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[Shore Guy]

Swearing grounds NWA jet

Las Vegas-to-Detroit flight is canceled after passengers complain about pilot's foul language.

Iveory Perkins / The Detroit News

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a Northwest Airlines pilot who locked himself inside an airplane lavatory while screaming obscenities before the flight was scheduled to take off for Detroit from Las Vegas on Friday.

As passengers boarded Northwest Flight 1190 at McCarran International Airport they heard the captain shouting curse words.

Transportation Security Administration workers responded to the incident and noticed the pilot was "acting strange," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor told The Detroit News.

"He entered the forward lavatory, locked the door and continued his animated conversation, but passengers who were boarding could hear the end of the conversation," Gregor said. "At some point he came out and a passenger confronted him about his demeanor and actions," Gregor said. "The pilot allegedly laid an f-bomb, and cursed at the passenger."

After FAA and Northwest Airlines spoke with the captain and the flight was canceled. The name of the captain isn't being released, but Gregor said he is a veteran pilot. The co-pilot also was taken off the flight because the FAA determined the situation may have "rattled him."

There were 180 passengers aboard the Boeing 757 aircraft along with a five-person crew.

Passenger Jeanine Peters of Eastpointe was in the back of the plane when she noticed others leaving the flight.

"People started getting off the plane before they announced there was a problem," Peters said. "People were saying they heard swearing, screaming and yelling and they were getting nervous. There was police cars out there and people running up to the plane."

Las Vegas police interviewed the pilot, but did not find any cause to conduct a sobriety test, Gregor said.

Peters couldn't find another flight to Detroit until today.

Northwest Airlines wouldn't comment beyond a statement that said the flight was canceled due to inappropriate language by a crew member. Northwest also issued an apology to its customers for the delay Friday.

Gregor said that once Northwest presents its findings in the matter, the FAA will review the case and make a ruling of its own.

[Few Cloudy]

Poor Guy,

I wonder what his problem was?

[Human Factor]

Had this occurred in the UK, I would have suggested he just had to deal with DfT security muppets!

Unfortunately, being a US internal flight this wasn't the case.

[411A]

KBUR, many years ago.
A DC-7 pulls up to the terminal, and no ground agent is in sight.
The airplane is parked, engines shut down, and the Captain's head is noticed from the open left DV window.
An agent appears.
The Captain yells...'hey, a**hole, where are the f*****g boarding stairs?
All 80 passengers that were waiting to board, have second thoughts, and depart the area.
Flight canceled.
The very next day, the offending Captain was 'canceled' from the company.

[Another Number]

FAA Spokesman ... Gregor said. "The pilot allegedly laid an f-bomb, and cursed at the passenger."Well, ya can't going laying bombs in aircraft and get away with it anymore, these days! :ouch:


Article didn't mention whether he was actually using a phone or not.


(I know John Travolta flies ... but now ... Cap'n Mel Gibson? ;) May it was Cap'n Crowe?)

[lotman1000]

"The pilot allegedly laid an f-bomb, and cursed at the passenger."

My English is rusty; is "f-bomb" present slang for an FA, or does it mean breaking wind?

[merlinxx]

After my last visit (work) to Lost Wages and the my experience of most of the pax, not surprised he threw a wobbler!!!!!

[ORAC]

:confused: :confused: :ouch:

CNN: (http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/04/07/swearing.pilot/) (CNN) -- Northwest Airlines canceled a flight with 180 passengers aboard after the pilot began cursing at passengers while the plane was being prepared for takeoff in Las Vegas on Friday, airline officials and witnesses said. The cancellation disrupted Easter travel plans for many of the passengers.

From the moment the captain stepped aboard Flight 1190 to Detroit, first-class passengers reported hearing him use "animated" language while talking on his cell phone, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor told CNN.

"He was having a fit, swearing up a storm," a passenger on the flight said. "He was saying 'F this' and 'F that.'" When confronted about it by passengers, the pilot became "obscene" and began cursing at the customers, she said. "He made a big disturbance."

