Continental pilot dies during flight... [18-Jun-2009][threads merged]
Jun 18, 2009, 3:20 pm
#106
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Jun 18, 2009, 3:33 pm
#107
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Two questions not covered or not seen by me in the media coverage to date....
1. Was there a 3rd Pilot aboard, normal for flights over "X' hours duration or "TATL"?
2. If not, did one of the cabin staff occupy the empty seat to assist the FO with routine COMM/NAV "button pushing"?
1. Was there a 3rd Pilot aboard, normal for flights over "X' hours duration or "TATL"?
2. If not, did one of the cabin staff occupy the empty seat to assist the FO with routine COMM/NAV "button pushing"?
Jun 18, 2009, 3:35 pm
#108
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Those would fall in the "not seen by you" category. 
There was an IRO onboard, so your other question is rendered moot.
There was an IRO onboard, so your other question is rendered moot.
Jun 18, 2009, 3:36 pm
#109
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Jun 18, 2009, 3:40 pm
#110
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Two questions not covered or not seen by me in the media coverage to date....
1. Was there a 3rd Pilot aboard, normal for flights over "X' hours duration or "TATL"?
2. If not, did one of the cabin staff occupy the empty seat to assist the FO with routine COMM/NAV "button pushing"?
1. Was there a 3rd Pilot aboard, normal for flights over "X' hours duration or "TATL"?
2. If not, did one of the cabin staff occupy the empty seat to assist the FO with routine COMM/NAV "button pushing"?
Jun 18, 2009, 4:04 pm
#111
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While I understand why the crew thought it best not to tell the passengers, this approach might need to be changed.
CO does not yet have WiFi but they are planning to get it. Delta and JetBlue have satellite T.V. on domestic flights and one day DL might have it on international. I assume CO, US , UA, etc would follow suit. I think the days of not telling the passengers so as not to alarm them are almost over.
Many airlines are pushing for allowing cell phone usage in the air. This means the airlines need to remind their crews that we are no longer incommunicado. You can't keep this stuff to yourself any longer. It is better a passenger hears it from the pilot rather than hearing SOP over the PA and then getting a call from a loved one saying "CNN says you all are going to die!!!"
I can appreciate not wanting to alarm the passengers. But they better come up with a "plan b" pretty soon.
I agree. The vultures blew the story way out of proportion. Another reason that, soon, pax need to be told everything even if it isn't the best of news.
A couple of years ago a JetBlue plane had problem with the landing gear at LAX (IIRC) and pax were watching the blow-by-blow news coverage on their personal IFE systems.
CO does not yet have WiFi but they are planning to get it. Delta and JetBlue have satellite T.V. on domestic flights and one day DL might have it on international. I assume CO, US , UA, etc would follow suit. I think the days of not telling the passengers so as not to alarm them are almost over.
Many airlines are pushing for allowing cell phone usage in the air. This means the airlines need to remind their crews that we are no longer incommunicado. You can't keep this stuff to yourself any longer. It is better a passenger hears it from the pilot rather than hearing SOP over the PA and then getting a call from a loved one saying "CNN says you all are going to die!!!"
I can appreciate not wanting to alarm the passengers. But they better come up with a "plan b" pretty soon.
I agree. The vultures blew the story way out of proportion. Another reason that, soon, pax need to be told everything even if it isn't the best of news.
A couple of years ago a JetBlue plane had problem with the landing gear at LAX (IIRC) and pax were watching the blow-by-blow news coverage on their personal IFE systems.
Jun 18, 2009, 4:09 pm
#112
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The captain did turn off the video before the JetBlue plane landed at LAX. I remember watching it on TV. So the passengers did not see the front landing gear burning up as the sideways wheel scraped down the runway.
Jun 18, 2009, 4:15 pm
#113
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While I understand why the crew thought it best not to tell the passengers, this approach might need to be changed.
CO does not yet have WiFi but they are planning to get it. Delta and JetBlue have satellite T.V. on domestic flights and one day DL might have it on international. I assume CO, US , UA, etc would follow suit. I think the days of not telling the passengers so as not to alarm them are almost over.
