Airtours captain sacked for flyby
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Airtours captain sacked for flyby
I heard that a Captain with Airtours was sacked for carrying out a flypast of the airfield on completion of the hajj (sp?) contract.
The story goes he had permission from the airfield and did a flyby on depature whilst ferrying the aircraft 767 back to the UK.
Whilst I appreciate the need for a disciplined approach to flying and there are also insurance implications could the management have taken a slightly less drastic approach. A demotion or similar action would have served just as well.
The story goes he had permission from the airfield and did a flyby on depature whilst ferrying the aircraft 767 back to the UK.
Whilst I appreciate the need for a disciplined approach to flying and there are also insurance implications could the management have taken a slightly less drastic approach. A demotion or similar action would have served just as well.
Controversial, moi?
While having a degree of sympathy for anybody losing their job I would be suprised if a 'fly-past' or similar was not expressly forbidden by company policy.
It is forbidden in my company. If it was allowed on an ad-hoc basis where would the line be drawn? What height? Gear up?With warnings inhibited? What speed? What experience required? What form would briefing and planning take? The whole business is a recipe for disaster.
The type of flying involved in formation flying with the Red Arrows is extremely well planned and briefed certainly not carried out on a whim.
It is forbidden in my company. If it was allowed on an ad-hoc basis where would the line be drawn? What height? Gear up?With warnings inhibited? What speed? What experience required? What form would briefing and planning take? The whole business is a recipe for disaster.
The type of flying involved in formation flying with the Red Arrows is extremely well planned and briefed certainly not carried out on a whim.
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As an outsider and a person who does not hold a pilot's licence at any level, there seem to be a few interesting questions which spring to mind on this topic.
If the Captain had permission, this surely implies he had asked it from a superior or person in charge. Has this 'superior' been disciplined? Was the 'flyby' denied at any stage or level? It seems that management in this case have found a 'scapegoat' in this poor pilot. Surely the buck should stop at the top? If the flyby was carried out safely, what now is the problem?Was the complaint launched by the Airfield? Who launched the complaint? was it a local?
My sympathies to the pilot concerned, but also until all questions are answered and all blame allocated accordingly, The company should maybe not make such a final decision. Was this pilot the most senior company person aboard?
Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree, if so maybe someone out there could put me right!
It would be much appreciated
If the Captain had permission, this surely implies he had asked it from a superior or person in charge. Has this 'superior' been disciplined? Was the 'flyby' denied at any stage or level? It seems that management in this case have found a 'scapegoat' in this poor pilot. Surely the buck should stop at the top? If the flyby was carried out safely, what now is the problem?Was the complaint launched by the Airfield? Who launched the complaint? was it a local?
My sympathies to the pilot concerned, but also until all questions are answered and all blame allocated accordingly, The company should maybe not make such a final decision. Was this pilot the most senior company person aboard?
Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree, if so maybe someone out there could put me right!
It would be much appreciated
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Jongar, a valid point indeed but what about all the other questions and the question of ultimate culpability? It's not that I am particularly 'gunning' but in light of ridiculous justice being in the media (plane spotters etc) no stone should be left unturned, and I find it hard to believe that just one person in a 767 can have done this with no obvious immediate objections???????
As one who has been guilty of conducting 'fly bys' in the past - 350 KIAS at 80 ft in a Vulcan, 600KIAS at <200 ft in a Phantom - I have to say that doing such things in an airliner such as a 767 is NOT A Good Thing. It'll rack up years worth of fatigue and the crew are NOT trained to be able to carry out the manouevre safely. It's one thing to carry out safely (but illegally) a high speed low level manoeuvre which you've been trained to be able to do, but haven't been authorised for - quite another to fly an inappropriate manoeuvre for which neither you nor the aeroplane have ever been cleared....
It reminds me of an incident in the early eighties at the old Gaborone Airport during the First? Botswana International Airshow which a mate of mine helped to organise. The usual activities had to be suspended whilst a local SAA service from JNB landed – 737?. Apparently the SAA pilot entered the spirit of the occasion and executed a low level fly-by which was greatly appreciated by the local crowd. According to witnesses it got the biggest cheer (and ululations) of the day. I’m sure it wasn’t Scully – and this is only rumour of course.
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BEagle
Flying level down a runway at a couple of hundred feet and three hundred knots may not be adviseable these days, but I'm sure your average airline pilot could do it safely without too much training and without the jet falling to bits.
Or did he exit field right doing a sixteen point hesitation roll.
Flying level down a runway at a couple of hundred feet and three hundred knots may not be adviseable these days, but I'm sure your average airline pilot could do it safely without too much training and without the jet falling to bits.
Or did he exit field right doing a sixteen point hesitation roll.
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I remember several years ago a Britannia Captain was fired after he did a fly-by.
He was postioning a 757 and nobody was on board apart from himself and the F/O and it was his daughters birthday and since his route took him over his house he did a low level fly-by and his neighbours did not approve. I even saw a photograph of the fly-by he looked about 800 ft.
He was postioning a 757 and nobody was on board apart from himself and the F/O and it was his daughters birthday and since his route took him over his house he did a low level fly-by and his neighbours did not approve. I even saw a photograph of the fly-by he looked about 800 ft.
