The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

Tenger

faceman wrote: »

Flying westbound from DUB to SFO today. Anyone know how the turbulence is looking en route given the recent frequent bad weather?

Is this the 3rd trip over the last 6-8 months?

Aircraft Freak

How do you guys plan for unforeseen circumstances, say if a pilot calls in sick?

Growler!!!

There will be a crew member on standby in case of illness. They will be called in to operate the flight.

sully2010

This relates to the above question too.

I was on a Delta internal flight in America recently and we were all boarded but there was a delay. The Captain came on after about 10 minutes and said "Sorry folks were all ready to go but my co pilot hasn't shown up" It was surprising because of the fact we all boarded and I would have thought it wouldnt have got that far if he hadn't shown up. The Captain was in and out of the aircraft on his phone for about half an hour and he updated everyone. "Still haven't been able to find or contact him, we are searching for another co pilot". About an hour and a half later another one arrived.

I have a couple of questions for those on here:

Was it not highly unprofessional of the Captain to tell us all he simply didn't show up? He could easily have made excuses.

We were given the option of going back into the terminal because we didn't know how long the delay would be. I stayed on the aircraft. The Captain spent most of his time in the terminal and left the cockpit door open. I naturally wandered up for peek and there was a teenager and a kid in the seats yanking the controls and pressing buttons completely unsupervised. That cant be allowed? (I was actually cursing the fact one of the seats weren't free as it would have been nice to take a seat in the front of a 757!)

I thought this was all a bit mad. But anyway we eventually got on our way with no broken buttons or levers.

smurfjed

Was it not highly unprofessional of the Captain to tell us all he simply didn't show up? He could easily have made excuses.

Sometimes the truth is the best approach

there was a teenager and a kid in the seats yanking the controls and pressing buttons completely unsupervised

The crew would do full pre-flight set up checks prior to going anywhere, but i do find it strange that they allowed the kids in there in what is usually a very paranoid country.

sully2010

smurfjed wrote: »

Sometimes the truth is the best approach

The crew would do full pre-flight set up checks prior to going anywhere, but i do find it strange that they allowed the kids in there in what is usually a very paranoid country.

I think you're right about the truth being the best approach on that flight, he was actually really friendly and jokey so everyone was in good form and not complaining about the delay. (It also helped that they turned on the IFE, gave us drinks and we could leave if we wanted)

I knew they would do the full pre-flight check but my thoughts were if the kids broke the spoiler lever or something similar they would have to find a replacement aircraft as well a co-pilot. It surprised me that anyone could go in and do as they please unsupervised.

Growler!!!

I'd be more worried the fact the report time is well before the departure time. It means the F/O wasn't in at his/her report time so didn't get to have a look at the paperwork and go through a brief. Shows bad leadership on the Delta capts part.

5 mins grace with me. If you haven't contacted me at that stage I'll call you. After that it's onto ops for your replacement.....

Locker10a

sully2010 wrote: »

I naturally wandered up for peek and there was a teenager and a kid in the seats yanking the controls and pressing buttons completely unsupervised. That cant be allowed? (I was actually cursing the fact one of the seats weren't free as it would have been nice to take a seat in the front of a 757!)

I thought this was all a bit mad. But anyway we eventually got on our way with no broken buttons or levers.

This is a very serious issue !! At my airline the pilots bring antibacterial wipes and other cleaning items because they have to clean the flight deck themselves, this is because cleaners ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE the flight deck unsupervised, the only people allowed in there are pilots and cabin crew , we do allow guests into the flight deck once supervised but to go in there and touch anything is a big NO ! Maybe i am just paranoid, maybe my airline is just very strict but to me this is shocking that the crew would let anyone touch buttons in the flight deck unsupervised.

sully2010

Locker10a wrote: »

This is a very serious issue !! At my airline the pilots bring antibacterial wipes and other cleaning items because they have to clean the flight deck themselves, this is because cleaners ARE NOT ALLOWED INSIDE the flight deck unsupervised, the only people allowed in there are pilots and cabin crew , we do allow guests into the flight deck once supervised but to go in there and touch anything is a big NO ! Maybe i am just paranoid, maybe my airline is just very strict but to me this is shocking that the crew would let anyone touch buttons in the flight deck unsupervised.

