Squawk as you see fit (Off Topic Thread)

jimbis

Britains ultimate pilots starting now on bbc2. A look into the red arrows.

Last minute I know

Shannon757

jimbis wrote: »

Britains ultimate pilots starting now on bbc2. A look into the red arrows.

Last minute I know

First minute actually :pac:

highlydebased

Spotted on twitter. JFK-SNN flight

https://twitter.com/nevri/status/663328836428386304

Growler!!!

highlydebased wrote: »

Spotted on twitter. JFK-SNN flight

https://twitter.com/nevri/status/663328836428386304

653kts? That's nearly the speed of sound:D








Reminds me of the discussion with OwenC from last year:D:pac::rolleyes:

eatmyshorts

Pfft

Trying to find my photo of doing M0.87 into Dublin, but can't at the minute. Will look tomorrow.

Attached pic is over the North Atlantic in a 777F doing 665kts groundspeed.

highlydebased

Ryanair took it's 375th delivery from Boeing today, EI-FIZ. I wonder did they open a bottle of FIZ to celebrate.......?

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-ryanair-celebrate-milestone-375th-next-generation-737-800-delivery-300176671.html

Shannon757

highlydebased wrote: »

Ryanair took it's 375th delivery from Boeing today, EI-FIZ. I wonder did they open a bottle of FIZ to celebrate.......?

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/boeing-ryanair-celebrate-milestone-375th-next-generation-737-800-delivery-300176671.html

And many more to come:D

Lockheed

copied from facebook:
Virgn Atlantic's Last Scheduled London Heathrow Boeing 747 Service in Jan 2016 is as follows:
Virgin Atlantic in last week’s schedule update once again accelerates planned last London Heathrow-based Boeing 747-400 operation. Previously scheduled on 20FEB16, last LHR 747-400 operation is now scheduled on 11JAN16.
London Heathrow – Miami
VS005 LHR1315 – 1805MIA 744 D
VS006 MIA2115 – 1045+1LHR 744 D
VS005/006 747-400 service will be replaced a mix of A330-300 and Boeing 787-9. Boeing 787-9 service entry on this route will also move forward to 12JAN16 with various weekly frequencies
London Heathrow – New York JFK
VS009 LHR1600 – 1905JFK 744 D
VS010 JFK2130 – 0935+1LHR 744 D

Lustrum

:eek:

https://gma.yahoo.com/ex-pilot-sues-allegiant-malicious-firing-emergency-evacuation-132448481--abc-news-topstories.html#


Allegiant Airlines Capt. Jason Kinzer was feeling tense.

It was June 8. With the smell of acrid smoke filling his cabin, he’d just made an emergency landing at Florida's St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, where ground fire crews had informed him that his No. 1 engine was smoking. Despite cutting power to the engine, the smell hadn’t dissipated, Kinzer said, and he was worried about his 141 passengers.

Allegiant Pilot Low on Gas Declares Fuel Emergency After Runway Closure
Allegiant Passengers Forced to Evacuate Plane as Smell of Fuel Fills Cabin
An unidentified voice on his radio had advised him to hold off on evacuating the plane, then ceased transmission. But without knowing the source of the directive or what was going on with the jet, Kinzer was wary.

He knew an emergency evacuation could be risky. But a smoky plane can be risky, too.

“This is a tough corner to be backed in because you have very little information and you may have a very small amount of time to get it right. ... How long do you wait?” Kinzer said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ David Kerley. “I felt the best decision was to get them to safety and get them away from an airplane that was smoking.”

So he popped the emergency slides and ordered an evac.

Six weeks later, he was fired.

You’re Fired

In a copy of Kinzer’s termination letter, provided to ABC News, Allegiant called the evacuation of Flight 864 “entirely unwarranted” and stated that Kinzer had failed in his duty to “operat[e] each aircraft safely, smoothly and efficiently and striv[e] to preserve the company’s assets.”

Several passengers had sustained minor injuries during the evacuation, and two were transported to a local hospital, according to airport records.

Still, Kinzer maintains the decision to evacuate was the “safer choice.”

Retaliation? Kinzer Files Suit

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Kinzer’s lawyer claims Allegiant ousted Kinzer “maliciously” because he hadn’t prioritized company assets and negative media exposure above passenger wellbeing.

“It’s very clear to me that their prime directive is profit, not passenger safety,” Kinzer told Kerley.

The company told ABC News they were not able to comment on specific employment matters like Kinzer’s, but maintained it is "standard practice only to terminate individuals when we believe it to be the only reasonable outcome based on their conduct or performance."

