dhuey

This pilot's medical history might be private, but exactly why the co-pilot felt the need to take the course of action taken is a matter of great public concern. The same is true of the pilot's conduct and statements onboard the aircraft. I hope there is a full report about all of this. A pilot going paranoid and delusional mid-flight is obviously a very dangerous situation.

adamj023

Actually everyone seems to be siding with the Co-pilot here and I don't know why.

The Pilot as per evidence of the flight data information were operating normally and the Captain appeared to be in full control of the flight till he exited for the bathroom.

One would need to acquire the black box cockpit flight recorder but somehow I bet that was even normal. What is known from all publically available information, is that this was a normal flight and only after the pilot exited did the flight attendents and copilots wind up turning against the Captain of the flight who happened to exit to go to the bathroom. Then as he was kicked out and couldn't get back in did he put up a fuss.

That is all the evidence shows right now.

In EgyptAir 990, the situation was less obvious and more complex.

The plane was making no manuvers outside of normal operating procedures and in no time was any commands issued that could affect safety. So kicking out a pilot who was in full control of the jet till a bathroom break doesn't make sense to me at all.

I am sorry but these posts on here actually saying that the right thing happened by restraining the Captain seemed bizarre.

One wonders if there was a senority dispute going on inside the cockpit or what actually led to these circumstances but as far as I can tell right now based on all the evidence, the Captain should NOT have been kicked out of the cockpit and was in full control.

Someone said allegedly he was partially dressed or something so some confrontation must have happened.

Also I don't mean to go conspiratorial here but this flight according to logs was diverted once to Colorado and this flight wound up getting diverted to Amarillo Texas.

Both these locations are by key facilities and one wonders if there wasn't more going on here considering the military airspace levels of the regions these pilots were flying into on these commercially operated flights.

There is a lot more and I think the media coverage of this story was absolutely ludicrous and the interpretation that people are coming out with on this story also lends itself to issues. Apparently the federal government got involved with this flight according to press releases.

But were any military jets actually scrambled to follow this plane if you had an out of control captain from JFK to Amarillo Texas?

In a post 9/11 world with flight tracking and classified intelligence teams and everything inbetween, something is seriously amiss with this story with critical information being left out.

From end to end, people booked on JBLU 191 did get back safety and the plane is now scheduled again for its JFK Departure.

Only other thing I could think of is perhaps this flight was used as a safety drill and this was planned in advance.

dhuey

Well, this might be why:

The captain exhibited odd behavior, randomly striking up conversations with passengers on his way back to the cockpit.

When he realized he was locked out, a passenger says the pilot began screaming “let me in” and acting erratically.

One witness says he started running up and down the aisle screaming.

A flight attendant quickly got on the intercom, saying, “restrain him,” according to passengers.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2012/03/27/j...srupts-flight/

If this report is correct -- and it seems to be based on multiple eyewitness accounts -- then it looks very much like the pilot went nuts mid-flight. It could be that all aspects of the flight were normal, but in the cockpit he was saying things to the co-pilot that revealed that all systems were far from normal in the space between the pilot's ears.

adamj023

"The captain exhibited odd behavior, randomly striking up conversations with passengers on his way back to the cockpit.

When he realized he was locked out"

Doesn't really explain much. Perhaps the pilot intended to get taken off at Amarillo Texas on a commercial passenger flight and this was how it got done OR he knew something was amiss and was being overtaken by others onboard the aircraft.

Also what are the statistical odds of a replacement pilot being on the actual flight being offduty and was he a JetBlue employee or was he allowed to fly a JetBlue flight working for another airline?

At any rate, all passengers arrived safely.

I still don't get the connection between why this Captain was taken out and from reports I heard it made it seem like he went irate only AFTER he couldn't get back in the cockpit.

I admit I miss the early days of JetBlue where Neeleman was running the show and you had a brand new startup.

Since then the airline has become bulkier with more flights and more problems at times.

tdowl5757

Yeah, that makes perfect sense.....

zoegksf

Airlines-The new Post office.

sbm12

Low, but it was a B6 employee who worked as the replacement pilot per the official statement from the company.

AS MHT

Definitely a good argument against the one-man flight crew.

dinoscool3

First B6 plane ever to land at AMA?

ericblair

Yes, there are some pretty sensitive areas in Colorado, but Amarillo AFB has been closed for decades and there's nothing else in more than a hundred miles that I'm aware of. I also have no idea what kind of mission this would be or why the US military would be screwing illegally with a commercial flight.

You have to feel for the passengers; they must have though it was 9/11 all over again. Hope Jetblue treats them really well.

OPNLguy

I think you answered your own question here by writing:
"From end to end, people booked on JBLU 191 did get back safety..."

Updated media reports are now stating that the Captain was inappropriately flipping switches, one of the things that presumably caused some of the F/O's "concerns" about the Captain's behavior. There are some switches that absolutely should never be pulled when one is at normal cruise altitude and normal cruising speeds. Deploy the L/E slats or the landing gear at Mach .78 and see what happens... Not!

That's "copilot" in the singular. With all due respect, you presume everything was "normal" but apparently the F/O didn't feel likewise, or he wouldn't have taken the action(s) that he did. Neither you or I were there (he was). That said, some common-sense conclusions can still be drawn..


The wasn't a mutiny. Again, the F/O obviously felt the need to take the action(s) that he did.

I don't know how you've concluded the above. The route clearly shows him filed over Amarillo (PNH) and actually overflying Dalhart (DHT) just to the NW of Amarillo and about to enter into New Mexico. How did Colorado come into play here?

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/J...055Z/KJFK/KLAS


Not likely..

I agree the media's coverage was lacking, but surely you can understand why government agencies like FAA and TSA are involved, right?

It all appears to have happened too quickly for any possible intervention by military aircraft. Flightaware's tracklog (available at the link above) shows the aircraft vacating 34,000 feet and starting a 1,200fpm descent as of 10:51, and after increased descent rates as high as 3,720fpm, the last entry is at 11:04, just before they landed. That's 13 minutes in all, and not enough time to scramble anybody.

I think you'll find that with many breaking stories (and aviation stories are no exception), some (much?) of the initial info is later revised once the finer details come out.


And intentionally put passengers through this turmoil and drama, with bad PR for the airline as well? Sorry, no way whatsoever.....


.

zkzkz

Huh? I'm not sure I've ever been on a domestic flight that didn't have at least one dead-heading crew member. On at least one occastion half the business seats were taken by dead-heading pilots.

On the other hand it's highly unusual for a non-flight crew member to take the controls. One of the Mayday episodes talks about a pilot being blackballed in the industry just because he gave some guidance to a pilot during a crisis when he was sitting in the jump seat.

Rondall

Nevermind.

alanh

Maybe the airlines should just give up on flight 191. See DL, AA, Comair.

OPNLguy

Even if there are no DHing crew aboard, one pilot can still land the aircraft.

If there are other folks with private piloting experience, even they can be useful when one pilot is incapacitated, like working the radios, running checklists, and keeping an eye out for traffic.

UA had a case a few years ago where a F/A with pilot experience filled that role. Likewise at CO, where the Captain died and an IFR-rated private pilot took the seat and helped get the 757 IAH-PVR turned around so as to land in MFE.