MERGED: Alligator Airways Grounded

[5th wheeler]

Can anyone shine some light on Alligator Airways ceasing flying operations until the weekend?

[Nose wheel first]

It would appear that your information is correct.

[Flying Meat Cleaver]

Did an Alligator fly below assigned altitude like the Tiger did the other week!?

FMC.

[ARRUNUNUK]

According to my sources the chief pilot is ill and won't be back at work until the end of the week. As the company doesn't have anyone else approved as CP they grounded the company. Gator and CASA are rushing to get someone approved ASAP to resume operations.

[Tinstaafl]

Bit short sighted to not have a standby person approved in advance.

[cartonfined]

Bit short sighted to not have a standby person approved in advance.

Not too surprising when the CP and senior pilots all resign. Still a lot of underlying culture issues, which all, including those inside the company, agree will ultimately lead to a fatality (or agree that's what it'll take before CASA does anything).

[tail wheel]

Bit short sighted to not have a standby person approved in advance.

CASA will not approve a second person as Chief Pilot "in advance".

Seems odd to ground the company whilst the CP is sick?

[PLovett]

Perhaps that should be "sick of being there" instead?

[Nose wheel first]

There is a lot more to it than the CP being sick. The fact that the CP is sick is nothing to do with it...

Alligator have given CASA more than enough rope for CASA to wind it several times around their neck and choke the life out of the place.... The only surprise is that they haven't done it sooner! I will also guarantee nothing will change with the new CP.
As previously mentioned...That place is an accident going somewhere to happen.... it's only a matter of time before a fatality does happen!

[5th wheeler]

According to a source cp had his approval revoked

[AerobaticArcher]

CASA won't approve someone as CP in advance, but will do a CP interview and check with the person, so when the time comes, all you gotta do is ask them to issue the approval.

[ARRUNUNUK]

The CP resigned 3 weeks ago. His approval was not revoked as he informed CASA he wanted nothing more to do with the company.

The place is a ticking time bomb, its not a matter of if something happens its when will it happen. There has been 3 engine failures over the last 2 months and repeated breakdowns with the most recent being a twin loosing all it's oil from its starboard engine in-flight!!!!

The company is currently in the middle of an audit so hopefully CASA wake up and do something.....

[FOD_Hazard]

NWF has hit the nail on the head. Am surprised it has taken this long for casa to do something.
RK and his attitude towards pilots and maintenance over the past 3years has gradually gotten a lot worse.
the fact casa approved such a young and relatively inexperienced pilot as the cp only compounded matters.

[Nose wheel first]

There has been 3 engine failures over the last 2 months and repeated breakdowns with the most recent being a twin loosing all it's oil from its starboard engine in-flight!!!!

I'd love to know how many of these were reported to the ATSB & CASA.... if past form is anything to go on none of them would have been! How many of the pilots who had the engine failures in the last 2 months were fired like last time? "Im telling you... I do class A maintenance so it's not my fault. Its because pilots don't know how to fly ma planes"

Tiger Airways has nothing on this mob.... Alligator poses FAR more of a threat to safety than Tiger ever have. Short of a change of ownership (fat chance of that happening) Alligator will never improve.

"I'm telling you.... I will own Skywest by next year and all their planes will have Captain Croc painted on the side"

[Horatio Leafblower]

I'd give a carton of beer and a kilo of prawns to know what Craig and Gail are thinking... but I wouldn't give back the (admitedly short) time I spent working for them, not for anything.

[Nose wheel first]

Funny you should ask that question Horatio.... my Mrs and I were just having the same discussion!

You'd have to make sure the carton was VB stubbies though... no cans. Good old RAS might get deeply offended.

The place is a far cry now from the days Craig owned it. We all bitched about things but man, we had a great time! Hangar parties, carton fines for spieling on CTAF, carton fines for wearing pluggers in the hangar , carton fines for not returning aircraft in a servicable state, UPPER cartons for not returning the aircraft at all (that one was used at least once while I was there)..... locking the apprentice engineer in a prop box and the nose locker of WOY....

Yep, that was when Gator was a good place to work!

[Gotnogoals]

dont forget the the all day waste at bellburn in 40deg temp.
im still using those pink pens.

[Captain Cockhead]

Sack him!

" Im telling you, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care,
I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, You're fired!, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, Where's Shane??? I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, Im gonna own Skywest by 2010, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, Pork rashes, wheres my pork rashes?? I don't care, I don't care, I don't care. I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, I don't care, Has anyone seen my Franklin??????

SEE YA LATER ALLIGATOR!!!!

[Nose wheel first]

HAHA Capt C... that is hilarious.

I'm telling you, just fly my plane. Do it now..... and take Waterbaby.

[The Green Goblin]

Sounds like the culture is a far cry from when I were there.

Working under Craig we had a ball.

I couldn't get my head around running the cans at 80% power with a 300 hour pilot at the helm. The TIO-540 is a great engine and will make its TBO if you look after it and run it at 65%. Running it in the tropics at 80% to get an extra bungles a day in tha thermal turbulence is madness in my opinion.

I suppose RK knows something that lycoming and Gippsland don't know hey?

Perhaps CASA need to do what they did to Ordair, only approve resumption of operations if the owner has nothing to do with the management of the place.