Conditions too crappy for visual approach?

[red8]

Any truth to the rumour that this really happened? If true it is one of funniest things spoken on radio....

Apparently on approach into Capetown ATC asked an airliner if they were planning on a visual or full ILS. The female pilot responded by saying " I don't know, my Captain is on the toilet..."

[CJ750]

must have been the airline food

[Jacobace]

Number 2 for landing?

It did happen. We had just taken off out of FACT and climbing out. We were laughing so much we missed our next clearance!!!!

[I.R.PIRATE]

So does the captain being on the toilet not mean that the little lady was in command??

Could she not make a decision?

Good lord where do they find them these days.

Then again, a blue licence and the mortal axe wound are all that is required for certain sectors of society to find their way into the airlines.

[Romeo E.T.]

on a seriuos note, apart from the "crappy" statement, it could have been a route sector training flight, and the training captain might have wanted to do a full ILS or even simulated autoland to sign off a few more items in the training file, or even worse it could have a "sky-god" mentality Captain that wouldn't have allowed a "lowley" F/O to make such an important decision with his yay or nay....but it still doesn't excuse the "crappy" reply though.

[saywhat]

It could have been a passenger flying. It could have been the pet dog using the radio....It is unacceptable that this is the levels that we have descended to in aviation.....And we want to be taken seriously......Get real. We as a pilot group deserve what we get.....

[cavortingcheetah]

The radio message is in two parts. The whereabouts of the captain (with a small c) could be anywhere. It's even possible he casually joked 'tell them I'm on the toilet' as he introduced another morsel of delicious airline food into his mouth. The more worrying part is the first part of the statement which indicates that the female first officer was ignorant, indecisive and indiscrete. Whichever way you interpret the message it indicates a badly run and sloppily operated cockpit. The airline should be named and shamed and the crew sent for a retraining CRM refresher or perhaps Airbus S.A.S.(Society for Simplified Actions) aka Automated Aluminium, will now introduce a radio message filter so that those who fly the product won't even need communication skills?

[three eighty]

perhaps Airbus S.A.S.(Society for Simplified Actions) aka Automated Aluminium, will now introduce a radio message filter so that those who fly the product won't even need communication skills?

They already have - it's called CPDLC and I believe the Yanks have seen fit to install it on their Boeings too!

[cavortingcheetah]

I'm a big FAN of anything that helps the witless to stations otherwise unobtainable in their lives, the use of the word profession being inappropriate and over rated for the job in question.

[I.R.PIRATE]

R.E.T - was this Comair?


Do you think the skipper would be on the crapper during the initial stages of the approach on a route check?

I mean really - surely she could have used a little initiative and opted for the best option with the current prevailing conditions. Even if the T.O.D Toiletier required another form of approach once he was done wiping, they could have sorted that out with ATC once he returned to his other throne.

...lowest common denominator and all...booyah.

[red8]

It happens. Even to super villians!

GRU to Mr Perkins: "I fly to the moon; I shrink the moon; I grab the moon; I sit on the toilet....!What!!!????"

I almost crapped my pants when I saw the above scene in Despicable Me last night. So funny.