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and the local FAA flight standards office were notified, Gregor said. Police arrived on the scene, pulled the pilot aside and interviewed him. He was not administered a field sobriety test. Gregor said he did not know the reasons behind that decision and CNN was unable to immediately contact the police officers involved.

The FAA officials called Northwest Airlines headquarters and were instructed by the chief pilot for the company to remove the pilot from the aircraft. The chief pilot also requested that the pilot be flown to Detroit for further questioning, Gregor said. Northwest Airlines then canceled the flight, apologized for the delay and offered hotel accommodations and penalty-free re-booking on the next available flight out of Las Vegas, a spokesman for the airline said.

The airline said "a review of the matter" was being conducted and the decision to cancel the flight was made "due to reports of inappropriate language by a crew member."

Mike Fergus, an FAA spokesman, said the FAA's flight standards investigation unit was looking into the incident. According to Fergus, the FAA has the authority to send a "letter of admonition" to the pilot or, in the most extreme cases, revoke a pilot's FAA certificate, which would ground the pilot.....

[Blues&twos]

He'd fit right in where I work.

Mind you, I probably wouldn't be working there very much longer if I used industrial language at our customers.

[Huck]

There was an article in the ALPA magazine years ago about a flight in the states.

The captain kept the seatbelt sign on as he deviated through some storms, then he turned to the F/E and said "Let 'em dance, and tell them it was superior f*cking airmanship that saved the day back there."

The F/E pointed excitedly at the P/A light - he had inadvertantly been speaking to the entire cabin's occupants!

At their destination, the captain summoned his courage and managed to stand in the cockpit door and sheepishly smile at the deplaning passengers. They all merely grinned knowingly at him until the very end, when an attractive woman sauntered up, leaned into his ear and whispered, "Nice f*cking landing, captain...."

[SeniorDispatcher]

The latest from the oddsmakers at Vegas regarding who he was on the phone with:

Crew scheduing, trying to get another trip out of him once in DTW, 2:1

Current, or soon-to-be ex-wife, 4:1

Current, or soon-to-be ex-girlfriend, 6:1

His flight dispatcher, 10:1


I'm inclined to believe it was the wife or soon-to-be ex-wife; hell hath no fury etc. etc. and they certainly know what buttons to push.

Poor chap....

[fernytickles]

Some years ago, while the pax were boarding our flight by walking from the terminal across the ramp, the captain slammed open the side window (146) and started effing & blinding at the tug driver. He (the tug driver) had waited for a gap in the line of boarding pax, then drove thru' to hitch up to the plane. The captain only saw him drive "thru'" the line of pax and reacted with very little of the reserved, calm approach you'd expect, or hope for.

I watched as the tug driver, unable to hear anything from inside his cab, and looking rather puzzled watched the captain gesticulate frantically, and the passengers looked very shocked as they were right under the cockpit window and could clearly hear every single word (f's, c's, you name it) that he screamed.

Having endured this prat's company for 3 days, that was the point at which I decided to avoid flying with him ever again at all costs. Very weird character. Maybe I should have called for the pc police and had the flight cancelled? That would have got me away from him even sooner.....

[podbreak]

Mind you, I probably wouldn't be working there very much longer if I used industrial language at our customers.

Reminds me of an incident in my early years; a skipper who was accidently paging the cabin as he told me just how much he appreciated certain ground crew. Even with all the 'f-bombs', and 'industrial language' not one complaint was lodged...:eek:

[HotDog]

We were cruising past Sakurajima, an active volcano in Kyushu Japan. The captain was making a PA, pointing out the gently smoking crater to the passengers sitting on the left hand side of the cabin when all of a sudden an eruption took place and the captain exclaimed; "****, did you see that?" Apart from the chief purser who burst through the cockpit door, no complaints were made from the mainly Japanese passengers.

[Earthmover]

Fernytickles I know precisely who you mean .. he was very nearly fired for berating a passenger once. I believe he carried on his antics on other types, but is now no longer flying. Amazing how the odd rogue can carry on for so long.