View galleryEx-Pilot Sues Allegiant for 'Malicious' Firing …
Ex-Pilot Sues Allegiant for 'Malicious' Firing After Emergency Evacuation (ABC News)
“However, at Allegiant we have a culture that values the safety of our passengers and crew above all else,” the airline said in a statement. “We do not ever take termination lightly and ensure that a thorough investigation, collecting facts from all stakeholders, is conducted before any decision is made.”

According to the lawsuit, Allegiant may have disregarded a Federal Aviation Administration regulation that places the responsibility for emergency decision-making with the pilot. Kinzer said that’s part of the reason he’s suing the airline.

“It’s important to me that we set a tone that safety should always be a pilot’s decision,” Kinzer said. “I want to leave safety in the hands of air crews.”

A ‘Dangerous’ Message

Moreover, the suit alleges that Kinzer’s termination “sends a dangerous warning message to other Allegiant Air pilots to place corporate financial concerns and profits as a priority over safety of the passengers, crew, and the general public in times of an emergency.”

“At no point should an air crew ever be forced to think about retribution or what may come of a decision in the interest of safety just because it may cost an airline a little bit of media exposure or perhaps a few bucks,” Kinzer said.

“It’s just not right to set a tone where an air crew had to worry about their job, their livelihood, their families over making a safety related decision,” he added.

Since his firing, Kinzer has been “blackballed” by the industry, the suit alleges. Though he says he had a clean flight record prior to the June 8 incident, he’s been unable to find a job.

Allegiant’s PR Problem

Kinzer’s lawsuit is just the latest in a series of public relations crises for the discount airline, which has been beset by issues since the summer.

A low-fuel emergency landing in Fargo and an aborted takeoff in Las Vegas drew increased scrutiny from the FAA. And an industry union said it had identified 65 instances of maintenance-related issues, including aborted takeoffs, diversions, and gate returns, in just seven months.

But the company says its planes are safe.

“Allegiant is a safe airline,” it said in a statement. “We are proud of our safety record and we are committed to advancing a culture of safety and continuous improvement throughout the organization.”

Following the incident in Fargo, Allegiant said it works closely with the FAA and was not made aware of heightened FAA surveillance.

The airline also criticized the union report, which it says was prepared by people who had "never examined any aircraft in Allegiant’s fleet."

Regardless, Kinzer and his attorney, Mike Pangea, say they believe Allegiant resented the increased media scrutiny prompted by his emergency landing.

“When you look at the record that this airline has been having -- which rightfully causes them embarrassment -- this is another episode that brings attention,” Pangia told ABC News.

“They did not terminate Captain Kinzer because he made what they considered to be a bad decision as far as safety,” Pangia added, “but he made a ‘bad decision’ as far as exposing the company to embarrassment.”



Remind me to stay away from these guys. Everyone in our place gives out about management, but this really takes the biscuit!

JCX BXC

Fired to ordering an evacuation when there was smoke in the cabin? How does an airline think they can get away with that?

Shannon757

So proud:D

fr336

What do you guys think of this?

George Osborne will make an explicit link between cyber attacks and so-called Islamic State. He claims they want to develop the capability to unleash online attacks.

He is expected to say:

"The stakes could hardly be higher – if our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost."

MoyVilla9

fr336 wrote: »

What do you guys think of this?

George Osborne will make an explicit link between cyber attacks and so-called Islamic State. He claims they want to develop the capability to unleash online attacks.

He is expected to say:

"The stakes could hardly be higher – if our electricity supply, or our air traffic control, or our hospitals were successfully attacked online, the impact could be measured not just in terms of economic damage but of lives lost."

Die Hard 2?

L1011

As long as ATC runs on Win3.1, we're probably safe from online attacks :pac:

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/failed-windows-3-1-system-blamed-for-taking-out-paris-airport/

(I know its only one specific subsystem)

fr336

I thought it was Osborne talking bollocks as per, I guess not then

Cheers

highlydebased

Aer Lingus pax unhappy after a 2 day delay in Orlando owing to a technical fault. And the trauma of not being able to have eggs for breakfast! http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/i-feel-exhausted-and-mentally-drained-aer-lingus-passengers-delayed-for-almost-50-hours-in-us-34210777.html

Tenger

highlydebased wrote: »

Aer Lingus pax unhappy after a 2 day delay in Orlando owing to a technical fault. And the trauma of not being able to have eggs for breakfast! http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/i-feel-exhausted-and-mentally-drained-aer-lingus-passengers-delayed-for-almost-50-hours-in-us-34210777.html

What were they doing with their kids out of school? Tut tut.
This explains why an EI A330 operated DUB-BOS-MCO the other night, must have been heading down to bring these pax back. EI-136 (BOS-DUB) was cancelled 2 nights ago.
Wonder how long that A332 will be stuck in MCO?

