What's the dumbest question you've been asked as a pilot?

[Fred Rogers]

I saw a guy ask a gate agent in DCA if she sold stamps.

 

[Fred Rogers]

So how many times have you had this exact conversation?
I have a big commute and it's all the time.. especially since the TSA can now only tell the difference between a real pilot and a fake one by the uniform.

-----boarding-----
passenger: Hey shouldn't you be up front?
Me: tee hee, gosh you are funny
passenger: (to person next to them) well we are ok, we've got an extra one
me: polite chuckle (oh god I just want to be HOME)
passenger: so are you scared to fly?

oh christ I can't even finish typing it, my brain can't handle it anymore

 

[Rook]

standing outside the terminal smoking one morning...... a dad and his little son walk up. Dad is impressing his kid with knowledge of airplanes and then see's me and says " see the three stripes on his jacket, see it, see it" pulls his son within 2 feet of me "he's a copilot, he talks on the radio and the captain teaches him to fly."

I wanted to put my cig out on dad's face and pull out my crank and say, i'm you father luke!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the best posts of '06!:laugh:

 

[smellthejeta]

Okay, I know this thread has an airline slant, but...

I gotta deal with dumb arse limo drivers all night long at the VNY airport.

There's five FBO's, and probably just as many "private" hangar facilities.

I get these guys driving up to me all of the time asking "Is this where I go to pick people up at the VNY airport?"

The other favorite question I get: "Can you give me an info on the ETA for this flight?" Me: "Nope." What do you mean, no? "I mean I have no ETA for that flight." Does that mean the plane is not coming here? "No, it means I have no ETA for that flight." After I repeat myself three times, they get the picture.

Now, for you guys not in the know, yeah, I have a feed for inbound flights (through a commerical product) but the feed is only useful when the plane is airborne. If the plane is not in the air, I can't tell you when it lands, can I?

(My other favorite is when the stupid limo drivers ask "Is the plane late?" Hey stupid, the plane gets here when it gets here. There is no such thing as "late" if you own it, or are otherwise paying to charter it.)

 

[EMB170Pilot]

Are you the pilot or the copilot?

 

[Sig]

Waterhead: Ahh, you guys JET pilots?

Me: No, but this guy used to drive B52s.

Waterhead: Well, I HOPE the JET pilots show up. It's a 15 minute difference in flight time.

Me, referencing crew card: Nope, it's four.

Waterhead: Naw, it's like 15.

Me: Don't let facts get in the way, but hey- me just dive pwops.... drool...

 

[liz289101]

I swear people check their common sense at the security checkpoint!

- Walking in CLT airport near gates E4, 6, and 8, some old man came up to me and asked "I see gates E6 and 8, but where is E7?"
- Are you old enough to fly? (This has come from pax, ramp agents, and FAs)
- "Do you ever get tired of doing the seatbelt demonstration?" Mind you, this question is asked when I'm in uniform with the stripes clearly visible.
- Again in CLT, "Where is Concourse A?" (as mentioned earlier, directions to the various areas of the terminal are clearly marked).
- Waiting in CLE for the plane to arrive, "Are we flying a full-size airplane?"
- After the crash in LEX, "I hope you use the correct runway."
- A gate agent once refused to give me the flight release because she thought I was the flight attendant.
- During initial training at my airline, two FA trainees asked me if I had ever flown an airplane before.

 

[NuGuy]

Heyas,

Some of those out there reading this, of the "wear the hat to the supermarket" stripe, seem to take offense at some of our attitudes. "The pax pay your salary...blah, blah, blah..."

Well, to answer those guys back, I echo what another poster said. I don't care if you're talking to the guy dumping the sh!tter, you treat people with a modicum of respect and understanding until they give you reason to do otherwise. As Patrick Swayze once said: "Be nice, until its time to not be nice".

Unfortunately these days, most people have been raised to believe the world revolves around them, and think nothing of comming right up in your grill and start badgering you in an extremely rude way. So the time to not be nice is pretty much right now.

Steps to asking me a question:

1) Ensure that I am not engaged in some activity requiring speaking to someone else, or eating.

2) Remain at least one arms length away from me at all times.

3) Formulate your question first. Think, then speak.