I thought it was mad myself and I could hear others commenting on it too. Something you might see at an airshow but not a scheduled flight soon to depart. They did eventually close the door when a queue of about 6-7 were lined up to go in for their turn.

Its possible I suppose that they didn't notice(people in the actual seats) as they were all preoccupied and the door in use was the second door back.

Locker10a

sully2010 wrote: »

Its possible I suppose that they didn't notice(people in the actual seats) as they were all preoccupied and the door in use was the second door back.

While passengers are on board a crew member should remain stationed by each pair of doors at all times and especially in front of the flight deck door! Or does my airline just have particularly strict sop's ?

sully2010

Locker10a wrote: »

While passengers are on board a crew member should remain stationed by each pair of doors at all times and especially in front of the flight deck door! Or does my airline just have particularly strict sop's ?

Well that deffo didn't happen throughout the delay. There was one looking after passengers and rest were gathered around the exit door.

Locker10a

sully2010 wrote: »

Well that deffo didn't happen throughout the delay. There was one looking after passengers and rest were gathered around the exit door.

I dont know what their SOP's etc are and im not on the 757 so i dont know what they do about type C doors but main doors may not be left unattended on the ground with passengers onboard.

Preset No.3

In my experience of taking a lot of internal flights in the US, crew will give out information almost to a fault.

bkehoe

Growler!!! wrote: »

I'd be more worried the fact the report time is well before the departure time. It means the F/O wasn't in at his/her report time so didn't get to have a look at the paperwork and go through a brief. Shows bad leadership on the Delta capts part.

5 mins grace with me. If you haven't contacted me at that stage I'll call you. After that it's onto ops for your replacement.....

Isn't it pretty standard on US domestics that the crew either meet at the gate or on-board?

Dingle_berry

Growler!!! wrote: »

I'd be more worried the fact the report time is well before the departure time. It means the F/O wasn't in at his/her report time so didn't get to have a look at the paperwork and go through a brief. Shows bad leadership on the Delta capts part.

5 mins grace with me. If you haven't contacted me at that stage I'll call you. After that it's onto ops for your replacement.....

Once you've called ops for the replacement, do you stop all preparations until the crew member arrives?

ProfessorPlum

Growler!!! wrote: »

I'd be more worried the fact the report time is well before the departure time. It means the F/O wasn't in at his/her report time so didn't get to have a look at the paperwork and go through a brief. Shows bad leadership on the Delta capts part.

5 mins grace with me. If you haven't contacted me at that stage I'll call you. After that it's onto ops for your replacement.....

That's a bit harsh on the Delta skipper! So his F/O was late. Presumably he carried on with his flight planning, and after a suitable interval, if there was no sign he would contact ops or whatever the procedure is for getting the reserve in. When one eventually turns up, he can brief his co pilot in 5-10 minutes for the sector, assuming there's nothing especially untoward. His phone calls at the aircraft could well have been follow up to ops to try and get more info so he can keep his passengers updated. I wouldn't assume he was still trying to make contact with the original F/O at that stage - that ship had surely sailed at that point.

smurfjed

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/421557/Japanese-air-stewardess-sleeping-pilots-prostitution

Hey that was one of the free perks :) Aviation used the word 'layovers' for a reason.

Locker10a

smurfjed wrote: »

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/421557/Japanese-air-stewardess-sleeping-pilots-prostitution

Hey that was one of the free perks :) Aviation used the word 'layovers' for a reason.

Ah the Star! My no.1 source for a news update :P
We all know this happens on night stops anyway, may as well make some money out of it :pac::D;):p

Tenger

Locker10a wrote: »

Ah the Star! My no.1 source for a news update :P
We all know this happens on night stops anyway, may as well make some money out of it :pac::D;):p

As if flight crew would pay for anything.............

