Emergency scenario
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Emergency scenario
This is a scenario that occasionally comes up on flightsim-forums, but now from a different perspective.
You are the senior flight attendant on board and halfway during the flight you visit the cockpit. You find both pilots unconscious in their seats and you are unable to revive them.
What will you do?
Would you at some point ask if there is a pilot among the passengers?
You are the senior flight attendant on board and halfway during the flight you visit the cockpit. You find both pilots unconscious in their seats and you are unable to revive them.
What will you do?
Would you at some point ask if there is a pilot among the passengers?
Last edited by jeroen79; 3rd Aug 2012 at 19:14.
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I doubt I would ask a passenger if they knew how to fly a plane tbh because who knows what weirdos may say yes, and then of course there is the terrorist threat.
Firstly, I would probably be getting another crew member to bring me oxygen etc and help me administer 1st aid to the incapacitated pilots. If the aircraft was flying itself and was stable, that would be my first priority.
Then it would be to contact the ground as quickly as possible to alert them as to what has gone on and to get someone to talk us down. Most modern aircraft can now land themselves anyway.
Firstly, I would probably be getting another crew member to bring me oxygen etc and help me administer 1st aid to the incapacitated pilots. If the aircraft was flying itself and was stable, that would be my first priority.
Then it would be to contact the ground as quickly as possible to alert them as to what has gone on and to get someone to talk us down. Most modern aircraft can now land themselves anyway.
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I assume that the sequence runs as follows...
Incredibly pretty stewardess exits flight deck in tears. What to do? Who can help? Announcement to passengers "Can anybody fly this plane?" followed by tense silence. Small nervous voice in row 60 says "I'm an expert on this aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator". Young man enters flight deck and grapples with controls. Incredibly pretty stewardess wipes sweat from his brow. "Let's get this baby on the ground". Successful landing against the odds. Applause in the cabin. Kiss from Incredibly pretty stewardess. World media at foot of aircraft steps as hero disembarks last. "It was the least I could do with my skills". Grateful nation. Sex with Incredibly pretty stewardess. Cover of Time magazine...
It's been done already somewhere.
Incredibly pretty stewardess exits flight deck in tears. What to do? Who can help? Announcement to passengers "Can anybody fly this plane?" followed by tense silence. Small nervous voice in row 60 says "I'm an expert on this aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator". Young man enters flight deck and grapples with controls. Incredibly pretty stewardess wipes sweat from his brow. "Let's get this baby on the ground". Successful landing against the odds. Applause in the cabin. Kiss from Incredibly pretty stewardess. World media at foot of aircraft steps as hero disembarks last. "It was the least I could do with my skills". Grateful nation. Sex with Incredibly pretty stewardess. Cover of Time magazine...
It's been done already somewhere.
I would hope that the purser would be asking if there were any doctors on board, and checking the pax list for deadheading flight crew, rather than resorting to such Hollywood-style questions over the PA.
Then it would be to contact the ground as quickly as possible to alert them as to what has gone on and to get someone to talk us down. Most modern aircraft can now land themselves anyway.
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Most modern aircraft can now land themselves anyway.
If only those "modern aircraft" could do it without needing somone to programme their computer assuming we have people on board who know how to contact the ground via radio using the emergency frequency and/or set the transponder anyway? Not many cabin crew do.
Something for the CRM teams to mull over going forwards......
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Small nervous voice in row 60 says "I'm an expert on this aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator". Young man enters flight deck and grapples with controls. Incredibly pretty stewardess wipes sweat from his brow.
The probability of this working out fine is IMHO larger than that of a terrorist being on board (and considerably smaller than having an airline pilot among the passengers anyway).
BTW, if the recollection of events in the Mayday episode about Aloha Airlines Flight 243 is correct, the CC did ask in the cabin whether there was a pilot on board, not aware that the flight deck crew was luckily still alive and working.
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I'm sorry, I wasn't being entirely serious when I said all that 
This particular fantasy has been doing the rounds with the more hardcore simmers since time began, and I'm never sure that it should be promoted. Millions of people, including me, have at some time installed a sim on a PC and discovered that pulling back on the stick makes the little houses get smaller, and again bigger if you push it. So far, so good, and then we get on with our real lives. The problem is that the more complex sims are systems and procedural trainers rather than simulators of real flight, let alone life on the line: Unfortunately this is not always appreciated. There are any number of threads in R&N that have been polluted by pseudo-technical responses from people who are only employed as Flight Crew in their own minds - PPRuNe anonymity and Ms Flight Sim allows them to feign a a level of knowledge that they do not have.
I suppose that, like all good fantasies, there is a small grain of the possible buried somewhere inside: A lot of Swiss Cheese would need to be involved and aligned.
I'm just not certain that we should encourage them?
This particular fantasy has been doing the rounds with the more hardcore simmers since time began, and I'm never sure that it should be promoted. Millions of people, including me, have at some time installed a sim on a PC and discovered that pulling back on the stick makes the little houses get smaller, and again bigger if you push it. So far, so good, and then we get on with our real lives. The problem is that the more complex sims are systems and procedural trainers rather than simulators of real flight, let alone life on the line: Unfortunately this is not always appreciated. There are any number of threads in R&N that have been polluted by pseudo-technical responses from people who are only employed as Flight Crew in their own minds - PPRuNe anonymity and Ms Flight Sim allows them to feign a a level of knowledge that they do not have.
