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Old 6th Nov 2014, 03:54
  #34 (permalink)  
Big Pistons Forever
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Canada
Age: 63
Posts: 5,209
Received 134 Likes on 61 Posts
There is IMO a big disconnect in situations that you get in training and what actually happens on the line. The OMG big deal situations that you deal with in training ( eg V 1 Engine fail, inflight fires etc etc) almost never happen. Instead you get quite a lot of "undesirable but not not really emergencies" events that happen on a fairly regular basis.

How these are handled separates the true "Commander" from the children of the magenta. When asked how I deal with these I tell folks I use a pretty simple Decision matrix:

1) Do I have a problem ? Sometimes things may be happening with the airplane but after a moments reflection it isn't worth going to action stations for and in fact no action, other than a post flight write up is required.

2) If I have a problem is it my problem or someone else who needs to deal with it ? That is ATC, Dispatch, maintenance control etc ?

3) If it is my problem do I have to deal with it NOW or is it something I should give it a good think around before coming to a decision on how to act ?

Remember there is almost nothing that will happen to you that will require instant action. Fast hands kill !
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