Clearly if you've been following this thread, you already know the answer to that question.

So what's your point? That lessons can only be learned from events where someone is injured or killed?

Really?

Pace

Re the judgment, as I am not a professional pilot and do not have multi-crew experience, I don't feel able to have a view on it, as I simply don't have your training or experience.

I've tried very hard to stick to the bits I think I have a reasonable opinion on :)

Once a ball is engaged in a socket, it is held by a latch of some description (unless it's a permanent assembly,where the ball is bigger than the hole through which it's mounting-stud passes ) When the assembly is being used,gravity plays no further part in it's mechanical integrity.

He was , apparently Flared when the disconnect happened.As withan able-bodied pilot,he grabbed the Yoke back...just,with the other hand. with the system-latency of the aircraft, I think the throttles would make not a jot of difference.....more likely, the sudden short pitch forward of the controls ,caused a "bunny-hop" which gave the impression of a bounce....
..dunno, wasn't there, it was two years ago, never happened before, unlikely to ever happen again..... I'd think blocked /faulty Pitot-probes, sticky rudder-servos, bits of titanium dropping off and bursting tyres........ are far more important issues than, "If you wear a prosthetic, brief your oppo that theres a < million -to-one chance it may detatch from the Yoke, so follow -through on critical phases of the flight"....OK? i'm out of here

Just let us know when you've made up your mind, eh? ;)

Ok, now go around......

...too late.

Such a wringing of hands, (no pun intended) and gnashing of teeth around here for the incident. How many not physically handicapped pilots fly perfectly fine aircraft into terrain. Sometimes a Captain or even FO very suddenly becomes incapacitated or even dies on short final...... Are the nattering nabobs calling for increased standards and increased monitoring and vigilance of medical standards for all pilots?? I would guess not. Probably one of the first actions taken by pilots for an airline so affected by a pilot actually succumbing in flight is a check of the seniority list.
Is there a call by many that supposedly non handicapped pilots of modern jets actually be taught and checked hand flying skills, with perhaps some emphasis on how to fly, say an A330 by hand at altitude, and visual approach and landing skills for some 777 "fliers"?

And mods, before you deep six this post, as I again post a quote attributed to Flybe senior management that the Dash 8 incident pilot was a senior pilot and "one of its' most experienced and trusted pilots." That definition should be appropriate to define any Airline Captain, and certainly from the perspective of senior management.

Aaah yes the one handed Go-Around... That is tricky...

Dual channel can be done hands free.

What happens if, the control yoke comes off the mechanism?

There you are and the yoke comes off in your two good hands, what do you do?

I know what I would do.

The only question that matters is, was flight safety compromised directly as a result of the pilot`s disability. This must be considered by applying the question in the opposite sense, had the pilot not been so disabled as to be reliant on a prosthesis, would this event have occurred.
Had the event led to a serious accident what could the position of his employers be. I think short of pleading a defence as an equal opportunities employer under the Equality Act 2010, it could well have turned out a bit of a sticky wicket for them.

You don't need a crystal ball to imagine the public's response had this gone sour.

It's a classic 'black swan' event, this one, with low probability and potentially high severity.

Human nature tends to screen out very unlikely events (it had not happened to the captain during many flights before, why should it happen now?), but that does not mean that they are absent.

No harm (i.e. injuries/deaths) arose from this incident and possibly some good, in terms of applied learning about flying with prosthetics.

A lot of the learning in the airline industry was paid for in blood, fortunately this one was a free gift :ok:

I'm fully in favour of equal rights and I support the disabled being allowed to be pilots provided that safety concerns can be fully mitigated.

That being said, if I saw a one-armed pilot getting on my plane, I would immediately and catastrophically brick myself.

Guy, we must trust the Authority, I'm sure this Captain had to show proficiency to the Authority on various tests on a sim and on the real plane, I'm sure he had to proof the same performance (if not better perf) than an able bodied pilot.
Any pilot can get sick in a plane, even an able bodied one.

FFS. 13 pages and counting.


I know this pilot. He is a bloody fine professional. A trainer and Sim instructor as well. His "artificial arm" is just a lower arm cup and attachment and a set of clip on grips for yolk and tiller. He has to detach from the yolk after landing to clip to the nose steering tiller so it's a quick release mechanism and clips and unclips dozens of times a day.


Had this happened a second or more earlier he would have been able to lip back in, just like anyone with sweaty palms might slip their grip and grab back. It was just the worst timing in this event and his quick reactions got the flare completed. Applying full power on a Q400 is something to behold BTW. It is very dynamic!


I would put myself and family on his aircraft any day. No problem.

FFS - sounds like denial of what happened and a wish to pretend it was trivial.

But it didn't happen a few seconds earlier, did it? And an able bodied person would have changed hands quickly to re-establish full control

I'm of the view that the learning gained from this incident for such a low cost is a positive thing, but just because you know the pilot and would put your family on this aircraft does not mean others are to be attacked for expressing an opinion.

Doesn't matter.

Irrelevant.

Extraneous.

But it didn't.

Err no not quite. I don't need to remove my remaining hand from the flying controls to put my other hand back on do I?

