Mr Rhodes, You Gotta Go

[cxflyer]

Stupid is as Stupid Does

It is amazing how a bunch of "professionals" can have such adolescent opinons.
It is my opinion that CX dropped the ball years ago by not calling in those flying these airshows and laying the law down, no one fired or demoted , just putting the word out that these flybys MUST be approved by flight ops. Then actually putting a procedure and brief in place that would be followed. If that had happened years ago this particular PF would not have let his ego get the better of his judgement. As our DFO is not a pilot he would have to rely on the senior pilot in flight ops, (GMF) to advise and set the standard. Apparently this did not happen and the non flying managers were led (or allowed) to believe this was all ok and safe. The crew involved came back to HK and said nothing about this. Two very experienced pilots were all smiles and thumbs up about the flyby, leading the non-fliers to believe the same. I am sure when this story began to get legs CX was hoping it would die down and they could quietly take care of this. When it became apparent it was not going away the DFO no doubt started to ask questions and then the path became clear. There can be no defending flying that low with passangers onboard, risking their lives, an expensive airplane and the companies (and by extention every pilot in CX) reputation. At the altitude he was at, one bird onto the screen (birds fly at 40ft don't they?), a flinch on the controls and it would have been all over. This incident had no value for the company, it was purely ego. Should the DFO have to leave over this, no, but I hope he learned a lesson about managing a bunch of pilots.
For those of you defending this CP and his actions get over yourselves. If it had been you you would have been shown the door, by the CP 777 in a heartbeat. This is not a flying club. Go get yourself an aerobatic airplane and fill your boots
I would say that CX will have to be doing damage control for awhile. I just watched this video on a two min segment on CNN, complete with names involved and the fact that the FAA is now looking into it.
Stupid is as stupid does.