|
Pilot's artificial arm 'became detached while landing plane'
BBC report
A pilot lost control of a passenger plane after his artificial arm became detached as he was coming in to land, an accident report has said. |
Well, the good thing, according to Flybe :
"Flybe said the senior captain was one of its most experienced and trusted pilots" Mods, hopefully the comment is in line with approved thought and deemed by the tarot cards to be in line with authorized commentary. |
far more important that everything was stabilised at the 'gate' :zzz:
|
Class 1 medical with a prosthetic arm?
|
I always thought such a disability would preclude holding a Class 1, obviously not!
Medical certification of pilots with a disability | Medical | Personal Licences and Training |
Pilot's artificial arm 'became detached while landing plane'
The BBC's Daily Mail-type headline makes it sound as if the pilot shed his prosthetic limb, which wasn't the case.
|
Medicals : Lots of exceptions possible but assessed on individual basis.
Quite normal. |
equal opportunities?
Please don't take this as a personal attack on this or any other person with a disability, but had this pilot had two good arms I presume this could not have happened?
What about the passengers equal opportunities? :confused: |
From the BBC:
However, as he made the flare manoeuvre - a stage of the landing shortly before touchdown - "his prosthetic limb became detached from the yoke clamp, depriving him of control of the aircraft". While he had thought about getting his co-pilot to take control, the time available and the challenging conditions meant his best course of action was to move his right hand from the power levers on to the yoke to regain control. "He did this, but with power still applied and possibly a gust affecting the aircraft, a normal touchdown was followed by a bounce, from which the aircraft landed heavily," the report found. The AAIB reported that the captain had said that in future he would be more cautious about checking the attachment on his prosthesis as he may have dislodged the latching mechanism. He also said he would brief his co-pilots about the possibility of a similar event and that they should be ready to take control at any time. Sorry, but I do not wish to be flown by someone with bits missing. There's enough which can go wrong without deliberately starting off with a built-in disadvantage. |
Do I understand correctly? Being a pilot with an artificial arm or leg ist possible, but with a transplant not, due to the medication needs? Something like for avionics "detachable parts don't have to be TSO'ed"?
|
Sorry, but I do not wish to be flown by someone with bits missing. |
He obviously had a class one medical, and that must have been granted after careful consideration of his ability to control the aircraft.
The problem is this, he just proved that he can't do that in all situations, so I expect the medical to go bye bye. |
goudie,
There was an RAF Britannia captain who had only one eye. He seemed to do ok. I flew with him an several occasions. |
The problem is this, he just proved that he can't do that in all situations, so I expect the medical to go bye bye. |
I'm sorry, call me old fashioned and I am sure this is an excellent pilot but having four working limbs should be a fundamental requirement of the Class 1, after all up to 80 lives are at stake here!
|
I'm with the above. Was amazed when my wife showed me this article.
|
Doors to Automatic four working limbs should be a fundamental requirement of the Class 1 But an experienced pilot who already has the skills, then has an unfortunate accident or medical problem, surely if they are able to pass the medical and required sim tests why should they not be allowed to continue their career ? |
Would a similar incident where a two handed pilot lost grip on the controls resulting in the same outcome be reported to the AAIB?
|
cleanair If your happy to buy a ticket for yourself, your wife or child to be flown under the control of a captain with a prosthetic arm after what has just happened without any second thoughts for your or their safety then that is your choice but I won't be condemning you for your choice or opinions with personal attacks or insults. Of course it all depends on how accurate the BBC reporting of the incident is, and we how accurate that can be. |
A two handed pilot would have been able to grab a hold of the yolk imediatly without having to re attach his arm.
|
The Britannia captain lost an eye when his R/C model aircraft shed a propellor blade. He was allowed to continue flying until the end of his tour because he was familiar with the aircraft. Not sure what happened to him after he left the Britannia fleet.
|
Captain Ian Baston, Flybe's director of flight operations and safety, said it was an equal opportunities employer and "in common with most airlines, means we do employ staff with reduced physical abilities". How ridiculous. |
Above the clouds
In lieu of what has happened in this case, would you consider the possibility that the medical board were wrong in this case?
|
Why was the co-pilot not following through on the controls?
