U S Air Chatting pilots may be at fault

Thursday February 11, 2010
Chatting pilots may be at fault

Airline officials and federal investigators still won’t comment on the events leading up to an aborted takeoff at Yeager Airport last month - despite claims in a Wall Street Journal story this week that idle chatter between pilots caused the incident.

According to the article, “a fundamental breakdown of pilot discipline, including personal conversation in the cockpit” caused the incident that endangered the lives of 31 passengers.

Sources told the publication that the two pilots of US Airways Express Flight 2495 did not properly prepare the aircraft for flight and engaged in chatter not related to the task at hand in the moments leading up to the failed takeoff.

Pilots are prohibited from engaging in personal conversations during critical points of most commercial flights.

Lack of pilot focus has been cited as the cause of several high-profile incidents in recent years, including a crash in Buffalo that claimed the lives of 50 people.

The tight-lipped stance of both airline officials and federal investigators is angering some local officials, including Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper.

full story… dailymail.com/News/201002100789

Sounds like more regional pilot mess. They’ll blame the absence of the sterile cockpit on the fact that both pilots were making $21k a year…

You get what you pay for…

Not in all cases. But if the safety culture is created by the company is lacking you will find guys not taking it very serious, and “bending” the rules

I mean, I was being sarcastic when I made that post. Sure, low pay is going to cater to a certain type, but I’d think there are plenty of professional pilots that take pride in their work, regardless of what their paycheck says. My first job was at an Arby’s when I was 15 in Powdersville, SC. It was probably 1994 or so and I made $4.35/hr - I was proud that I was making a dime above minimum wage. In alot of ways, I was a better worker and worked harder then, than I do now making alot more money with a much more prestigious job. I guess I was trying to say that it shouldn’t all be about the money - I know that’s not the case though. It seems that by now, it shouldn’t be a surprise to pilots that they’re not going to make much money when they get started in their careers. They need to do a good job, accept what they make, get the hours and then search for the better job with the better pay.

You hit the nail on the head. This will probably generate some controversy but a **professional **pilot will be good no matter what his/her pay is.

When I say “professional pilot” I’m talking about a pilot who acts professionally. He/she realizes that by being not just an average pilot but a great one then he/she will eventually get a better paying job.

I don’t know what David is talking about cause I’m a sh*t-hot pilot and professional to boot. 8)

Oh, HELL yes! :smiley:

It’s kind of like minor league baseball players - they play their butts off with the hope of making it to the majors. Still, you don’t want even your minor league pilots to be fatigued or skimp of their health (see the Buffalo crash) because of poor pay, since they are entrusted with the lives of others, unlike baseball players.

I don’t know, but as a lawyer, I shake knowing what some of these regional carrier pilots make - there is something to be said for paying people in positions of trust enough so that they don’t have to travel via Fed Ex and then sleep in a pilots’ lounge prior to flying others. The system is off.

Couldn’t agree more with the exception being the baseball analogy. The pot of gold is MUCH larger in baseball, it’s like hitting the lottery in some cases, but 99% end up selling used cars.

No Sh*t! What is it with “retired” baseball players and car sales? :unamused:

Well they generate a lot of bang for the buck in advertisments, being local legends and all. Maybe that has something to do with it.

As a lawyer though, you know that there are some public defenders doing a bad ass job for 30k a year, and partners sitting around doing jack at large firms for 500k+. Who works harder and smarter and who gets the paycheck? A career in law is no sure fire way to being rich. I know - I live with one. Like I’m saying, a pay scale shouldn’t be tied to professionalism.

The ones I’m thinking of didn’t have noteable baseball careers…and are literally “car salesmen”.

Many pilots and flight attendants choose to commute to work by choice and not necessity. There are many reasons why as indicated in the references below.

When I lived in Hawaii I would occasionally see a Piper Archer parked near the Hawaiian Air ramp. It belonged to a pilot who commuted to work. His base was HNL and he lived on one of he Outer Islands.

I very often see commuting pilots on Southwest.

salon.com/tech/col/smith/201 … index.html
airliners.net/aviation-forum … in/101733/
capapilots.org/legislative/a … policy.pdf
geekinthecockpit.com/archives/329
afalax.org/default.asp?id=211

We have commuting pilots all the time out of Dayton including JetBlue and Compass, two airlines that don’t go near Dayton. Jumpseat reservations are automatically confirmed if you’re flying on your aircraft (Delta pilot on Delta, ASA on ASA, Comair on Comair, ect.) but now would not be a good time to jumpseat considering how messed up the NAS has been these past couple of weeks.