Pilot loads baggage

[ericferret]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/lifestyle/...out&li=AAnZ9Ug

Had to say this makes me smile.
At Liverpool some time back I was walking back up the ramp with a colleague.
We came across a Ryan Air pilot loading his own aircraft.
"Need a hand there captain said my mate"

Cue the unusual sight of a Ryan Air 737 being loaded by the captain and two Easyjet engineers.
Of such things memories are made..

[scr1]

Have had EZY captain help load bags before back when they had 737's

[ShyTorque]

Back in the 1980s a 747 was chartered by MOD to carry troops to RAF Germany. On landing at Gutersloh it was fully disembarked and unloaded in less than 20 minutes because the pax helped.

[SWBKCB]

Back in the day the airport would have stopped for a union meeting and the baggage handlers would have been home within the hour if this sort of anarchy had broken out.

[jethro15]

There are numerous examples currently being recalled by individuals worldwide. Way before social media came along!

[ericferret]

Originally Posted by jethro15

There are numerous examples currently being recalled by individuals worldwide. Way before social media came along!

What used to be called getting the job done.

[macdo]

Did this myself with a Skipper who utterly hated nightstops. Baggage strike in ZTH, middle of the night, we unloaded and loaded an a320 with help from the local rep. Left about 1/2hr late, well within FTL to get him home to bed

[OMDB30R]

I wonder if he is even covered by the company, if he suffers injury from it, it would be interesting to see if the company supports him and doesn’t turn around and say you not covered

[Rt Hon Jim Hacker MP]

Originally Posted by OMDB30R

I wonder if he is even covered by the company, if he suffers injury from it, it would be interesting to see if the company supports him and doesn’t turn around and say you not covered

I think it's good to see someone using their initiative to solve a problem. Someone using their common sense rather than worrying about all the unlikely "what ifs". I've done the same in years gone by.

[Fris B. Fairing]

It used to be called a "demarcation dispute".

[Bravohotel]

Demarcation

Back in 1985 I was working for a NZ Airline planning to use a fleet of well worn Metroliners from a well known Queensland Airline and part of the deal was a spare parts package so off to Brisbane to pack up this stuff.When all the boxes were ready to take over to the Qantas freight shed nobody would move this stuff as around this time major union problems were going on in Queeensland so with the tug and trailer and all decals covered up I got the job to drive across Brisbane Airport and on arrival at Qantas was asked "who are you" and after giving the name of the Kiwi Airline they accepted the freight. I was told moving this stuff from one Airline to another could have shut down the Airport.

[Anilv]

LH Cargo back around 2003 or so.

Routing for the MD11F was FRA-SHJ-KUL-BKK (I was in KUL). There was one Captain Z who was always in a hurry to depart, to the extent that he would come back in to the main deck cargo hold and get the boys to hurry hurry hurry. Now the MD11F is a tricky aircraft to load as things need to happen in sequence and you can seriously screw things up if you lose track of what's going on. Apart from that, the aircraft sits a bit tail down and if you push the pallets too fast they will get away from you and slam into the locks. After this happened a few times I told him not to come to the maindeck, I also made a safety report.

This guy was an exception. All the other LCAG pilots were good guys, especially the MD11 guys as they were usually younger. The 747F were usually an older crowd and not as sociable but then they were not as fussed if we delayed the aircraft a bit.... One incident I remember we were loading in the rain and some pallets had water pooled in the plastic cover.. we tried to remove the water by raising one edge of the plastic but this was tedious. The Captain came back and saw what we were doing and left the maindeck... only to return with the coffee pot from the galley for us to bail out the water!.

Spent a lot of time on freighters as a loader/loadmaster and enjoyed it all.

Anilv

[Auxtank]

As long as its not added to the walk around on a permanent basis, what's the problem?

Getting the job done. Good man.

[JEM60]

1983. Houston Hobby Airport, Texas. Southwest Airlines. ALL crew loading baggage!!. All smiling and lovely people, looking as if they enjoyed what they were doing. Different times, eh.

[hoistop]

Does anyone know what was the original fu....up in this story, that caused passengers to disembark and had to come back next day for another try? If my holiday is shortened for two days for some organizational crap/money saving meaasure ... I would be VERY angry! And why the co-pilot had to go and help the handlers? Such crap service sheds bad impression not only to specific airline (guilty or not), but to entire aviation industry, as any reasonable man would consider it as totally unreliable means of transport. We all lose with such events.
Whenever I heard that my airline told passengers that flight was delayed due to "technical reasons" when airplane was technically OK (did happen with some dispatchers/crews) I went bezerk as I felt it is very unfair to offload it to maintenence (which I was part of) when true reason was much more intricate and truth was concealed from passengers. Any passenger would consider "technical reasons" as an aircraft maintenance issue. And "operational reasons" can mean almost anything. If I am in MAN on this flight, I would demand an honest explanation why and what really happened.

[beamer]

Certainly done it myself on numerous occasions on the 757 and 737 - sometimes you just need to get the job done. Amazing what can be achieved with a smile and a few bottles of water or soft drinks from the bar to keep up the spirits of the baggage handlers - lets be honest, who would want to do that job every day ?

Helping the cabin crew prep the aircraft, giving a hand to the engineers, manual loadsheets because the agents computer is broken, talking to the passengers face to face.....whats the problem as long as all your own duties are done and dusted ?

[cessnapete]

Originally Posted by ShyTorque

Back in the 1980s a 747 was chartered by MOD to carry troops to RAF Germany. On landing at Gutersloh it was fully disembarked and unloaded in less than 20 minutes because the pax helped.

I remember operating one of those MOD troop charters with BA from Glasgow to Gutersloh on the B747 -200. Certainly a fast turnaround with the troops helping.
First visit, and on studying the RAF App Chart noticed that the normal jet arrival was from Initials and a break into the circuit not below 500 ft.if I remember. So I did my best to comply, although at 1000ft and a slightly less enthusiastic Break. All worked well, although probably today with flight recorders, I’d be invited to a visit with the Flight Manager. Cap on and without the tea and biscuits.

[Cornish Jack]

Such things were, obviously, unremarkable in a Services environment. What was remarkable, wes the Wg Co Eng at Abingdon getting 'hands-on' with loading a Single Pin on the Bev - (very tight squeeze track). This involvement came to an unfortunate end later, when he fell from the door of a civilian charter while similarly involved. What would be the insurer's view of pilots off work due to back injuries sustained during such public-spirited action ?

[Sleeve Wing]

Tenerife. 2.am. Loaders shift change time. Passengers already boarded
Getting late to get back and F/O noticed 3 or 4 baggage trolleys at the aircraft but nothing happening.
Went down and found 3 loaders sleeping in the hold, laying on the rest of the baggage !
Kicked 'em off. Then, Including the cabin staff, loaded the rest ourselves and eventually got back home just inside FTL.
Sometimes, needs must ........but I wouldn't want to be a full-time loader !

[threep]

In the Russian far east nearly 20 years ago, plane landed and the baggage had been unloaded into wagons. But there was no-one to unload the wagons. Also the conveyor belt was broken. So the passengers formed a human chain to bring all the bags inside the baggage hall. It looked like it wasn't the first time they had to do that.