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mad_jock
21st May 2004, 14:06
Do you ever have one of those days that you would quite happly not call yourself a pilot?

5th early, missed part of the walk round, missed a bung on one of the packs.

Thankfully ground crew on the start saved the day.

Then went from CRM nightmare to CRM nightmare.

Thankgod I had a VERY understanding captain.

No bollocking could ever cover the amount of ****e i have been giving myself since. And the bugger refused to bollock me, just said thats why we have two crew. Don't worry m8 i am watching you, seen it all before.

MJ

Paracab
21st May 2004, 21:13
mj,

This happens in all professions.

Where I work we constantly reassess our actions and often talk about what we might have been able to do better.

Sometimes nothing, sometimes everything, its the way it goes.

At least you learn from it (theres only so much you can learn from other peoples mistakes !!)

We are not allowed to be b0ll0cked anymore either (no blame culture) but, as you know, you do that yourself, after whatever went wrong is done and dusted.

Sounds like you've done enough beating yourself up though, time for a beer

:)

pilotwolf
21st May 2004, 22:17
Paracab agree with what you say but think your management have different understanding of 'No Blame' culture!

:*

FJJP
21st May 2004, 23:25
Let's face it, nothing he could have said could have made you feel any worse than you already did! Your embarrassment under the eye of a fellow professional is surely punishment enough. Not much to do with the so-called 'no blame' culture, more about cursing your own stupidity and self flagellation!

Lu Zuckerman
21st May 2004, 23:38
The US Air Force suffered some high value losses because pilots and mechanics failed to reveal that they might have screwed up. The AF accident office initiated a program whereby a pilot or mechanic could reveal the screw up and not be punished.

I was working as a Tech Rep on an AF missile program and a mechanic told his superiors that he might have over torqued a bolt resulting in a possible fracture. If the inner part of the bolt did in fact fracture it could have entered the fuel turbo pump causing an explosion. They pulled the center engine and entered the tank to look for the other end of the bolt. They never found the bolt part but the did find that the inside of the tank was full of sand and particles of fiberglass. The sand came from the fuel storage tank and the fiberglass particles were from the filter system, which had been destroyed by the entrained sand. They had lost two missiles from this particular launch pad when the missiles blew up for no apparent reason. The missile in question would have met the same fate if it were not for the fact that the mechanic came forward.

They could never determine how the sand got into the storage tank. Maybe it resulted from somone elses screw up.

:E :E

Ojuka
22nd May 2004, 02:26
Without wishing to pry, how did you have a "Then went from CRM nightmare to CRM nightmare"
when you had a very understanding captain? With respect, this is a contradiction in terminology.

Surely this emphasises that there was no diminishment of CRM when you congratulate your partner for being patient?

We all have bad days; regardless of which seat we occupy: if we had persistently flawless sectors then we wouldn't gain "experience".

mad_jock
22nd May 2004, 07:49
Thanks everyone.

Water under the bridge and experence put in the book.

I take your point Ojuka

MJ

sky330
23rd May 2004, 03:10
<I had a VERY understanding captain.>

Probably because one day, he did roughly the same when he was in your position and remember very well the last time HE screws up and the f/o saves him....

West Coast
23rd May 2004, 04:48
We have all been there, and will again before too long. That your kicking your own ass so hard probably means you are giving it due concern and you learned a lesson and came away better for it.
You will be that Captain someday.