Sunday Morning Post World Exclusive

[mr Q]

Earth shattering exposee by Simon Parry !!!!
A CX pilot convicted of drink-driving in UK in 2008 is allowed to continue flying by Cathay Pacific!!!!!
What a non story !!!
Surely there must be more relevant public interest aviation stories to write about !!!!
If there are not I suggest Mr Parry parks his pen and stays in bed instead of this story
Why do I still buy that newspaper ???????

[Wobblywonker]

so, when does it become a story then, when he crashes and burns with 400 passengers ?

why do pilots feel free to criticise others but freely dismiss their own indiscretions :ugh:

[Bullethead]

Why do I still buy that newspaper ???????

I thought that ages ago about the rag I used to read and then had a look at the alternatives and decided that none were any better so now I don't buy any of them.

Regards,
BH.

[HKAforever]

Well, well, it looks like you CX guys aren't the perfect and superior pilots you say you are? :} Then again, it's not like HKA standards are any better, sigh...:(

[mr Q]

I would have made the same remarks had it been an employee of any airline ( HKA included)
May show a bad attitude ( to use a favourite Local HK phrase) to road safety but in the absence of any aggravating features not a case for dismissal or licence revocation.
Similar story ( equally boring & trivial ) appeared in the SCMP a few years ago about a Southern Hemisphere CX pilot .. but no rent a quotes in that one.
As a frequent flyer what is this IAPA and who is the French guy ???
I have a few more relevant isssues I would like his comment on ..so Mr French ...how can I contact you ??????

[SMOC]

This was published in the UK on the 2nd of FEB.

Seven banned airline pilots still allowed to fly | The Sun |News (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2834503/Seven-banned-airline-pilots-still-allowed-to-fly.html)

[mr Q]

SMOC......... Doubly disillushioned now
I really thought that for the first time EVER Parry had an original "exclusive" but beaten at the post by the Sun .........

[quadspeed]

One would think the masses would be in upheaval for every policeman, Senator, military commander, lawyer, judge, medical doctor, ATC controller, shipsmate, bridge controller and company executive who ever faced an DUI.

But they're not. Do we still trust these professionals to do their jobs sober?

[Ex Cathedra]

it looks like you CX guys aren't the perfect and superior pilots you say you are?


Yes we are. So good, in fact, that the authorities have no trouble allowing us to fly while pissed out of our brains.

:cool:

[CRWCRW]

Cathay allows pilot to fly despite his drink-driving
Simon Parry
Updated on Feb 21, 2010
A Cathay Pacific pilot has been allowed to continue flying for the airline despite being banned from the road for drink-driving.
The unnamed pilot was convicted of the offence in Britain and made to attend an alcohol misuse clinic by Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The pilot's driving licence was suspended.

The Cathay Pacific officer was one of eight pilots, including cockpit crew with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, convicted of drink-driving in Britain in 2008. Details of their convictions were made public this month by the CAA after requests were filed under Britain's Freedom of Information Act.

Drink-driving offences in Britain carry a mandatory minimum one-year driving ban.

The International Airline Passengers Association (IAPA) criticised Cathay Pacific's decision to allow the pilot to continue flying. It argues that pilots convicted of drink-driving should be stripped of their commercial flying licences.

However, Cathay Pacific said its action was in line with other airlines worldwide, while the main Cathay pilots' union insisted a drink-driving conviction had no effect on pilots' ability to do their job unless specific alcohol abuse problems existed.

IAPA spokesman Jonathan French said: "I've spoken to a lot of passengers about this issue and the majority view is that drink-driving is a serious offence which does relate to their jobs as pilots.

"When you are a commercial pilot, you have so many lives in your hands, so the standard of behaviour expected of you has to be very, very high. If a pilot breaks the law on drink-driving, there should be no second chance - they should lose their flying licences as well as their driving licences."

French said he understood the argument that driving and flying should be treated separately, "but if I turned up at the airport for a flight and found out the pilot had taken a taxi to the airport because he is banned from driving, I would be alarmed and I think most passengers would be alarmed too. There are enough people out there who want to fly for commercial airlines."

However, John Findlay, general secretary of the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association, said: "Drink-driving has nothing at all to do with a person's ability to be a pilot unless of course the pilot has an alcohol abuse problem, in which case it should be treated as an illness and they should go for a programme of rehabilitation.

"If a person has just had one drink too many and gets stopped for drink-driving, that is no different to a politician or a police officer being stopped for the same offence. It does not in any way affect the pilot's ability to do his or her job."

Asked about the pilot's conviction, a Cathay spokeswoman said: "The [Hong Kong] Civil Aviation Department requires all pilots to declare criminal convictions, including drink-driving convictions, at the time of their annual relicensing medical examination. This is in line with the practice of many overseas regulatory authorities. No Cathay Pacific pilots have had their flying licence suspended on grounds that they have been convicted of drink-driving."

[broadband circuit]

This excellent article by Simon has driven my guilt meter through the roof, and I need to get something off my chest:

Many years ago, I got a speeding ticket for doing 72 in a 60 zone.

There, I've said it. I feel very grateful that my pilot licence was not suspended.

[LongTimeInCX]

You think that's bad...

