Things that inspire confidence: announcing weight, balance problem for new plane
Jul 29, 2019, 4:25 pm
#1
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Things that inspire confidence: announcing weight, balance problem for new plane
Been cruising around the runways of DFW (to PHX) for twenty minutes now and the captain comes on and goes “Ladies and gentlemen uh, this is your captain speaking, we’re gonna be a few more minutes, this is a relatively new plane to American soooooo.... be right back”.
Looks like were we’re pulling back into the terminal. 😐
EDIT: Load balancing and fuel not right apparently. But one of those open-ended statements that really makes you wonder!
Looks like were we’re pulling back into the terminal. 😐
EDIT: Load balancing and fuel not right apparently. But one of those open-ended statements that really makes you wonder!
Last edited by Zeromus-X; Jul 29, 2019 at 4:49 pm
Jul 29, 2019, 6:41 pm
#5
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I can see how the whole " we’re gonna be a few more minutes, this is a relatively new plane to American soooooo.... be right back” might sound initially but if you think about it that actually should inspire confidence as shows they know the limits of their abilities. They recognized something was not right and that whatever the issue was they couldn't fix it and thus needed to return to the gate. I'll take "this plane is new to me and we need to return to get something looked at" over "I'm god and know everything, lets go!" anyday.
Jul 29, 2019, 9:49 pm
#7
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Once I was on a plane that literally had a tire changed while we were at the gate, on board. It made me think - while happy that a problem was found and resolved, I would have preferred that there were no problems found. Sort of the Occam's Razor of flying.
Jul 29, 2019, 11:15 pm
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I can see how the whole " we’re gonna be a few more minutes, this is a relatively new plane to American soooooo.... be right back” might sound initially but if you think about it that actually should inspire confidence as shows they know the limits of their abilities. They recognized something was not right and that whatever the issue was they couldn't fix it and thus needed to return to the gate. I'll take "this plane is new to me and we need to return to get something looked at" over "I'm god and know everything, lets go!" anyday.
Jul 30, 2019, 10:43 pm
#9
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I can see how the whole " we’re gonna be a few more minutes, this is a relatively new plane to American soooooo.... be right back” might sound initially but if you think about it that actually should inspire confidence as shows they know the limits of their abilities. They recognized something was not right and that whatever the issue was they couldn't fix it and thus needed to return to the gate. I'll take "this plane is new to me and we need to return to get something looked at" over "I'm god and know everything, lets go!" anyday.
On a very tangential note, the tray tables on these new planes (at least in first - I assume they’re the same all over though) are fantastic.
Jul 30, 2019, 11:42 pm
#10
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Totally agreed, but the vagueness of the statement after we had very obviously been ‘driving around’ for some time on the ground was a little unnerving to the audience! The crew was very communicative about what was going on after we got back to the terminal, and we had no further issues with flight aside from the expected ‘no gate on arrival’ due to how late we were.
On a very tangential note, the tray tables on these new planes (at least in first - I assume they’re the same all over though) are fantastic.
Jul 31, 2019, 9:20 am
#11
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Not sure what Occam's Razor has to do with this. What explanation, for what, requires that fewest assumptions? If they found a tire that needed to be repaired, I'd say that presuming the tire was bad and needed to be changed would be the explanation requiring the fewest assumptions.
Jul 31, 2019, 10:40 am
#12
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Think of the plane as your car. Of course, you would rather find a problem with a tire BEFORE you have a blowout on the freeway. Having personally been on a plane where the tire blew on takeoff and rubber got sucked into one of the engines, I NEVER want to experience that again!
To the OP, the captain is human and is more focused on the potential problem than on making a "perfect" announcement. Clearly, the captain was trying to explain why you were returning to the gate without causing much alarm. Perhaps the wording could have been slightly different, but I always give them the benefit of the doubt.
To the OP, the captain is human and is more focused on the potential problem than on making a "perfect" announcement. Clearly, the captain was trying to explain why you were returning to the gate without causing much alarm. Perhaps the wording could have been slightly different, but I always give them the benefit of the doubt.