Dear all
I started reading this thread thinking I " might " make it from page 1 to 6; how presumptious of me to think I could remain Mr Cool himself reading stuff coming from highly " qualified " Morons.
Good God, how is it we never thought about hiring the whole of you to fly this doomed Concorde, it would have spared us and 109 german pax a whole lot of sorrow.
On this however one thing I will not let you pompous and mean a......les do, is tarnish Christian Marty's memory and most of all profesionalism that I witnessed first hand for quite a few years flying with him on other aircraft types.
To compare him to Teneriffe KLM Captain is simply outrageaous to anyone who knew him and worked with him for he was the EXACT OPPOSITE !!! Seeing his name on your roster made you look foward to going to work as opposed to some other fellows and that's including a lot of major airlines I've been close to in my carreer. They actually sounded a lot like you Guvnor.
He never thought of himself as a hero but was just taking his various passions to the very limit,like crossing the Atlantic on a windsurf board at a time where there was no sponsoring and almost no publicity. It was the same with paragliging. Watching this event now dating more than 20 years you'll have to admit that the man had balls.
He wasn't the type like some of you to just reshape the world gulping one pint after another just watching their bellies grow as the years go by.
He was caring to his crew, he who ate like a rabbit because of his sports would show up at sign on with a bag of freshly baked croissants for his crew he had never met before when he himself didn't touch the stuff. As to CRM, being a young F/O then, I was coming back from work thinking what a great pilot I was. That's how Christian Marty made everyone who flew with him feel.But that may be a bit to human for you morrons so I'll go back to your technical rethoric.
In all the years where I've flown with him if I was to use one word to qualify him, it would be Mr Extra carefull and I remember on one occasion I wasn't happy with one of the options offered and he had no qualm at all going my way and making me feel it was the best decision in the world when there was undoubtly a million others. Pretty damn gratifying for a young F/O I tell you.
I also did fly with the F/E with whom I never was on the best speaking terms, but hey, that's life. As to the way he worked on the " whale " he was thoroughly pro.
Finally if the F/O hadn't been happy with what was going on during pre flight, trust me he would have just gone home. He was the most senior tech crew on the fleet and not some kind of wishie-washie yes man who accepts anything.
As to the way he should have flown the aircraft being a delta wing, you may have a point, that is sipping your coffee in your Garfield slippers while Mrs Buket is cooking you warm breakfast on your aniversary day.
In the real world in such a stressfull, out of the ordinary situation, you'll instinctively dig into your experience which in their case, like it would be in BA, was sub sonic airliners.
30 years of subsonic experience with no major call versus 1 year with on top of that the murkiest of situation ( 3 minutes flights all together explosion, fire etc ) that in my opinion sums it up.
Reading you you would think you guys recover a major situation every morning after breakie.
Now, Jackoro or who ever hides behind this maybe, since you're a journo, you'd like to make those accusations of encouraging the breaking of rules at Air France again, under your real name of course, I would enjoy seeing you sued, unless of course you can substantiate that. Get credentials and get your ass over here to have a look for yourself.
Why doesn't BA pack its tanks the way AF does ? Guess what, just a couple hundred miles more between CDG and JFK. Had you gotten your toosh on a Concorde, you'd want your tanks extra full.
That this led to the explosion through impact, that' s the official cause now isn't it ? Did BA have their tanks carpeted with Kevlar ? I think not.
Finally why didn't any current or former BA Concorde pilots contribute to your very valuable insights ??? I'm sure you'll find the answer yourself.
Forgive me for putting the lid back on the toilet bowl so soon but I need a breath of fresh air.