Is that not the whole point of having two up front? |
ian16th But the paying public expect that the appropriate Government appointed agencies do this, before issuing their licenses. This is why we have licenses! |
How exactly would he control the yoke? I'm no expert, but as far as I know they haven't developed a hand that can do much more than act as a 'holder'? Or does he have a hook??
To the pilots who still don't seem to understand that passengers are their livelihood, the fact remains that many pax will be horrified by this, and will possibly choose not to use Flybe in the future. And no amount of sarcastic comments will make any difference. I know people who already choose not to fly with them because they won't fly on prop liners. It may be dumb, it may be pathetic, but they won't fly on them, and that means less revenue for the airline. |
Why was the co-pilot not following through on the controls? A training captain or, indeed, a line captain, if he wishes, may follow through. I did not follow through with my FOs because I hoped that they were properly trained before being released to line flying and I consider following through to be distracting to the handling pilot. |
Ok.
Why was the co-pilot not monitoring the situation more closely? Could just as easily have been a bird strike/ sudden incapacitation etc etc |
Anyone considered how many uneventful landings this captain made before this unfortunate incident? Personally, I would fly with this guy again. A lesson has been learned which will safeguard the potential of a repeat occurrence. Just remember Basil that there have been thousands of four-limbed pilots who have stuffed it with a total loss of life! There are quite a few psychos out there too. They worry me more than this guy!
If the captain concerned is reading this, you have my support and I will gladly fly with you. |
Basil I feel sorry for the guy, whose professional flying career may be ended by the result of the enquiry and ensuing publicity. |
How would this have played out on an aircraft with a side stick?
|
How would this have played out on an aircraft with a side stick? As shouted very loudly by a colleague whose seat unlatched and slid back on rotate (if that's not exaggerating the process of getting a Varsity airborne ;) ) |
Originally Posted by oldlag53
(Post 8607590)
How exactly would he control the yoke? I'm no expert, but as far as I know they haven't developed a hand that can do much more than act as a 'holder'? Or does he have a hook??
|
The Captain has my support too and I was impressed by flybe's response. Contrary to the way this industry is going, I believe there's a huge amount of value in people who are outside the "perfect pilot" mould.
|
It is interesting to speculate how the tenor of these posts might have differed, had the aircraft crashed.
|
Pilots with an artificial arm, things don't have to become more crazy than that. :bored:
Apparently the authorities will stop at nothing in order to inflate the amount of pilots at the wish of the airlines, so that airlines can hire and fire at will whilst consistently lowering T&C's... Demand and supply folks: artificially increase the supply faster than demand, and guess what happens to the price (i.e. salary)? :} p.s. Where was the F/O? Was it one of those MPL buttonpusher follow the magenta line OM-A reader pilots who has no clue that you can fly an airplane all by yourself? := |
As a lowly passenger I actually do have some sympathy for this pilot , He has done nothing wrong as I imagine that his medical etc and testing for his licence was satisfactory. As mentioned in an earlier post how many incident free landings has this guy made in his career.
The company that employ him should have conducted risk assesments etc was there an issue with the fastenings rather than with the fact that his arm was prosthetic. Maybe stronger/ re designed fastenings etc would be the answer rather than screaming for his head |
It's worth noting that in this self-publicity obsessed age, none of the 47 passengers even noticed anything wrong, or we would have known about this "incident" in February. We only know now because the pilot reported it himself, the AAIB gave it 2 of the 120 pages in the August bulletin, and in all those pages a BBC hack couldn't find anything more interesting to scrawl about.
Give the guy a break. |
For arguments sake let's say this pilot was without any form of disability and a mechanical device critical to the control of this aircraft malfunctions and causes a similar landing. Would the aircraft and all other aircraft of type not be subject to investigation and possible grounding until the said defect was fully corrected?
|
| All times are GMT. The time now is 21:18. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.