I suppose that, like all good fantasies, there is a small grain of the possible buried somewhere inside: A lot of Swiss Cheese would need to be involved and aligned.
I'm just not certain that we should encourage them?
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Binzer, it wasn't me who said about a doctor, although that is a good suggestion. However, no matter what happened no 1 but myself or the other crew would be entering that f/deck if this scenario happened.
lowcostdolly, I agree. We are not taught how to contact the ground in a scenario such as this. I have been taught by one of our captains during a delay on the ground and occasionally ask, time permitting, to be shown it again. I agree that it is something that should be taught to ALL cabin crew.
lowcostdolly, I agree. We are not taught how to contact the ground in a scenario such as this. I have been taught by one of our captains during a delay on the ground and occasionally ask, time permitting, to be shown it again. I agree that it is something that should be taught to ALL cabin crew.
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first off...if you ask for a doctor who is a pilot...you are likely to lose the whole thing (see V tailed doctor killer).
second, if you are a real flight attendant, your company has a plan in place and it is in your manual.
third, if you have to ask for a pilot in the passenger cabin, ask to see his license (and no frozen atp's!).
but seriously...the HELIOS crash tells it all.
and for one of the best (worst?) movies showing a stewardess landing the airliner...(helped by a doctor!) see the Doris Day film, "JULIE". No joke...get through the whole movie and you will be rewarded.
second, if you are a real flight attendant, your company has a plan in place and it is in your manual.
third, if you have to ask for a pilot in the passenger cabin, ask to see his license (and no frozen atp's!).
but seriously...the HELIOS crash tells it all.
and for one of the best (worst?) movies showing a stewardess landing the airliner...(helped by a doctor!) see the Doris Day film, "JULIE". No joke...get through the whole movie and you will be rewarded.
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Ok then hetfield if i'm so wrong with that comment then please explain to me..... I think you may have mis-interpreted what I meant by but as I say please enlighten me!
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You're spot on EZY, most modern airliners can land themselves, don't worry about the bruised egos on here.
However the last 30 secs to 1 minute of the flight are where the autoland systems will be looking after you (assuming no part of the system fails..).
It takes a lot of separate systems all working together perfectly to pull off an autoland.
It's getting the aircraft to that point that will be the difficult bit, from the top of my head and in no particular order:
- is the airfield autoland capable (You need a certain type of approach (ILS) which is ideally autoland approved but not a massive issue in an emergency.)
- is this airfield already the programmed destination or are you going to have to work out a diversion?
- what's the weather like? Autoland is more limited by wind speeds (be it crosswinds or tailwinds)
- is the aircraft autoland capable (various things can be wrong with the aircraft meaning it can't autoland, but perfectly safe for normal dispatch)
- can you land in the available landing distance at this airfield? (you may be over maximum landing weight where autoland isn't approved)
- what speed will the final approach be at? What flap setting will need to be set?
- can you work the radio to hopefully get some answers to all these questions from a qualified pilot rustled up by ATC?
All this is before you get to the button pushing required to descend the aircraft, navigate to the final approach, deploy the gear and flaps without ripping them off with excess speed, or stalling and crashing to get yourself to that last minute where the incredibly clever autoland systems take over. And then hope you remembered to set some autobrakes or brake manually or a nice smooth touchdown turns into a flaming wreck at the end of the runway!!
Sorry if I've rambled on, ive just tried to provide another side to the story that the aircraft "lands itself" with a big green LAND NOW button
Cheers
However the last 30 secs to 1 minute of the flight are where the autoland systems will be looking after you (assuming no part of the system fails..).
It takes a lot of separate systems all working together perfectly to pull off an autoland.
It's getting the aircraft to that point that will be the difficult bit, from the top of my head and in no particular order:
- is the airfield autoland capable (You need a certain type of approach (ILS) which is ideally autoland approved but not a massive issue in an emergency.)
- is this airfield already the programmed destination or are you going to have to work out a diversion?
- what's the weather like? Autoland is more limited by wind speeds (be it crosswinds or tailwinds)
- is the aircraft autoland capable (various things can be wrong with the aircraft meaning it can't autoland, but perfectly safe for normal dispatch)
- can you land in the available landing distance at this airfield? (you may be over maximum landing weight where autoland isn't approved)
- what speed will the final approach be at? What flap setting will need to be set?
- can you work the radio to hopefully get some answers to all these questions from a qualified pilot rustled up by ATC?
All this is before you get to the button pushing required to descend the aircraft, navigate to the final approach, deploy the gear and flaps without ripping them off with excess speed, or stalling and crashing to get yourself to that last minute where the incredibly clever autoland systems take over. And then hope you remembered to set some autobrakes or brake manually or a nice smooth touchdown turns into a flaming wreck at the end of the runway!!
Sorry if I've rambled on, ive just tried to provide another side to the story that the aircraft "lands itself" with a big green LAND NOW button
Cheers