From the article in the link:
Quote:
I wonder who ended up taking the blame for that one!
Easy, the Captain did.
Yep, it doesn't matter if you were set up like a bowling pin at the last minute with the wrong plane, the wrong paperwork or missing ETOPS weather, it's your fault as PIC these days. And, if it isn't already there, a paragraph buried deeply in the manual will soon probably have you double check the tail number against some OPSPEC's list of approved ETOPS planes.
Normally an ETOPS flight requires a special maintenance release, was this missed or was it inadvertently signed off on a non-ETOPS plane?
I heard it was 3 check airman that flew it there.
Check airmen flying to Hawaii? I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.
A lot of those folks write the books but some don't read them in my experience. When they blunder into a regulatory issue like this, with nobody hurt and nothing bent, typically their check airman letter is suspended for, say, six months. They teach sims, fly the plane and work on training materials (like a new ETOPS preflight bulletin) with little loss of pay.
In this case since all three pilots were probably similarly qualified, the punishment from the feds will probably be the same even though one is signed for the plane from a recent similar event I am familiar with.
And, at least they were already in position in HNL for the Part 91 non-ETOPS ferry back, right?
