A Truly Candid Captain

[AA SLF]

The link below is to a story about a Captain who is IMHO very courageous and candid. As a pax/slf I am happy to see that there are Captains who are willing to try and "improve" the trade as compared to the situations noted here on PpRuNe regards the Near East CRM. See the link below:

click here: (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39073-2002May18.html)

Please note - I am not talking about CRM practices in the predominently caucasian world of flying. This is a comment about "culture" and NOT race!!

[gofer]

As SLF myself, thanks you for the article. I was not aware that such equipment is now standards on new aircraft.:cool:

I agree absolutely with your comments concerning Capt. Rombach, and Bob if you see this - on behalf of all of the general public & the SLF, THANKS. If you read this and know Bob, we would appreciate his comments on many of the subjects on the PPRuNe forums, have him log in please.:)

How I wish that all your colleagues could have that much honnesty to tell their bosses and companies the truth when they have taken a stupid pill. 18'000 hours maybe helps, but even a youngster should be able to do it, unfortunately given the politics of many companies, such a confession that in many of the world's airlines, can be or is career terminal.:mad:

[seat 0A]

This is not in any way meant to sound negative about aforementioned captain, but if he hadn`t made the call himself, he would have had the call from his boss a few hours later.
If you run into a terrain warning, that`s recorded in the "black box" and comes out with the periodical routine check of it.

Big Brother is always watching over our shoulders. That`s why it`s so very important that flight recorder data is treated as a thing to learn from, not to prosecute with.

Typo

[international hog driver]

For the past year we have had this lovely piece of kit.

Our operations are in transport category aircraft into many and varied airports with little or no navaids and no radar environments.

It has a very good predictability rate, but and it is a but..... the data base is not accurate away from major traffic areas.

The db is slowly being updated but the civil authorities are starting to raise eyebrows at the number of incident reports being generated by incorrect warinings.

Other than the db corrections the unit is the best thing to be put in the modern cockpit and will undoubtable save many more lives in the future. :cool:

[Huck]

I had the pleasure of using this system recently in a night descent into Quito. The approach is basically a downwind, base and final approach inside a steep box canyon. Put one side on EGPWS, the other on radar, and watched the canyon walls close in beside us. It is worth its weight in gold.

I remember when EGPWS came out, they did a presentation at an ALPA Air Safety Forum. They simply obtained the flightpath data from 5 famous CFIT accidents (Cali, Cheyenne (USAF C-130), and others) and showed what their product would have displayed to the pilots. It was chilling.

[Ignition Override]

AA SLF: thanks for the very interesting link. We have done some visual approaches at night into Bozeman, Montana. You stay pretty much level there until over some lights in the valley, or can see the high mountain ridge underneath, then leave the minimum altitude on the Victor airway. If you did it too often, you could get a bit relaxed.

Salt Lake Center in early December offered us a VOR with a circle to land, our first time at Kalispell, MT, and at night-end of a fairly long day, but no snow on the ground. It is uncontrolled, also. As for a circle in night IMC, for a first time approach, I said to the other pilot "no way-that controller must be kidding". Many controllers probably have no instrument flying experience, except on a jumpseat. Of course the other option, a procedure turn, is sometimes only seen once every eight years, or even less.

Years ago, the Las Vegas Approach controller gave us a go around early, in order to fit a "high-speed cattle car" (as in Burbank)" 737 in front. I told the Captain, we will stay over the valley lights while receiving vectors to downwind, no matter what the assigned headings, and not enter the dark (mountainous) areas.

A Navy Reserve DC-9 almost hit mountains near NAS Fallon (Nevada) years ago. A pilot had, as a personal technique, set the radar altimeter to some number, and when the needle quickly moved around with the yellow light on, they shoved the throttles fwd and immed. pulled up. The NAS controller had been confused about call signs.

[Big Tudor]

It is somewhat refreshing to note that the captain concerned was able to report what had happended to his boss without ramifications on his job or career. He made an error, he realised it and corrected for it, then he reported it so nobody else would (unknowingly) make the same error. Surely that is one of the fundamental basics of safe aviation??