This fact must get right up the noses of those who are so quick to slag off Ryanair, I don't like the business stance of the company but we must separate that from the way thay fly and maintain the aircraft..........well done guys !
Say Mach Number I have to take issue with your comments:
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Flying Cokeman I have been in FR nearly 15 years and can only remember less than a handful of incidents of going off in wintry weather
You say that as if that is an acceptable number.
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All if I recollect slow speed and most due to the small crappy airports we fly to who don't clear runways but just clear the top layer and put down sand or the like and tell you the braking action is good
So why do you fly to these airports if they are not safe? Oh yea, they are cheap!!
This SLF wonders how it is that the automation doesn't do a perfect job every time of 'climb and maintain' but talk of SOP'ed climb rates etc and gold stars for getting it right most of the time makes it sound like HAL can't be trusted with that chore???
This SLF wonders how it is that the automation doesn't do a perfect job every time of 'climb and maintain' but talk of SOP'ed climb rates etc and gold stars for getting it right most of the time makes it sound like HAL can't be trusted with that chore???
GIGO - Garbage in = Garbage out
Set the wrong flight level and the automation will take you there very accurately...!
Set the wrong flight level and the automation will take you there very accurately...!
Yeah, that seemed to be the favorite blame, but then there was talk about SOPs insisting on reducing RoC when nearing assigned altitude, as if leveling off the Great Aluminum Beast was a non-trivial exercise.
Yeah, that seemed to be the favorite blame, but then there was talk about SOPs insisting on reducing RoC when nearing assigned altitude
Also rate of climb is set and fed to the autopilot. Gently nearing the wrong assigned altitude is also a level bust. In fact other than preventing TA/RA's I don't see what rate of climb has to do with level busts at all.
Having flown for Ryanair until just over a year ago and now flying for a european flag carrier I can say this is no surprise:
I back up the statement that pretty much every Ryanair pilot has their own ANR headset (every captain I ever flew with)
The level off policy of reducing rate of climb to 2000fpm @ 2 to go and 1000fpm @ 1 to go worked a treat.
The SOP stating that SID stop altitudes must be in the FMC before departure contributes too.
When I compare this to my current operator's SOPs, we MUST delete all SID hard altitudes because the pilots might forget to press 'alt intervene' and level off by accident There is no real level off policy to speak off, pilots are urged to use their common sense when in busy TMA's which works most of the time but is much less effective.
As much as I disliked being based in the of nowhere as a dodgy contractor, the whole industry could really learn something from Ryanair's SOPs
As much as I disliked being based in the of nowhere as a dodgy contractor, the whole industry could really learn something from Ryanair's SOPs
Such as stop using common sense...
Ryanair SOP's deal with every possible situation that has happened in the past, but oh beware when you pass through the last hole of the swiss cheese model.
Last edited by Jet Fuel Addict; 9th Aug 2012 at 13:15.
I have always loathed everything Ryanai rstands for, but have to say I am quite impressed by their SOP culture that has lead to this success. Credit where it is due - well done to all and sundry.
I remember seeing a CAA table years ago where they published Alt Bust statistics by aircraft type. The worst culprit was the BAe146. Anyone who has flown it will understand why - the autopilot pitch/VS control is deadly. The modern B737 has a good autopilot, I'm sure. I'd like to see the table again now, by aircraft type.
Quite right, Algol! As I wrote above, it is all very meaningless. But here, nobody seems to care. the Ryanbashers bash, the supporters are happy, but what really is behind the statistics? Noone knows. SISO. The way to fool the modern, half educated news consumer.
Will it make any difference if the UK enroute radars at Swanwick have recently updated to now display, amongst others, Mode S level selected? If this level does not correlate with the level the controller has input into the computer as the assigned level, then a white deviation alert will be displayed on the radar screen underneath the data block. It is not possible to collect data to see how many level busts have now been prevented, if any, but from experience I would say that this will have aided any stats regarding level busts. The system isn't perfect (not every aircraft carries Mode S) but I would suggest that the main reasons for level busting in the enroute area now will be either equipment failure (autopilot not capturing or maintaining the correct level) or that the aircraft is being flown by hand. I realise that the London Terminal area will contain the majority of reported level busts (hence why they have had the Mode S download for much longer than enroute), but I am just highlighting how NATS have helped to reduce the amount recently.
Last edited by 5milesbaby; 16th Aug 2012 at 19:23.
There is no real level off policy to speak off, pilots are urged to use their common sense when in busy TMA's which works most of the time but is much less effective. 
of nowhere as a dodgy contractor, the whole industry could really learn something from Ryanair's SOPs
