With no pax, do commercial pilots goof off???

[Whiskey Tango]

When we are empty I really let loose. I once flew a whole empty leg with the yaw damp off.

 

[NYCPilot]

I recall reading in a book written by some retired airline captain that they had a landing contest on one flight. The deal was that if the pilot could land the plane and taxi back to the gate without causing the toilet seats to drop (they were placed in the up position by the flight attendants prior to landing), they would receive BJ's.

The crew managed to land the plane nice and smoothly, and all went well up until they taxied up to the gate. Just as they were pulling up the ground crew suddenly made a gesture with the batons to stop abruptly for some reason (I forget what). You guessed it, the seats all at once came crashing down, making a loud thump throughout the cabin. Needless to say, they lost the bet!

 

[bizijet]

One time at band camp............ Oh wrong story......sorry

 

[crash-proof]

I recall reading in a book written by some retired airline captain that they had a landing contest on one flight. The deal was that if the pilot could land the plane and taxi back to the gate without causing the toilet seats to drop (they were placed in the up position by the flight attendants prior to landing), they would receive BJ's.

The crew managed to land the plane nice and smoothly, and all went well up until they taxied up to the gate. Just as they were pulling up the ground crew suddenly made a gesture with the batons to stop abruptly for some reason (I forget what). You guessed it, the seats all at once came crashing down, making a loud thump throughout the cabin. Needless to say, they lost the bet!

Nice story...needless to say, that ground crew got their a$$es beat to a pulp!

 

[FN FAL]

Nice story...needless to say, that ground crew got their a$$es beat to a pulp!

That's interesting. IF the pilots could in fact beat the ground crew's asses to a pulp, they would be stuck with this predicament...

"Hey Lenny, where did you get that nasty gash on your forehead?"

"I got it off a toilet seat."

 

[Tripower455]

Here's some proof that pilots like to have a little fun (maybe too much of it!) heh.

A few years ago a couple of Southwest pilots were fired for stripping down to their boxers up front during a revenue flight. After stripping, they summoned the flight attendant up front. Their defense - they spilled coffee on their uniforms! = O)

Uhhh, not true.......

 

[TurboS7]

Wake up, everything in aviation has been bought with blood.

 

[WorldOnTime]

"Professional pilots" also try to fly to 410 when they have never been there before and have no business giving it a try.

Real classy, scab. They are DEAD you know. What they did was pretty far out there, but have a little respect.

 

[NYCPilot]

Uhhh, not true.......

I see you're an SWA guy, so shed some light. I'm just going by what the news article stated. Were they given their jobs back.

 

[enigma]

So, does the "professional pilot" tend to goof around and have fun when there are no pax???

I'm too scared to ever "goof off" in an airplane. However, I do fly differently with no pax on board. I won't go outside of the normal envelope, nor go against my companies operating manual. What I will do is get to the edge of the envelope much quicker. With pax on board, I keep the bank shallow, roll rates small, pitch changes easy and power changes as smooth as I can. Without pax, I just a tad quicker on the control inputs. One thing that I won't do is attempt to fly higher than the airplane wants to go, full boat or empty. But then again, I'm the original aeronatical chicken.

enigma

PS, it is rare for an airline line pilot to ever fly an empty airplane. My empty leg flights have been the result of delivery flights after maintenance, and the occasional reposition flight.

 

[TurboS7]

33% of all our flights are positioning flights with an empty airplane, many times with another crew. Contrary to popular belief the FA's go to sleep and wake up on short final. You worse critics are the other crewmembers on board so you really do try to do everything totally by the book. They hold you accountable one way or the other.

 

[Tripower455]

I see you're an SWA guy, so shed some light. I'm just going by what the news article stated. Were they given their jobs back.

There is a lot more to this story than the media told you, and not about the "naked" stuff......

Both guys are still working for SWA.

Part of their settlement to come back to work was a gag order imposed by the company, which says something about the case........

 

[Dash8]

so this one time, on a ferry flight i.....

 

[Ailerongirl]

as the plane takes off, crew members are in the habit of sitting on a tray at the top of an aisle and tobogganing the length of the plane.

Fun!

Although I don't think it would work quite the same in an RJ =/

 

[Xphile]

I have heard rumors of Learjets rolling at altitude when empty. Had an interesting demonstration of mach tuck once.

 

[PhatAJ2008]

...Heard the story of the two CRJ Pilots that wanted to try a barrel roll during a repositioning flight? Well, apparently it is possible, although not allowed by their employers...

How were they caught?

Blue stuff on the ceiling of the lav!

Needless to say they only ones not impressed were their employers.

 

[TurboS7]

Not impressed, anyone can roll an airplane, it takes flight dicipline to not do it when no one is watching.

 

[Kingairrick]

Of course the most disturbing thing about this whole thread was the fact that Unanswered was in Tampa.

 

[@irboss]

My body used to wait for one of the flight attendants to go to pee , and suddenly flew the Let410 like it hit wind shear, then came the fa all peed in her uniform...... he got fired after to much of that . no pax on the way back off course

 

[Resume Writer]

PS, it is rare for an airline line pilot to ever fly an empty airplane. My empty leg flights have been the result of delivery flights after maintenance, and the occasional reposition flight.

The only time we normally had empty planes was when we had a mechanical and they re-booked the pax on another flight, but the aircraft still had to be at the destination for positioning. For the most part, it is pretty rare, as they are always trying to maximize revenue.