[bomarc]

He was laying the F BOMB (frick you) because he had just heard that 400 managers at the airline were being given 1 million $ each in stock while he is still smarting from a pay cut.

I hope the FAA grounds every pilot in America who has ever said "FUC&"

the sky will be empty.

[maxalt]

411A: KBUR, many years ago.
A DC-7 pulls up to the terminal, and no ground agent is in sight.
The airplane is parked, engines shut down, and the Captain's head is noticed from the open left DV window.
An agent appears.
The Captain yells...'hey, a**hole, where are the f*****g boarding stairs?
All 80 passengers that were waiting to board, have second thoughts, and depart the area.
Flight canceled.
The very next day, the offending Captain was 'canceled' from the company.Wasn't you was it 411A? :E

Many a year ago I sat in the RHS of a 737 in darkest Africa and watched a skipper having a similiar fit with the 'natives'. The performance culminated in him thrusting his upper body out the cockpit window so he could 'hock a loogie' in their eye for laughing at his protestations.

I sat there watching and thought - I gotta get outta Africa before I go nuts like this poor b'stard.

Thank God I did, and am still of sound mind.:}

[Flapping_Madly]

Well I've read this thread and hoped for an answer to the question that won't leave my mind. So I'll have to ask it.

A pilot in a private very stressed phone conversation uses "naughty" words and in a totally OTT feminised over-reaction a whole plane load of SLF are seriously inconvenienced. WHY for god's sake. Pathetic. Or what am I missing?:confused::confused::confused::confused:

[Ripline]

A pilot in a private very stressed phone conversation uses "naughty" words and in a totally OTT feminised over-reaction a whole plane load of SLF are seriously inconvenienced. WHY for god's sake.

Simply because, my dear chap, any pilot who has just "lost it" in front of his passengers is hardly in the right frame of mind to be flying anything, never mind operating a commercial flight.

The safest thing is to opt not to fly. If that is undesireable then a better option is to terminate any such conversation before it takes you into that mental state where you shouldn't fly.

IMO

Ripline

[Loose rivets]

The captain of 'PI' or 'Stains' crash had just had a blazing row in ops. He bust a blood vessel shortly after take-off, causing the loss of the Trident.

[h73kr]

The best I can do is a hostie I knew who was mortified by a slip of the tongue once.....

nervous passenger boards flight in Amsterdam.....hostie reassures him 'don't worry Sir, it's just a short flight'...

45 minutes later aircraft lands, passengers file off.....

hostie to 'nervous flier' as he leaves...

'did you enjoy your sh#t flight Sir?'

:D

[visibility3miles]

Simply because, my dear chap, any pilot who has just "lost it" in front of his passengers is hardly in the right frame of mind to be flying anything, never mind operating a commercial flight.

The safest thing is to opt not to fly. If that is undesireable then a better option is to terminate any such conversation before it takes you into that mental state where you shouldn't fly.


Yes, this captain didn't just say one or two curse words to a passenger, he was loudly cursing on his cell phone before the passenger was involved.

From a news story:
The pilot of the Las Vegas-to-Detroit flight was apparently in a heated cell phone conversation in the cockpit, then went into a lavatory, locked the door and continued the conversation, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said Saturday.

"Passengers who were boarding the aircraft could hear his end of it," Gregor said.

Doesn't sound like he was focused on the flight.

Then again, I wasn't there.

[Zeppelin]

Reminds me of the skipper leaning out the dv window yelling to the engineer to 'Hurry up'. At which point the passengers strolling towards the plane all start jogging.....

[Middle Seat]

...and for those of us in the states, in addition to the outburst in front of the customers, it did nothing for the less-than-stellar customer service reputation of this particular carrier. The only difference was that the snarling was from one in the pointy end of the aircraft, rather than the ones that secure the cabin and the galley.

[ship's power]

Quote:
Simply because, my dear chap, any pilot who has just "lost it" in front of his passengers is hardly in the right frame of mind to be flying anything, never mind operating a commercial flight.


