Pilots posting cockpit videos on youtube
 

Apologies if this is the wrong forum or if it has been raised before, but I am curious to know the opinions from pilots about films made by other pilots with hand-held cameras.

Is it ok if a co-pilot is holds a camera for example while a plane lands, pointing it at the instruments, zooming in on the runway etc?

Ok it wouldn't be done by the one in control, but is this an ok thing to do ?

Here's an example...

As SLF of the nervous disposition, this worries me. I've also done some filming in smaller (single engine) aircraft and it's really hard to keep the camera steady etc. Takes all of your concentration. The ONLY way I'd personally be happy with is a GoPro stuck somewhere it's not in the way, set recording, then ignored.

But then I don't know the rules, and as I said, I'm a nervous type when it comes to flying so I'm biased!

I'd be more concerned about flying towards a rather active thunderstorm, or two!

The first word that comes to mind here is NEGLIGENT. It is totally unprofessional and unsafe to land a jet in such conditions. (let alone be stupid enough to videotape it for the authorities to investigate later ). You do this 1000 times and there WILL BE an accident. In that perspective , is it worth it ??? How foolish some pilots can be with their lives and the lives of others. I`m sure the same pilots would no doubt take risks with " a little bit of snow / ice " on the wings , or " minimum fuel " in such conditions. It`s people like these that gives accident investigators their work. It`s because of idiots like this that we will have accidents and fatalities in the future.

Yes, that also crossed my mind. Another thing, aren't BOTH pilots usually quite busy on approach and landing? If you're concentrating on filming it, your mind isn't 100% where it needs to be, is it?

^^ I agree with you there, although I wasn't sure how the weather rated on the severity scale, til it was mentioned in other posts. If you can see lightning, you're probably too close... (I might be wrong with that last sentence though!)

I realised, some years ago, that I'm lucky to live in country that takes aviation safety seriously. I'm not saying the UK is perfect but it does try.

When I travel I will fly on domestic carriers and I've had some memorable flights as a result (before China split up CAAC on an IL-14 and an AeroPeru 727 into Cuzco that might have been painted in AeroPeru colours but had a Lufthansa interior down to the safety cards in German spring to mind) but I'm always aware that the risk is not the same as flying (say) on a BA aircraft. I tend to take the view that flying is safer than long distance travel by road. On my way to a country where my personal risk assessment has raised issues I will often avoid the airline that I might be flying on internally if I have a choice. If I don't the question becomes "do I really need to go?".

I'm not sure my risk assessment goes as far as "might the pilot be videoing his handiwork?".

I would say that the camera is on a monopod that has a big sucker on the side window. That's because - once the camera is looking out of the front window - it does not move. If being hand held, then it would move all over the place, rather than being jiggled. That, of course, is no excuse as the idiot would still be checking the camera at times.

Full ID not possible, however:

1. First identify the language being spoken by the Nicompoop Last Officer and the Tower.
2. Then see if someone can ID the field - although that would be difficult as very little info to go on - given the poor wx.
3. The a/c 'sounds' like a Boeing.

My guess is Spanish + South America. Sorry if that's too obvious a suggestion but that continent has a reputation.

Thanks for the replies, good to hear what people think.

@flyinggoggles - I'm somewhere between a nervous passenger and someone that has no fears at all, but watching this footage concerns me.

Ok, he's not holding all the time but he is faffing about with it at the start and that seems a bit risky in such conditions.

@paxboy The youtube description is: "Cockpit view from Mexicana on an ILS approach to runway 06 in La Havana, heavy thunderstorm falling over the airport, air traffic controller couldn't see the aircraft until they landed."

I'm just not sure what the point of such a video is. Great to watch if, like me, you've never been in a cockpit, but shouldn't airlines make official videos as part of a PR stunt or similar rather than allow pilots to do stuff like this ?

Well, I was right about Spanish + South America. I wish there was something I could say but there are people stupid enough to make this kind of video. Fortunately, they are even more stupid as to put them online so that we can avoid using their company.

No it's not.

As for the weather conditions, a landing on limits and on a wet runway is part of the job and probably happens far more frequently than passengers realise. I personally wouldn't be overly concerned about lightning seen in isolation, but I'd be more concerned if the various factors start lining up - the lightning, the weather radar "picture" that you see early on in the clip, the report from a previous aircraft......all sorts of thing that might be happening in the clip :oh:

And quite what possess pilots to put this sort of stuff "on-line" is beyond me.....

Much preferred the one posted by a French crew of a stewardess on the flight deck :ok:

Nice to see they were keeping the option of a go around open...

The chime when the autopilot is disconnected indicates that it's an Airbus.

Dave

Well this is rather pleasant anyway: SOUL - YouTube

Thanks Airclues. I was basing my amateur's opinion on hte descending height countdown. I thought that Airbus has - as the last call - 'retard, retard', which is not on this recording. But it may be one of those optional things.

Amen to that :p, I believe that I met her on an AF flight to Dubai a few years back, either that or her sister. Also another thumbs up for the video in Brazil posted by mr loadtoad, very nicely done and edited. South America does seem to have a more 'relaxed' attitude to these type of things :hmm:



SHJ

PAXboy

Definately an Airbus (A330)

As for the retard, I am not sure but that maybe when the aircraft is doing an Autoland. The thrust levers do not automatically "retard" so has to be done manually.

Definately not.

Neither is it a Boeing, as it is a Fokker 100 or 70.

What - no crash due to EMF interference from the camera? No suprise really as I asked a colleague who's an EMF expert about this issue a few years ago and he confirmed the regulations are quite OTT. That's aside from the fact that policies/procedures/requirements vary considerably from airline to airline.
That being said, I can appreciate it's better to have a blanket rule for all equipment to cater for the potential for a random passenger having some cranky piece of kit that could have some effect.

Businesstraveller, There is also the problem of the massed effect of many items emitting RF at the same time. For example, on the taxi in from the runway, if 100 people all put their mobiles on at the same time.

I hope that our tame radio engineer radeng will be along shortly, he can point you to the numerous threads on this issue.

Yes, I agree the rules are probably OTT but I'm happy with that. Now, if only the govt and banks had had financial rules that were OTT, our economy would not have crashed and burnt. :hmm: