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Simply because, my dear chap, any pilot who has just "lost it" in front of his passengers is hardly in the right frame of mind to be flying anything, never mind operating a commercial flight.
Many years ago, as a young second officer on a B-727, I remember holding short for takeoff for what seemed like forever for departure. The seemingly inept tower controller then advised us to expect at least another 20 minutes of delay while he worked arriving traffic. The ill tempered Captain then shut down two of his three engines to conserve our fuel, but just as the engines spooled down, the tower suddenly advised us that we were cleared for an immediate take off.
F..YOU the exasperated captain screamed into his wisely un keyed mike. In a rage, he then pitched his microphone at the instrument panel, and by unfortunate aim, shattered his HSI. . . Needless to say, our seniority list moved by one number that day.
Last edited by ship's power; 11th Apr 2007 at 07:40.