The great big "ask an airline pilot" thread!

L1011 · 21-06-2021 6:32pm

There's not a chance you're going to get info on that here. So please stop trying.

1123heavy · 21-06-2021 10:43pm

If it means anything, I am a pilot employed in an airline and I have received no gagging order nor has anyone told us not to speak to any media (are they even trying to speak to us!?)

Whatever it is I can assure you it is not anything of a hot topic among the community otherwise we'd be aware

Strumms · 21-06-2021 11:09pm

I’m not a pilot but any company I’ve worked for including an airline, we were simply told to give the email for Public / media Relations ....and make no comment....

lintdrummer · 21-06-2021 11:11pm

Likewise, I don't know of any gag order on any airline staff. Would such a thing even be possible? Most employees in any large organisation are bound by a social media policy, but that's generic.
Would Markus Antonius care to elaborate on what specifically pilots are not supposed to be talking about?

1123heavy · 21-06-2021 11:38pm

Strumms wrote: »

I’m not a pilot but any company I’ve worked for including an airline, we were simply told to give the email for Public / media Relations ....and make no comment....

Yes that is always the case I believe, but it seems the poster is indicating in the last week or so some notice regarding a specific incident has gone out and we aren't to discuss it with the media

Tenger · 21-06-2021 11:56pm

Markus Antonius wrote: »

Don't know what that story is about. I'm talking about an apparent "gag order" on pilots discussing certain things or speaking with the media at all under threat of termination of contract or even worse.

I'm sure reasons are for "security" purposes but I want to know the extent of this order and what exactly they are not allowed discuss...

So all the airlines across the globe (or is it just Europe?) have issued the same "gag order" for the same reason?
We have pilots on this forum from at least 4 different airlines. Somehow I doubt they all got the same "order".

Sounds very QAnon-adjacent to me. (a global cabal keeping secrets from the sheep population)

smurfjed · 22-06-2021 11:56am

So are we now officially banned from talking about Chemtrail dispersal procedures ?

basill · 22-06-2021 3:40pm

Likewise we have no "gag order" in our airline. What we do have is a social media policy. We also have people within the organisation who are specifically trained in dealing with media requests and who will be "on message".

Markus Antonius · 30-06-2021 11:16pm

lintdrummer wrote: »

Likewise, I don't know of any gag order on any airline staff. Would such a thing even be possible?

basill wrote: »

Likewise we have no "gag order" in our airline. .

This is exactly what someone with a gag order would say :pac:

Tell me then what the real stance is on the so called "Santa's Shortcut". I've heard some ridiculous claims about weather being too bad (despite most commercial planes flying above weather systems) and also other things like radiation exposure and navigation systems going cuckoo when flying too close to magnetic north

Seems like a big fish story to me

Growler!!! · 01-07-2021 10:48am

Markus Antonius wrote: »

Tell me then what the real stance is on the so called "Santa's Shortcut". I've heard some ridiculous claims about weather being too bad (despite most commercial planes flying above weather systems) and also other things like radiation exposure and navigation systems going cuckoo when flying too close to magnetic north

The real stance? What you're referring to is called Polar Ops by those of us who operate that far north. In the distant past large twin engine aircraft had to remain within 1 hours flying time of a diversion airport. As reliability increased, ETOPS was extended dependant on routes/ aircraft and operator to a max of 207 minutes on the type Im qualified on. Air New Zealand have a max ETOPS certification of 330 minutes or the ability to operate on a single engine for 5 1/2 hours!! The Santa Shortcut is used by many airlines to reduce flight times to the US west coast.

The weather is generally quite calm in that region but you will have misinterpreted the term "bad" when referring to the weather. As an aside modern jets tend to fly above most weather but not all. During monsoon season its not unusual to see thunderstorms with tops extending up to 60 thousand feet! Polar weather will refer to the extremely cold polar airmass which aircraft will spend a significant time in. This causes problems for fuel if the fuel temperature reduces close to its freezing point (for example jet A freezing point is -40 degrees C). Dispatchers will reroute aircraft away from such cold air masses. If the fuel temp gets close to the freezing point and sets off a caution message then a decent into warmer air or a rerouting will cost time and fuel.

Space weather affects polar flights and indeed all flights but more so in polar regions. This can affect radio signals and cause black outs, solar radiation can expose pax and crew to more radiation than normal. The NOAA have a very good website describing this: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov

Nav systems don't quite go cuckoo anymore. Modern nav systems will switch over to True north when the aircraft goes above a certain latitude. If this fails there is the TRU button in front of the Captain which does the same thing but manually.

Boeing produced a very good article in their Aero magazine (link below) a number of years ago which covers the major issues with Polar ops. Can I suggest that you read and understand this as it is quite informative and is all open source information. It is readily available to non aviators as is everything else unless its a company specific policy.

