Turbulence does not mean uncontrolled! 15 knots crosswind is nowhere near the maximum demonstrated of 35-40 knots. Look close at the video. No crosswind correction. Worse, no flare (the aircraft is certified to land at maximum crosswind in a crab). No flare combined with improper control input (not correcting for the crosswind) is clear. The non-flare resulted in a bounce that exacerbated the situation. Then it looks like a pitch down when the go around should have been initiated. Just after the bounce, look at the right wing which is very high highlighting the improper control placement (it should have been slightly wing low to level). With no (right) crosswind correction, possibly even opposite control input (I’ve seen that happen in stressful situations with inexperienced F/O’s) combined with wing flexing from the excessive descent rate at touchdown and you get pod strikes.

(Written on 04/21/2023)(Permalink)

See my post above for how it’s done.

(Written on 03/18/2023)(Permalink)

Wow Scott, that might have been me! I used to do that on trans cons to hopefully pass back some more aviation geeky information about the flight to people who might be more interested beyond the typical cruising altitude, timeliness stuff. That little trick wasn’t “in the book” but was a variation of the technique. I never heard of anyone else who did it but between 10,000 of us I’m sure I couldn’t have been the only one who got the idea. Channel 9 was wired through the observer’s audio panel. For my one way discussion I would turn down Comm 1 on that panel which is where ATC normally is and turn up the interphone which during flight was not normally used and talk on the interphone. I’d pick a time I knew would likely have very little going on and of course I’d continue to monitor Comm 1 while the F/O flew the plane but at normal cruise the five minutes used for this exercise never had an interruption for operational reasons. Hope it actually was one of my flights since you enjoyed it

(Written on 03/18/2023)(Permalink)

Since you asked… no the pilot’s union did not kill it. Why would you even say that? I had it on whenever I could as did many other PIC’s (as was our prerogative) and enjoyed providing that window into our world knowing at least a few were interested, I listened myself on my first airline flight to California on a DC8 in the early 70’s. To answer your comment though with a bit more information, since Continental senior management took control after the merger, no newly ordered aircraft (to my knowledge) were equipped to connect the number 1 comm to the passenger entertainment system. So as time goes on fewer and fewer of the aircraft are equipped for it.

(Written on 03/17/2023)(Permalink)

As a matter of fact my (Lilly white) son is just completing his 6 month ATC course in Oak City. I know for a fact your comment is completely off base and inappropriate. HE is 29, a graduate of UVa with a math degree, spent the last few years teaching high school math. Oh, and he’s a private pilot. His class of 20 BTW does not at all reflect what you say. He is probably the smartest in the family and he says this training is by far the hardest thing he’s ever done. I attended the Air Force Academy and recently completed a 40 year flying career and am a Wright Brothers Master Pilot. His brothers graduated as engineers from Virginia Tech and James Madison University. His mother has degrees in art history and dietetics. So please don’t peddle your BS here, this is av aviation forum.

(Written on 03/03/2023)(Permalink)

Also agree. Add to that the direct line course to the home field is 15nm from the crash site in the middle of the valley. This is my back yard and I have to wonder how he got so far west in the highest terrain in the area. Given the conditions and experience level the fight was ill advised but there’s an airway there (though it works it’s way into high terrain further south as well) or easier yet Interstate 81 which also runs down the valley which itself goes all the way to destination with elevations and obstacles not exceeding 2000’ (with a few planned zigs and zags) the whole way and lots of alternate airports if it comes to that. Lastly, in this part of the country mountain obscuration is a real thing and considering the position of the wreckage and reported weather it’s quite possible he never saw the trees until he was in them. All very sad and unnecessary.

(Written on 02/20/2023)(Permalink)

And to what exactly do you base your assessment?

(Written on 02/10/2023)(Permalink)

Well there’s also another issue. From a reading of the piece what I got was the actual complaint is new hires do not have this training cost so the question is why should a current pilot be held to it? Same work for same pay. I just checked Ameriflight’s website and there is no mention of employee paid training costs. Back in the day we suffered under the infamous ’B’ scale at the majors and similar schemes as this at some of the commuters, all of which was eventually abolished. Not sure this is any different so I for one am curious how it all pans out.

(Written on 02/03/2023)(Permalink)

Not a mechanic, an ATP but I own a Cessna Cardinal. I believe mechanics generally will replace on condition. Don’t know what you consider expensive but aviation plugs start at about $45 each. There are two in each cylinder of a Cherokee (4 cylinder air cooled motor) so $360 plus mechanic’s time to replace them all. Seems like the issue was pretty clearly PIC poor decision making.

(Written on 01/28/2023)(Permalink)

Hasn’t anyone else noticed who wrote the piece? “Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel …” This is a points guy. There are some glaring omissions and the author implies without any corroborating evidence of gross negligence by the AA crew. RainbowRiver, Squaker and tsberry make some good points without jumping to conclusions. The transcript was not published in the article so we don’t know what the actual taxi clearance was. Could be the 777 needed the much longer runway 31L for departure and was taxiing as cleared. It could be they were cleared across that runway. It could be the wig-wags or runway occupancy warning system were inoperative. It could be the ground controller missed passing the taxiing aircraft to the tower controller. There are LOTS of mistakes that could have been made on both sides of the microphone. The point is, we don’t know nearly enough from the information presented. The author clearly passed judgme

(Written on 01/28/2023)(Permalink)