton who loses billions shoulde be fired?


GMAFB.


SKIPPY

Umm...yes... I do believe those things should happen...then again I live in an imaginary world...

 

[ehaecker]

methinks you're on to something....over 40...never flew..wanna be pilot... from the pattern to a Q...recipe for well...what happened... there aren't any comebacks...no excuses...he had no business in a left seat of anything but a cherokee...

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this. Look for more accidents like this to happen as more and more 250 hour wonders become captains.

 

[crj567]

So you are saying it is OK to fail 5 check rides? Sure I can understand busting the CFI for 8's on or whatever, but 5 checkrides???
In this industry, we are trained to detect a chain of events (mistakes), and break that chain before it leads to an accident. I would say 5 failures is a good start to that chain...
If my opinion makes me a Yeager or Hoover, fine. We need more Yeagers and Hoovers.

No, the fact that you have managed to fly all grandad's planes (Pitts, Stearman, Blah, and Blah, and Blah) on the weekend makes you a Yeager/Hoover. (BTW-it has been a while since I have seen a jet with a tailwheel-so who the hell cares?)

The fact that you have identified yourself as an "RJ FO" makes you a Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldrin.

The fact that you show up to work with spikey hair, an I-Pod and little blinking wheels on your roll-a-board just makes you a tool.....

-Go back to "nick-at-nite" and leave your daddy's computer alone!

 

[crj567]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this. Look for more accidents like this to happen as more and more 250 hour wonders become captains.

Kinda tough to even qualify for type ride with 250 hours, but oh well; facts don't matter here.....

 

[Smacktard]

Kinda tough to even qualify for type ride with 250 hours, but oh well; facts don't matter here.....

Key word in the original quote was 'become'...

 

[flynryan15]

The crap thing here is the FAA had a bullseye on Colgan for pencil whipping crew records. Some how I think it is all going to take a back seat to this and not get the media attention it deserves!

 

[AEROSQUADRON69]

Does this open Colgan contract for bids?

 

[701EV]

Where did he get original flight training?

701EV

 

[hockeypilot44]

This does not surprise me. The last three regional crashes (Pinnacle, Comair, and Colgan) have all had a former Gulfstream International Airlines' pilot in one of the seats. These companies decided to hire pilots with lower qualifications and sacrifice safety rather than raise compensation. Now they act surprised when under-qualified pilots make serious mistakes and kill innocent people. Where do you think the naked MDT pilot worked before Pinnacle? Gulfstream Airlines. This is the type of pilot that has been coming out of that scab outfit for years. The FAA should have shut it down a long time ago. What kind of airline puts car parts on its airplanes? Rant over. I just have to accept that any moron with a few bucks can fly an airline these days. Not safely, but they can fly an airliner.