Many years ago, as a young second officer on a B-727, I remember holding short for takeoff for what seemed like forever for departure. The seemingly inept tower controller then advised us to expect at least another 20 minutes of delay while he worked arriving traffic. The ill tempered Captain then shut down two of his three engines to conserve our fuel, but just as the engines spooled down, the tower suddenly advised us that we were cleared for an immediate take off.
F..YOU the exasperated captain screamed into his wisely un keyed mike. In a rage, he then pitched his microphone at the instrument panel, and by unfortunate aim, shattered his HSI. . . Needless to say, our seniority list moved by one number that day.

[A37575]

The captain of 'PI' or 'Stains' crash had just had a blazing row in ops. He bust a blood vessel shortly after take-off, causing the loss of the Tride

Well yes and no. The primary cause of the crash was that the Trident stalled after the leading edge devices were retracted prematurely by one of the cockpit crew - most likely the second officer occupying the copilot's seat.
The captain had been earlier involved in a fracas with members of the pilots union before the flight and was upset when he boarded the aircrcraft.

At 1500 ft after take off, the thrust was reduced for noise-abatement and shortly afterwards instead of trailing edge flap retraction, the leading edge devices were selected in and the Trident stalled because the retraction of the LED caused the stalling speed to increase by about 30 knots. Unlike modern jets the LED and trailing edge flaps in the Trident are operated by separate controls in the cockpit.

The autopsy on the captain found a severe cae of atherosclerosis - a narrowing of the arteries resulting from a build up of fatty deposits in the heart. The symptoms of the internal haemorrhage found in the autopsy could range from a slight indigestion-like pain in the chest to collapse and unconsciousness.

The story of this accident was published in Air Disaster, Volume 1 by the Australian author Macarthur Job.
.

[Midland63]

@A37575

Nothing worse than a SLF/spotter who is familiar with the works of Mac Job "creeping a thread" but is the relevance of PI/Staines not that we cannot rule out the possibility that, had the captain not been having a heart attack due to (or contributed to - MAYBE) earlier row, the slats might not have been prematurely retracted? (By whoever.)

Oh, and while I'm on, I am a native English speaker (UK) and I don't know what an "F-bomb" is either - is it a fart or using the F-word (fu*k)?

Rgds, M63

[Loose rivets]

I have to say that it is years since I read the report, so things may be a little misty...but, I was under the impression that his state of mind could well have been a contributory factor. Really, that's all that is needed, to conclude that the thread's captain should certainly not have flown.

Let me tell you a story.

I recall many yeas ago, standing at the nose of my HP7 at Rotterdam, while my passengers were trailing across the tarmac to board. A light aircraft started to buzz the tower...and anything else it could see that looked fair game.

I like low flying, and I was certainly not an old fuddy-duddy, but this was taking the pi##. I stood near the GPU and stared right into his cockpit as he flew a foot or so off the ground...STRAIGHT AT ME. I was one not to back away from confrontation in those days and I stood my ground. Well, that was until I ducked. The captain behind me said that he thought it would take my aerials off the roof...and indeed the roof of the main building.

This is one of the few times in my aviation career when folk have seen me really annoyed. I was very fit in those days and ran to the building and up the stairs to the flight-planning place. I bellowed in such a way that made the armed guards look startled. The gist of my bellowing was "Isn't anyone going to stop this?!!!!"

God knows where he landed cos the tearful and distraught young pilot beat me back to my aircraft. It seemed that when they got a new aircraft delivered at the flying school, they ‘Christened it' in this manner. He was concerned about his career. LOL. I told him that in my country he would go to jail.

There was a bit of inter politicking between our flight inspector and the Dutch, and I left them with the diagrams and report I submitted. All done on a ‘keep it friendly' basis. Okay with me.

Anyway, despite regular very demanding work-outs, this episode left me strangely depleted. I was going up against some seriously good judo opponents about that time, and working very hard at it, yet after take-off I felt unwell. My chest felt constricted, and the lowering pressure (4.6 diff in that thing) seemed to be having more affect than usual. I briefed my F/O and relaxed. It went away.