Many airlines are pushing for allowing cell phone usage in the air. This means the airlines need to remind their crews that we are no longer incommunicado. You can't keep this stuff to yourself any longer. It is better a passenger hears it from the pilot rather than hearing SOP over the PA and then getting a call from a loved one saying "CNN says you all are going to die!!!"
I can appreciate not wanting to alarm the passengers. But they better come up with a "plan b" pretty soon.A couple of years ago a JetBlue plane had problem with the landing gear at LAX (IIRC) and pax were watching the blow-by-blow news coverage on their personal IFE systems.
CO does not yet have WiFi but they are planning to get it. Delta and JetBlue have satellite T.V. on domestic flights and one day DL might have it on international. I assume CO, US , UA, etc would follow suit. I think the days of not telling the passengers so as not to alarm them are almost over.
Many airlines are pushing for allowing cell phone usage in the air. This means the airlines need to remind their crews that we are no longer incommunicado. You can't keep this stuff to yourself any longer. It is better a passenger hears it from the pilot rather than hearing SOP over the PA and then getting a call from a loved one saying "CNN says you all are going to die!!!"
I can appreciate not wanting to alarm the passengers. But they better come up with a "plan b" pretty soon.A couple of years ago a JetBlue plane had problem with the landing gear at LAX (IIRC) and pax were watching the blow-by-blow news coverage on their personal IFE systems.
Jun 18, 2009, 4:21 pm
#114
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Let's hope cell phones never become a reality in the air. But if they do, I'm sure that pilots will be able to disable that as well.
Jun 18, 2009, 4:41 pm
#115
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This story seems to have some legs, it was on all the US national nightly news casts (even opening on NBC). They make it seem a miracle that two qualified pilots could land the plane, but that is what the media does these days.
Ciao,
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Jun 18, 2009, 4:44 pm
#116
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I fully expect that there is a single-pilot landing checklist, which might have to be started 2-3x the distance from the airport. Not to say that it's somethign any pilot would want to go through (both for the cause of the event, and the occurance of the event), and the wheels-down sure would be stressful, yet I suspect it's fully doable. Thankfully, crew staffing appears to prevent such events.
Also, at most airlines, this scenario is actually practiced in the sim, from recognizing incapacitation to landing the plane. It would probably be as stressful as any emergency, but not necessarily any more difficult than a normal day.
I read an article recently in Airways that talks about how FOs at NW are trained as "Cruise Captains" who occupy the left seat on int'l longhaul flights to deal with any in-flight emergencies while the Capt is on break during in-flight cruise and cannot return to the flight deck. Specifically, the article addressed a rapid decompression, having to depart one of the pre-assigned "tracks" and the steps involved in making an emergency descent.
If its something minor, I may mention anything that might be out of the ordinary, but I'm not going to alarm everyone when one of the generators goes off line and the other three are handling it just fine. But that's just me...
Checko
Jun 18, 2009, 4:59 pm
#117
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I know - the media makes it sound like the FO had to walk across a bed of nails to land the plane.
This may come as a shock to the media, yet the FO was more than capable of taking over the Captain's seat and flying into EWR on his own (had it been necessary).
There is no way CO would ever allow a FO in the cockpit without passing numerous tests, including what happened today.
This may come as a shock to the media, yet the FO was more than capable of taking over the Captain's seat and flying into EWR on his own (had it been necessary).
There is no way CO would ever allow a FO in the cockpit without passing numerous tests, including what happened today.
Jun 18, 2009, 5:19 pm
#118
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And stupidity. MSNBC's video, while never specifically identifying the aircraft as CO 61, sure makes it look like it. Problem was, it looks like a 757, but 61 was a 777.
Jun 18, 2009, 5:20 pm
#119
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I just read (on the other website) that the Captain was taking his crew rest, in the bunk, when he didn't respond to a call from the flight deck. The flight deck asked the FAs to wake him up and they discovered the Captain to be cold. A Dr. on board used the incabin defib with no results. The Captain was left in his bunk and the FO and IRO flew the plane.
Jun 18, 2009, 5:44 pm
#120
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I just read (on the other website) that the Captain was taking his crew rest, in the bunk, when he didn't respond to a call from the flight deck. The flight deck asked the FAs to wake him up and they discovered the Captain to be cold. A Dr. on board used the incabin defib with no results. The Captain was left in his bunk and the FO and IRO flew the plane.