Locker10a

:

Tenger wrote: »

As if flight crew would pay for anything.............

haha LOL :p:D:D;):rolleyes:

Growler!!!

bkehoe wrote: »

Isn't it pretty standard on US domestics that the crew either meet at the gate or on-board?

Absolutely no idea.

Dingle_berry wrote: »

Once you've called ops for the replacement, do you stop all preparations until the crew member arrives?

No, preparations continue as normal, ie paperwork printed, handler informed of fuel load and fuel burn etc. Cabin crew briefed.

ProfessorPlum wrote: »

That's a bit harsh on the Delta skipper! So his F/O was late. Presumably he carried on with his flight planning, and after a suitable interval, if there was no sign he would contact ops or whatever the procedure is for getting the reserve in. When one eventually turns up, he can brief his co pilot in 5-10 minutes for the sector, assuming there's nothing especially untoward. His phone calls at the aircraft could well have been follow up to ops to try and get more info so he can keep his passengers updated. I wouldn't assume he was still trying to make contact with the original F/O at that stage - that ship had surely sailed at that point.

Harsh? That's entirely your point of view. My view is that it is not! He showed poor leadership as the commander by boarding the pax without knowledge of where the other crew member was. Then to leave them all on board.... Who was actually in charge here?

There seems to be a perception or assumption that he was still trying to contact the original F/O. Where was that inferred in my comments?

We obviously don't know the full story, we can however comment using our own experiences and company procedures. In our company, if a standby crew is called in it states they are to be afforded the full briefing time as if they were assigned to the flight. For us that's an hour.

eatmyshorts

Growler!!! wrote: »

He showed poor leadership as the commander by boarding the pax without knowledge of where the other crew member was.

I don't quite understand how that's showing poor leadership. I've been in the exact same scenario, and went ahead and boarded all the pax. Standby FO shows up at STD-15, give him a pertinent brief and catch up, and pushed on time.

Growler!!!

eatmyshorts wrote: »

I don't quite understand how that's showing poor leadership. I've been in the exact same scenario, and went ahead and boarded all the pax. Standby FO shows up at STD-15, give him a pertinent brief and catch up, and pushed on time.

But does your company allow this? Mine doesn't, as stated above it is my veiw that he did show poor leadership. That's the Internet for you:D

eatmyshorts

Growler!!! wrote: »

But does your company allow this? Mine doesn't, as stated above it is my veiw that he did show poor leadership. That's the Internet for you:D

Yes, its allowed as long as one flight crew mber is onboard. In EI, pax can be onboard with cabin crew only!
I still don't quite grasp why that's bad leadership. There's no safety issue and it keeps schedules on time. Sure that means I get to the bar quicker!

andy_g

Tenger wrote: »

As if flight crew would pay for anything.............

Nope its all free and its called gold membership to the mile high club.

Bronze membership: in the toilet on the A/C

Silver: In the seat in the cabin.

Gold: In the flight deck. Hey honey wanna play with my side stick :cool:

Locker10a

andy_g wrote: »

Nope its all free and its called gold membership to the mile high club.

Bronze membership: in the toilet on the A/C

Silver: In the seat in the cabin.

Gold: In the flight deck. Hey honey wanna play with my side stick :cool:

At my airline there is a tier above Gold, Its called Skiing in the flight deck :P:D;) I'll let you all go figure out how that works :cool::P

*Kol*

Growler!!! wrote: »

But does your company allow this? Mine doesn't, as stated above it is my veiw that he did show poor leadership. That's the Internet for you:D

How? And why the smile?

Growler!!!

*Kol* wrote: »

How? And why the smile?

The smile was cos like real life, on the Internet people have differing views. There's a difference of opinion here. That's life:D

*Kol*

Growler!!! wrote: »

The smile was cos like real life, on the Internet people have differing views. There's a difference of opinion here. That's life:D

I think you are wrong here. No poor leadership. We have to move along. It's transport

Growler!!!

*Kol* wrote: »

I think you are wrong here. No poor leadership. We have to move along. It's transport

And you are perfectly entitled to hold that veiw, however you brought it up again.

I take it the "we have to move along" bit means you're not going to express your reasons for thinking that?