The point is that anyone that practices judo will know just how much you have to give. Just what was the difference in this case? There has to be some very counter productive chemistry going on when you loose control of your emotions: an adrenaline rush kick-back perhaps, anyway for a few minutes I should not have been in command of that aircraft.

[DingerX]

Point of information: "F-bomb" is indeed US jargon for the word you signified. Swearing is a verbal act: whereas most of the time, we use words to signify things, such as with descriptions or directives, when we swear, we use "strong words" as acts in themselves, conveying an emotional state. Hence the usage of "bomb": deploying it alters the conversational landscape, largely by removingor flattening obstructions to efficient communication, obstructions such as ill-conceived notions of propriety. \

People are generally tolerant of "incidental" swearing.

I can think of very few more difficult situations than a superior who comes in, mad as hell with a "don't mess with me" post-row attitude, then silently becomes incapacitated.

[arcniz]

I think the experience of family life is instructive about how dramatically the working atmosphere of a collaborative enterprise can change with as little as a single word uttered in anger or desperation of some other sort.

Airline operations are inherently complex on the ground and in the sky. The system depends on quiet and seamless collaboration of many individuals in many roles, each one expected - as the base-case for success - to do the right thing at the right time in exactly the right way. Management, training, promotion and personal career goals all work to the same convergence of skills and interests that cause a very demanding and unpredictable process to seem reliable and consistently successful in commerce.

When this collaborative and precise activity is contaminated by an individual's behavior that distracts, confuses, and polarises the minds of co-workers, the unavoidable result is that performance suffers. For this reason, if no others, the minimum standard of comportment and demeanor should be set high and kept so for the special persons in the process responsible for command and control.

[Speed of Sound]

The best I can do is a hostie I knew who was mortified by a slip of the tongue once.....
nervous passenger boards flight in Amsterdam.....hostie reassures him 'don't worry Sir, it's just a short flight'...
Hostie also and into AMS. Flight from Dar es Salaam was in late and I guess a lot of passengers has tight connections. As we were taxiing in, people started getting up and fetching stuff out of the overhead lockers. The flight attendant started telling people to remain in their seats until the aircraft had come to a complete stop (in Dutch)
After repeating this three times and being completely ignored, she yelled 'Will you all sit the f**k down, until we stop' (in English)

It made me smile that she thought the command would be more effective in English! :)

SoS

[ChristiaanJ]

I-FORDI would humbly suggest that the SLF don't interfere with this very delicate mechanism... I would suggest that the SLF are not even aware of this mechanism....
They're already hassled by security and possibly stressed by flying.
Being sworn at by one of the crew members is not going to improve their day.... so they might well overreact too... one more conflict situation.

[saman]

You just cannot get quality passengers these days can you?

Fancy a passenger getting worried or upset by a Captain whose foul mood and language can be heard in the cabin when he's - obviously quite sensibly - locked himself in the Lav - and then being sworn at for asking a stupid question.

There is absolutely no place for such demanding arrogance among passengers - it's not as if they pay for anything after all!

Sit down, shut up and be thankful for small mercies I say. If you don't like it - bl__dy walk!

[LRdriver II]

So thanks to some busibody passenger who takes it upon themselves to save the world from the odd swearword, several hundred passengers get inconvinienced and delayed getting home...hmm as a passenger I woyld have F-bombed them as well if this had happened to me.

After being bum-raped by Security and treated as cattle by the airline staff, I just want to GET HOME!! damn do-gooders and bible thumpers...

[SLFguy]

"So thanks to some busibody passenger who takes it upon themselves to save the world from the odd swearword, several hundred passengers get inconvinienced and delayed getting home...hmm as a passenger I woyld have F-bombed them as well if this had happened to me. "


er....

I'm sorry to say that when someone acts so out of character, (I fly a lot and I can assure you pilots and CC are some of the most polite and customer service orientated people I have met), I too would be concerned.

It seems obvious to me that something had SERIOUSLY stressed this guy out and whilst I can sit safeltly at my desk counting beans whilst stressed, flying is a whole different ball game.