MoeJay

It's just about to land in Dublin....

Pat Dunne

highlydebased wrote: »

Aer Lingus pax unhappy after a 2 day delay in Orlando owing to a technical fault. And the trauma of not being able to have eggs for breakfast! http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/i-feel-exhausted-and-mentally-drained-aer-lingus-passengers-delayed-for-almost-50-hours-in-us-34210777.html

Again we see in a short space of time EI treating PAX like mushrooms.

Well done EI, new owners, same shoddy customer service!

Tenger

Pat Dunne wrote: »

Again we see in a short space of time EI treating PAX like mushrooms.

Well done EI, new owners, same shoddy customer service!

I wouldn't blame this on IAG ownership....such failure to communicate is typical EI mgmt. I saw it self a few years back when our BOS-DUB got repeatedly cancelled due tech issues.

JCX BXC

Isn't bad communication to passengers typical of almost every airline?

fr336

Pat Dunne wrote: »

Again we see in a short space of time EI treating PAX like mushrooms.

Well done EI, new owners, same shoddy customer service!

Let them get their feet under the table first :eek:

Lockheed

So recently I had had to fly to Lyon, and the cheapest was through Frankfurt with Lufthansa. I was coming back on the final leg, Frankfurt to Dublin. I was on D-AIRC, the 3rd A321 ever built. So, when our Lufthansa plane lined up on the runway I saw the Aer Lingus special rugby A320, so it's of course headed to Dublin. Halfway through the flight, we are cruising at like 34k feet, I see another plane flying close by. I was amazed to find out it was the aer lingus special rugby a320!! It was so close I could work out the registration, fairly sure it was EI-DEI (not DEO). It overtook us on the way to dublin, a321-100 is slow lol

highlydebased

Sorry to see 6 Volga Dnepr crewmen lost their lives in the siege in Mali yesterday, they were staying in the hotel where the siege took place. The other 6 escaped with their lives.

RIP.

http://www.volga-dnepr.com/en/press-center/news/3594/

man98

So in my experience lurking here, I'm aware you all know anything remotely with aviation. Anyone know of any remote control aircraft (preferably a plane) with a camera which is half decent and under €100?

Pat Dunne

man98 wrote: »

So in my experience lurking here, I'm aware you all know anything remotely with aviation. Anyone know of any remote control aircraft (preferably a plane) with a camera which is half decent and under €100?

Don't know anything about remote control aircraft/drones. But I do know that you certainly won't get a decent camera for under a ton.

man98

Pat Dunne wrote: »

Don't know anything about remote control aircraft/drones. But I do know that you certainly won't get a decent camera for under a ton.

Well it was worth a shot to ask, thanks anyway :P .

martinsvi

man98 wrote: »

So in my experience lurking here, I'm aware you all know anything remotely with aviation. Anyone know of any remote control aircraft (preferably a plane) with a camera which is half decent and under €100?

I was looking at this one as a gag - http://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/toys/construction-cars/c-412/radio-control-helicopters-planes/p-12754/nincoair-quaddrone-nano-cam/

obviously the video quality of that thing is just horrible -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDxz6aEm4mk

would make a nice Christmas gift for a kid thou... so really it depends on your needs, but anything remotely decent will have a 4 digit price tag

man98

martinsvi wrote: »

I was looking at this one as a gag - http://www.smythstoys.com/ie/en-ie/toys/construction-cars/c-412/radio-control-helicopters-planes/p-12754/nincoair-quaddrone-nano-cam/

obviously the video quality of that thing is just horrible -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDxz6aEm4mk

would make a nice Christmas gift for a kid thou... so really it depends on your needs, but anything remotely decent will have a 4 digit price tag

Thanks, I'm looking for something cheap and cheerful, a painstaking search on Amazon has found one which I'll tweak a bit, problem solved.

jimbis

man98 wrote: »

Thanks, I'm looking for something cheap and cheerful, a painstaking search on Amazon has found one which I'll tweak a bit, problem solved.

https://www.wish.com/m/search/Drones

Plenty of cheap and cheerful here, I haven't bought from these myself but a friend of mine recently got a good action cam from them.