irrational fear of flying

[lumpy]

It looks like a rock band tour shirt.

[AngryScientist]

commercial jets really numb you to what it's really like to fly.

over in some of the more remote locations in Alaska, the only way to get to work is over the bush.

it's awesome that they keep these 60's vintage beavers flying. they are workhorses and under the command of the right pilot, they just float along. so cool!

[gregl]

Most pilots wouldn't have the artistic talent to draw anything more creative than their signature. On the other hand, the other day I flew with a really talented flight attendant. On our flights the flight attendant gives us the final passenger count (which is to verify the info we have from the gate as a crosscheck) and they give it to us on the company cocktail napkin. This particular flight attendant is a bit more creative and artistic than most. I've flown with her before and I can't throw these away after the flight. They're too good.

Good flight attendants are like good nurses or executive administrative assistants. They understand how an organization really works, have great interpersonal skills, and really make things run well. About 30 years ago, I was co-pilot on a business jet flying from West Palm Beach to Newark on a Sunday evening. The plane's owner invited our current President to hitch a ride home (Ivana and the kids were staying in Palm Beach with his 727...). Our flight attendant, Kathy, had an amazing ability to analyze her passengers. She really was as good a psychiatrist as she was a flight attendant. When she brought us dinner on the flight deck, she gave us her assessment of our VIP passenger. All these years later, her words still echo in my mind. Had I known how accurate her assessment would prove to be...

Greg

[BBB]

The 46 across wasn't just the double weather delay that I dealt with yesterday, some numbnut marketing professor decided to teach a remote class from the Sky Club at AUS because he missed his flight...well over an hour. No kidding, he took up a entire table with two laptops, had the headphones on and was lecturing via video in his professorial (I am the most important person in the room) voice. Just short of a mutiny, several of us raised our hands in mockery when he asked his class to raise their hand if the answer "D" was correct...a woman across the room choked on her a drink because she was laughing so hard at our reaction. Near the end of the class, the room started to make a lot of noise because this fellow was so damn rude and if they ever allow calls on a plane, I am certain that there will be mayhem in the air.

30 down is grin and 30 across is gauge!

[j44ke]

In the end, it is always the same story.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...732_story.html

[SteveP]

I am moving into the camp of.... these planes will never fly.
I know hundreds were in service, I know 1,000s are on order.
Too many of these releases... one after another... it seems a lot of people knew this product was flawed fundamentally.

Passengers will refuse to fly on the Max or on whatever name they pick for the " safe " model to be eventually released.

This black eye will haunt Boeing.
They will end up bankrupt and come to the government for a bailout. Watch for it.

They have come full circle from..." These foreign pilots are not really any good..."
to their own engineers and test pilots saying that the planes systems are flawed.

[j44ke]

In short, Airbus beat them.

[gregl]

In short, Airbus beat them.

No, they beat themselves. A company that was once a world leader in engineering dragged down by poor leadership.

Greg

[rwsaunders]

Booked on the 4:35pm from ORD-IND today. Made standby on the 3:30. Pulled away from gate and the starboard engine wouldn’t start. Went back to gate and boarded another plane. Original flight departed. Tanks are empty on replacement plane and we need gas. First world problem I know but don’t travel for a living if you can’t break a smile when things go South.

[rwsaunders]

Spycam allegedly placed in the bathroom of a Southwest plane...by the pilots.

2 Southwest pilots live streamed video from a plane's bathroom, lawsuit alleges - CNN

[rwsaunders]

This is a really interesting story about a plane hijacking that took place in the US in 1969...quite a story and impossible to imagine in today’s world...impossible to imagine in 1969 too.

TWA85: 'The world's longest and most spectacular hijacking' TWA85: 'The world's longest and most spectacular hijacking' - BBC News

[SteveP]

Spycam allegedly placed in the bathroom of a Southwest plane...by the pilots.

2 Southwest pilots live streamed video from a plane's bathroom, lawsuit alleges - CNN

This is freakin' weird.
I read this the other day and it said that the 2 pilots were still flying. Really?

[jclay]

When your chief engineer says something like this to management, management needs to get it's head out of it's ass, shut up and listen: Boeing employee raised concern over Max sensor three years before crashes, email shows | Business | The Guardian

If I was the Airbus CEO I'd have a recruiter on that guy's doorstep tomorrow. And if I was the Boeing CEO I'd have an offer to him tonight with enough administrative power to be able prevent such a disastrous decision in the future.

In my former world of small process plant design, single point failures of meaningful consequence were not allowed. They were rooted out during exhaustive, process line by process line, loop by loop, Hazard and Operability Reviews....and our screwups wouldn't kill scores of peeps at a whack.

Whoever the ultimate "no" people were, they are either incompetent or guilty of dereliction of duty; criminal dereliction of duty in my view. And allowing aircraft manufacturers to have the degree of self certification that they appear to enjoy is malfeasance; the only question there is "how did that situation come to be". My money is on budget cuts and allowing industry folks to get positions of power within the FAA.