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/aero_16/polar_story.html#4

basill · 02-07-2021 1:18pm

Tip to the OP.....The magnetic north pole ain't where you think it is and is constantly on the move. And get off the conspiracy channels on youtube.

Markus Antonius · 06-07-2021 10:53pm

basill wrote: »

Tip to the OP.....The magnetic north pole ain't where you think it is and is constantly on the move. And get off the conspiracy channels on youtube.

It's exactly where I thought it was and how is it being on the move got any relevance to my question?

Board Walker · 23-05-2022 8:50pm

Hi Guys.

Just wondering are there any A330 Captain's/FO's that use Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020?

Obviously it does not matter which airline you fly for.

I have been asked by an acquaintance who is developing the A330 for same to do some flight testing of the flight model/Physics of the aircraft behavour.

It's for a well established developer in the simulation development sector.

PHOEBEKEELY · 21-06-2023 4:51pm

I once asked Denis Slattery how much he'd charge to haunt a house??? He didn't respond. He only died in May of this year at the age of 98.

Astral Nav · 21-06-2023 9:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120745620#Comment_120745620

A legend and gentleman (even if he was a tad pedantic). Certainly left a legacy to Irish aviation. May he rest in peace and all the navigation stars shine brightly above him.

smurfjed · 28-06-2023 6:36pm

An absolute legend who got so many of us through the exams. May he RIP.

03-10-2023 12:31pm

Not sure where the best place to ask this question may be, so thought perhaps here.

I was on a flight the other day and the usual happens, where one of the pilots needs to go to the toilet and a member of cabin crew enters the flight deck. One thing crossed my mind, which was the need for this process to begin with. I believe it started after that intentional crash of Germanwings flight 9525.

Then I started to wonder, what benefit does this relatively new process actually have?

Let's say, for example, that a rogue pilot intended on crashing a plane in the same way, just quicker. What difference would having a member of the cabin crew in the flight deck have in such a situation? After all, I assume it could take as little as a minute to down a plane?

So my question is: is the change that happened actually effective, or is it done for optics?

Because otherwise I cannot see a situation where a rogue pilot couldn't down an aircraft in the same way that happened with the Germanwings flight (again, assuming the pilot wanted to down it far quicker). I also just learned that many German airlines dropped the rule 2-years after the Germanwings crash anyway.

I would be particularly interested to hear what airline pilots consider on this question.

EchoIndia · 03-10-2023 1:42pm

I doubt you'll get many professionals replying to such a question. The most obvious thing to me is that the cc member could presumably open the cockpit door as required.

artanevilla · 03-10-2023 1:44pm

It's an added layer of protection to help mitigate the risk of the cockpit door being locked.

03-10-2023 1:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121188752#Comment_121188752

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121188762#Comment_121188762

Germanwings and other German airlines dropped this requirement in 2017, so clearly these airlines do not see the merit of this added "layer of protection".

It's a legitimate question to ask if the security that it's supposed to provide is of any meaningful value at all.

If it was meaningful, then it wouldn't explain why some airlines dropped the requirement.

EchoIndia · 03-10-2023 3:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121188795#Comment_121188795

Unless you actually know why some airlines changed their practice, I think you are just surmising. You have apparently rejected the two responses you received and have ignored what was said.

de biz · 03-10-2023 6:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120779104#Comment_120779104

Denis's archive has been donated to the Shannon Aviation Museum.

IngazZagni · 04-10-2023 9:22am

Sometimes the reason this is done has absolutely nothing to do with the reasons you mention. It can be to do with the lack of cctv so the pilot can't see who is trying to get in without getting out of their seat. Also it has happened before were a pilot on a 737 tried to open the door but was moving the switch beside it which was the rudder trim and the plane ended up in an upset condition. This wouldn't happen if a cabin crew member was there etc.

04-10-2023 10:26am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121192188#Comment_121192188

Fair enough, I hadn't considered those reasons.

I assumed that because it was introduced immediately after the German crash, that it was directly linked to that and that alone.

MarkN · 04-10-2023 12:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121192473#Comment_121192473

Many airlines did it before Germanwings, Ryanair being one. But as a professional pilot told me before, a male pilot (for example) will probably be able to overpower a member of cabin crew should they wish to do something reckless or indeed use some of the fire escape tools to incapacitate. A rare occurrence, thankfully.

I've also sat in 1A on an EasyJet and noticed a male cabin crew member hold up an item similar to a weight bag like you'd get in a gym for doing leg lunges outside the flight deck door while a pilot went to the jacks.

04-10-2023 12:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121192962#Comment_121192962

I've also sat in 1A on an EasyJet and noticed a male cabin crew member hold up an item similar to a weight bag like you'd get in a gym for doing leg lunges outside the flight deck door while a pilot went to the jacks.

Why was this, though?