BOAC Exactly, this plane full of paying passengers were very lucky to have someone as skilled as this pilot to handle such an anomoly moments before touchdown. I don't think I've seen anything negative about the pilot or his piloting skills mentioned. It's a question of policy and methods to manage risk.
I read there were 4 pilots registered with the CAA with arm prosthetics. I think they should be allowed to fly "IF" they are qualified and "IF" the mechanical prosthetic arm is engineered with high quality parts and has scheduled inspections. Apparently now the policy makes no difference between an economy model prosthetic with cheap linkages and fasteners and a higher end model that has been built with the safety of the crew and passengers in mind.
Why build a high quality plane of tested parts for tens of millions of dollars and then agree to control it with parts of unknown quality. Unknown-quality parts could fail at the worst possible time and put the passengers at unnecessary risk. 25 percent of the prosthetic arm pilots have now experienced just that event. Why can't they certify the arm joints and clamps to engineering standards and let them continue flying.
Last edited by toaddy; 15th Aug 2014 at 12:45.