[rwsaunders]

What a way to start an overseas flight from LAX to Manila...

Video: Boeing 777 spews flames while emergency landing at LAX - Business Insider

[rwsaunders]

For those of you who live/work in Chicago and have to fly in and out of O’Hare...how do you folks do it without medication? I fly to and from this destination once/month and I can’t recall when I haven’t been delayed in one way or another. As an example, we landed at ORD 90 minutes ago and we're still parked in a holding area and waiting for a gate. There’s a person with what sounds like whooping cough sitting in front of me and little Miss Muffet next to me clearly believes that her personal space extends halfway into my seat. To top it off we are on a CRJ-700 and seating space on this aircraft was designed around test monkeys who were sent into orbit. Lord please grant me the patience that I don’t have...

[kdawg]

And allowing aircraft manufacturers to have the degree of self certification that they appear to enjoy is malfeasance; the only question there is "how did that situation come to be". My money is on budget cuts and allowing industry folks to get positions of power within the FAA.

We've had similar things round here recently with building firms - trivial stuff like schools falling down and hospitals being unsafe... Turns out that due to industry pressure they are now allowed to self certify completion rather than the old system of an independent inspection. And guess what? - corners were cut. Who would have thought...

[busdriver1959]

Whoever the ultimate "no" people were, they are either incompetent or guilty of dereliction of duty; criminal dereliction of duty in my view. And allowing aircraft manufacturers to have the degree of self certification that they appear to enjoy is malfeasance; the only question there is "how did that situation come to be". My money is on budget cuts and allowing industry folks to get positions of power within the FAA.[/QUOTE]

As it turns out, there were plenty of people outside of Boeing and the FAA that were involved in the certification process.
From the Lion Air final report:

Referring to Indonesia Aviation Act 1/2009 article 16, every aircraft, aircraft engine, and aircraft propeller designed and produced overseas and imported into Indonesia must obtain a type certificate validation.

The Indonesia DGCA conducted the Type Certificate Validation (TC Validation) for the Boeing 737-8 (MAX) on 3 – 12 April 2017 in Boeing facility at Renton Seattle Washington DC. At the same time three foreign civil aviation authorities (Malaysia, Japan and United Arab Emirates) also conducted the similar TC Validation for the Boeing 737-8 (MAX).

The Maneuvering Characteristic Augmentation System (MCAS) was discussed during the system familiarization Boeing 737-8 (MAX).

Since the time frame was not sufficient the Indonesia DGCA requested time extension for discussion of additional requirements of CASR. The discussion resulted in nine additional requirements identified as follows:

• PM01 (Certification Basis of CASR Part 25),

• PM02 (Test Documents),

• CS01-737 (Bilingual Placard),

• CS02-8-Max (Least Risk Bomb Location),

• CS03-737 (Ditching Requirement as per ICAO Annex 8),

• AV-01-Max (Electrical System),

• AV-02-Max (APU door system test),

• PP-01-Max (Early ETOPS) and

• PM-04-016-17A (Type Certification Data Sheet – TCDS)

To me, this would invalidate the theory that the cozy relationship between Boeing and the FAA was a significant factor.
I’m only a little more than halfway through the 322 page report but it's looking like the F/O didn’t know the procedure for Airspeed Unreliable. He was required to have that committed to memory in order to sit in that seat. He wasn’t qualified to be an F/O in the 737. He also didn’t do the memorized procedure for Runaway Trim. It’s not as easy to tell whether he knew the procedure or just failed to accomplish it. Either way, his response to the malfunction was unacceptable.
Aircraft are designed to be operated by qualified crewmembers. You can’t blame Boeing for the performance of a crewmember who shouldn’t be in the seat. Nobody called for the grounding of the A-330 after Air France lost theirs over the Atlantic a number of years ago.

[j44ke]

I find it hard to believe anything Boeing says at this point.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...2b1_story.html

[SteveP]

Busdriver... 2 brand new A-330s didn't crash 4 months apart from the same issue.

I have read plenty of troubled information about this plane and it is still grounded 9 months later with an uncertain future.
A number of Boeing engineers have reservations about the system.
Every piece of reporting on this whole thing has been highly negative for Boeing.
That is all I know about it.

You are a pilot and fly Boeing planes ( I assume ).
Your opinion may differ but you were not in the cockpit of either of those planes.
I read of a single angle of attack guage as a problem component... There is no redundancy of a crucial gauge like this?

Anyway, Boeing has at this point paid out $10B in assorted claims and there will be a lot of $$ yet.

It will be interesting to see if they ever fly again as currently configured.

[rwsaunders]

I know why one de-ices an aircraft but I was surprised that it would slow us down so much...hopefully the same data wasn’t used to re-fuel the plane.