4) Preface your question with "pardon me", "excuse me" or "your indulgence please, Grand Exhalted One"

5) Ask your question in as few words as possible. To not breath on me nor attempt to touch me in any way. Do NOT make eye contact.

6) If I deem it appropriate, I will answer your question to the best of my ability. If still confused, you may ask for one clarification.

7) When finished, bow slightly, reply "by your command", turn and withdraw.

By following these simple steps, you will minimize my discomfort in dealing with you.

Nu

 

[ePilot22]

Warning Labels

You know, there's a deer season, duck season, rabbit season, etc......why can't we have a stupid people season? For about 3 months out of the year, whenever you see someone that is stupid, you can just shoot 'em. That would be nice.

The problem is the warning labels on products. If they were removed most stupid people wouldn't last long.





eP.

 

[dingo222]

I had a new flight attendant ask me a question once. She was a young, knockout blonde, that just quit her job at hooters in OH and decided she wanted to fly. SO she asks " how long was your training?" i say, oh, about 8 weeks. She looks puzzled and says " My training was six weeks, I should have done the other two weeks and been a pilot......"

I sh*t you not.............

 

[Foxcow]

While deadheading on NWA I could just tell he wanted to talk to me. You know, you can see out of the corner of your eye that he's looking at you and is about to say something. Something stupid. So you feign sleep. Close the eyes, act tired and irritable. Pretend he isn't there. Nobody would bother someone who is obvioulsy tired and trying to get some sleep.

"So, ya checkriding home?"

Open one eye, turn head and give him that look, turn head back and close eye. Then, I sat there wishing that all of my checkrides were this easy.

Pilots aren't the only ones who have to suffer this. My dad spent 30 years as a cop and I think they get more stupid questions than pilots do.

That is the best one! I have to admit, I do try and fake sleep so people don't talk to me.

 

[MackyG1]

Not an FA this porfile has not been updated in a while.

 

[jtrain609]

I had a new flight attendant ask me a question once. She was a young, knockout blonde, that just quit her job at hooters in OH and decided she wanted to fly. SO she asks " how long was your training?" i say, oh, about 8 weeks. She looks puzzled and says " My training was six weeks, I should have done the other two weeks and been a pilot......"

I sh*t you not.............

And she is there for all of our safety...

 

[AV80R]

we had just started the #2 engine in the 1900D and all of a sudden a woman is standing right behind us tapping our shoulders almost in a panic....says we can't leave yet b/c the engine she was sitting next to (#1) was not spinning....she was convinced we were going to take off with one engine.....if i wasn't in such shock i would have replied "sorry, we're saving money on gas so that you can have a cheaper ticket..."

Had a similar thing happen in a Jetstream except the lady who came up was less than friendly. She tapped my buddy on his shoulders pretty hard and when he slammed on the breaks and turned around to see what the heck just happened, she said in a very loud voice: “Hello!? Do you need a passenger to let you know that one of your engines is broke?!?!?!”


Without a pause, my friend makes an announcement to all the passengers:

“Ladies & gentlemen - as you can tell, only one engine is running at this time. We would like to assure you that is perfectly normal. Our procedures call for using the left engine to fly to the destination and the right engine to bring it back!” At that point the lady says: “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that!” and she proceeds back to her seat… I had tears in my eyes for the rest of the flight…

 

[#%&@$!]

Shortly after 9/11, after TSA had been operating for about a week, one of them asked me, "why we wear those cute outfits"

 

[SPilot]

student: Who made those magnetic flux lines for the compass to work?

 

[ikillbigfoot]

Couple months ago flying from Boston to Philly.

"Ding"

FA- 'YES, ONE OF THE PASSENGERS ARE WONDERING WHAT THE LARGE BODY OF WATER TO THE LEFT IS?'

ME- 'YEAH THAT'S THE ATLANTIC OCEAN' (the only thing you can see out the left!)

What's even funnier.......

FA- 'OKAY THANKS' click (she didn't know either!!!!)

 

[jagmagic]

Flew the Jetstream 3100 for a while, after each flight had to spin the props and when pax saw me they would ask if I was spining up the rubber bands

 

[CHQFA00]

Pax-"Are they old enough to fly the plane?"

Me-"Huh? Didn't you know, it's take your son/daughter to work day?"

 

[yahooair]

got this the other day...while i was getting out of the cockpit..
so, do you speak english? i just smiled...what could i say??