I received a ticket in HK for doing 58 in a 62 limit (yup that's what the summons said). So back in the day, if you weren't going to go to court you could state your case in the mitigating circumstances section on the bottom of the ticket, so tongue in cheek, I wrote, "Guilty as charged for only doing 58, I'm sorry, I'll try and go faster next time"

Nett result, I got a HK$50 fine - Wtf??

My subsequent query with an expat cop in the traffic division said the judge found my comments to be facetious, hence the paltry fine. He said if I complained, they would be happy to rewrite the summons for the more correct version of 85 in a 60, which I have to admit was closer to the mark.

Does that mean I'm incapable of holding 160kts to 4 miles, I don't think so.
Yes it's not smart getting nicked for DUI, but I see no reason for the great unwashed demanding their flying licences are pulled.
IMHO they are two VERY different arenas.

[christn]

I'm sure that after those admissions the non-pilot critics here will be concerned that when flying you will also go too fast - especially round the corners!

[HKAforever]

I see one of you guys must be the one driving that Bmw 5 series M5 that was blasting down the North Lantau Highway. I did'nt know CX pay you enough salary to afford a top end bimmer, haha.

Of course, I've been known to drive a wee bit fast on certain section on that highway...

Which brings up a good question, I regularly see those black skylimo vans hurl past Tung Chung without a care in the world, yet the police always seem to turn a blind eye to them. I on the other hand have spotted the police handing out tickets to unsuspecting drivers at the Tsing Ma Bridge Toll Booth almost every morning. Where is the justice in this world?

[HotDog]

I'm sure many of us are missing the good old days before the introduction of breathalyser checks by the Hong Kong police. I think the Aero Club would have gone out of business very rapidly! No Cathay aircraft ever suffered an accident due to impaired handling skills due to alcohol. There are strict rules in place, restricting alcohol consumption prior to reporting for flying duties. Simon, please note!

[The Wraith]

I think Simon Parry is a fairly low bit reporter overall. Or is he just a Tw@t? I can never remember which it is.
I hope he is never faced with the challenge of writing a real story...
:yuk:

[Wobblywonker]

well, well Simon is a **** because the story is'nt in your favour, but he's great when he does a write up on management or pay or benefits or the lack thereof

and for those who missed the point, deliberately or otherwise, the issue is'nt one of speeding but of poor judgement (DUI), reckless behaviour, and perhaps a more serious problem of alcoholism...........

hey but don't let the real issues get in the way of a good story :ugh:

[goathead]

Is'nt SP the short fat guy you see outside the FCC sometimes with a pint and a cigarette on friday night...? is that the guy ?

[club med]

wobblywanker, the point isn't of the story 'being in someones favour', but it is all about perspective. Over all the years i've been flying, I have yet to see a colleague violate the company's 'bottle to throttle' policy. Nearly all of those same colleagues are guilty of having many, many serious sessions at the local pub on a few days off. It doesn't take much to be 'over the limit' anymore, and many of us could be guilty of possibly transgressing on occasion. To be stopped is unfortunate, but how does that relate to someones professional manner? When I was in the RAF, I knew 2 mid 20 year olds who had been done for drunk driving. They were still considered responsible enough to be on 'quick alert' to carry a nuclear weapon into East Germany. I don't condone anyone drinking and driving, but to be unwittingly over a subjective limit driving from your local back to your home is a whole different thing to being responsible to specific time limits regarding drinking and flying. Don't confuse two very different issue.

[Mooseflyer]

"and for those who missed the point, deliberately or otherwise, the issue is'nt one of speeding but of poor judgement (DUI), reckless behaviour, and perhaps a more serious problem of alcoholism..........."

Hey Wobbly, if a DUI is an example of "poor judgement and reckless bahavior", how is speeding not?

[club med]

I might add that 'speeding' is of a deliberate and intentional nature. Most impaired driving is a result of inadvertent and careless behaviour. One is deliberately breaking the law, the other is not planned. The real irony in this whole debate is the fact that several studies have shown that most long-haul pilots are frequently operating in a debilitated state due to fatigue and jetlag that is worse than the average impaired driver of a car. Maybe Simon would like to make THAT the object of his next article (and this time Simon, try for some original content, ok?).

[OldChinaHand]

As in "Simon Parrot". Easily copied article, courtesy of that terrific Icon of British Journalistic talent. Wake up editor !!

[club med]

In Feb 2007 USAirways CEO Doug Parker was done for impaired driving (his attempted takeover of Delta had fallen apart that day!). He is still the CEO of the airline. His temporary lack of judgement AWAY FROM HIS JOB doesn't seem to have made any difference in him continuing to run an ENTIRE airline...! Pilots (and CEO's !) are human too... Seems it's always easy for someone else to cast the first stone...

[Bob Hawke]

Wobbly is trying to demonstrate the difference between the issue of incompetence demonstrated in attempting to take-off on a taxi-way and taxing onto an active runway, when not p155ed, whilst in charge of an aircraft; as opposed to an event/s not connected with aircraft or flying. As an obtuse individual, he cannot distinguish the difference between substance abuse or incompetence, of which neither has a place in aviation - isn't that so, dearest Wobbly! Now let's recite the rectal poem together....one, two, three....