The point is that for a short period of time the aircraft was not under positive control and it was only luck that prevented a more serious outcome. Still.

if any landing right down to touchdown is not right a Go around should be instigated if the pilot does not feel he can resettle the aircraft safely from a bounce or whatever.

if a detached arm meant the pilot continued the landing on a wing and a prayer then thats wrong.

i was not there so have no idea whether it was a wing and a prayer landing or a bad bounce or drift which the pilot could fully control without a Go around.

i have seen able bodied pilots become passengers to a botched landing.
The seneca twin can go into a bucking motion which will eventually lead to violent bucks until the aircraft breaks the nose and falls on the props.
The only way out of this situation is to apply power and back pressure not to continue braking and trying to stop the aircraft.

The able bodied pilot remained frozen at the controls feet firmly on the brakes and it was only my own intervention which stopped us breaking the nose and falling on the props.

As stated I am sure this pilot is excellent but only he knows whether the continued landing was a decision by a pilot in full control or a wing and a prayer landing not in full control because of the missing arm.

if it was a wing and a prayer landing then that needs to be addressed so it does not happen again, able bodied or not!

We should also recognise that the incident fell well inside the REQUIREMENT for an ASR to be raised, so while the Captain was quite right to do so, he would have been in breach of regulations had he not done so.

Qonewheelfinals,
Well, you DID say it ;)

Why not distil this to an potential AAIB report finding. If this had resulted in fatalities.
Where do you hide the ovbious conclusions?
This is about political correctness.
How long before we are required to have blind bus drivers?
I am not being unkind, mearly questioning the rational of our social perspectave and the exposures that arise.
In a perverse way, this counters the health and safety culchure which sees to take us the other way.

We should realize that this is a extraordinary event, this guy has two 'hands' on the controls during normal operation, one on the yoke, the other on the throttle, that's why the authority declared him fit to fly, he just forgot to buckle up his prostethic arm, a mishap, I want to remember that a mishap can happen to any pilot.

Idiotic post.

Frankice

If he failed to go around because he was unable to go around or because the FO was not briefed to take control or allowed to take control then there are issues which need to be addressed so that there cannot be a recurrence of the event.

If he landed on a wing and a prayer then he was lucky the landing completed without damage.

either way it does not appear that missing an arm at such a crucial state of the flight allowed him to be fully in control. He was lucky this time and i am sure measures have already been taken to make sure that any unlikely future occurrence will be handled in a different way.

Of course he should not be stopped from flying! All indications are that he is a competent and good pilot but procedures unique to him will have to be put in place for the future.

My Seneca pilot an able bodied pilot was literally mentally disabled by being a passenger to the well known wheel breaking Seneca porpoise. His was a sharp lesson and i am sure he will never make that mistake again and the same goes with this physically disabled pilot

If this pilot had been born without a lower forearm would the decision as to whether to grant him a licence or not been different? Or was the decision made because he already had a commercial pilots licence? If this was the case was his personal abilities and characteristics taken into consideration? I can see a precedent being set here.

Pace,
you're right, there are issues which need to be addressed, I'm sure that the authority has already taken measures to make sure that any unlikely future occurrence will not happen.

Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader of the RAF has already been mentioned here. And on this side of the pond, race pilot Benny Howard also lost a leg - and got a punctured lung - when his racer threw a prop blade. He went on to excel as a test pilot for Douglas Aircraft.

He never retired, but died of emphysema in 1970 - a heavy smoker.

If I am not mistaken I believe this guy actualy lost his arm in a crash following a collision with a yacht mast whilst flying a light twin about 15 to 20 years ago in Australia.

Collision?
 

A light aircraft collided with a yacht? Was he flying very low, or was the yacht airborne ??*^&!

The incident I am referring to allegedly involved a low pass that went wrong for unknown reason......Would be interesting to read the report if anyone could point to it.

Pilot with artificial arm = one more hole in the cheese.

Ahh, the yacht collision! A long time ago now. From memory it was a Beech Baron, location Western Australia.

Hit the mast
 

Unless my memory fails me (and it does, from time to time) the incident was in Yampi Sound north of Derby WA and the pilot lost his arm while ditching.
I think the incident had something to do with opening the door prior to ditching and then his arm was guillotined by the door.

I thought that it was an Islander operated by Aerial Enterprises but would not swear to that being true.

Ironically, at the North-West tip of Yampi Sound is the community of One-Arm Point

Hitting a yacht mast isn't too low, I've looked up at a submarine conning tower from a Shackleton.:O

Yes I thought it was an Islander too.........
Did the accident report make any comment on what was the cause of the accident ?
Were there fatalities?

Come on guys, don't make it personal

Red Arrows hit yacht mast - Brighton(??) about 1979/80 - lost outer 2ft of wing and crucially aileron - led to a/c loss.

@JohnFTEng

I believe this is what you are referring to? --> Red Arrows: A dramatic incident | Royal Air Force | Armed Forces | Topics | My Brighton and Hove

No mention of the nationality of this pilot but I would guess he was British, at least when the crash occurred.

The one-armed gentleman in question is probably Australian.

Or did I miss something here?

http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/27034/aair198900237.pdf

Link to the the Austrailian accident investigation report.

Shocking reading, particularly as the pilot declined to give any reasons for the accident. Reference is made to poor judgment and carrying out an unauthorised manouveur which saw the aircraft crash into the sea following a low pass over a boat.

So ....Question....assuming this is one and the same guy which I have reason to believe it is.

What was he doing on the flight deck of a Flybe aircraft in the first place?