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Originally Posted by Former DJ
Big Plane Pilot Safety Training
Captain W0X0F:
Before I get to my direct question, I want to wish you luck in getting recertified for flying. I know you want to get back in the cockpit ASAP, so here's to hoping that the doctors (and the FAA) get off their duffs and give you a "thumbs up" for flying. I remember reading Tom Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff". The one group all astronauts and military test pilots hate are doctors. Frank Borman even famously stated: "Give a doctor an inch and he'll take more than a mile." (Probably true ...) OK, to my question.
Doctors can be capricious and, for that reason, many pilots find a "friendly" AME (Aero Medical Examiner) for their flight physicals. When I was at ACA, I used to go to Dr. "V" who, after his nurse had taken blood pressure, checked weight, and gotten a urine sample, would simply come in for a couple of minutes and ask how I was feeling. Maybe we'd talk about flying for another three to four minutes (he was ex-Air Force...flew the F-86 in the 50's), and I'd be on my way, good for another six months. Probably half the pilots at ACA went to Dr. V.
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Maybe this has been covered previously, but I watched a video clip on the Fox News Channel about a commercial flight in which the Senior Captain suffered a heart attack [in flight] and suddenly the First Officer (a lady pilot) is flying the plane solo. While the FO was struggling to get the plane down ASAP to the nearest airport, the flight attendants were asking if a pilot was onboard? Luckily, it turned out that a pilot was onboard - an Air Force officer who flies the B-1B bomber.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOO_oYZF_B0
After the plane had landed safely, the Air Force pilot was promptly declared a "hero" by the media - an honor the B-1B pilot quickly played down. (He said, during the television interview, that all he did was "work the radio" and "help with the check list" while the FO was in command and did nearly all the flying, so she was the real hero. (Like a typical military pilot with the right stuff, he played it real cool like "Aw shucks, it was nothing really ..."
He wasn't being modest. It really was next to nothing that he did, and his involvement was just as he stated (radios and checklists). His B1 experience puts him near the top of the aviation pyramid, but I'll still take the current and qualified FO at the controls of that plane in that situation.
His presence was not essential to the safe completion of this flight, but it provided the flying pilot with a resource to use for some of the mundane tasks. I'm sure she would have been fine without anyone assisting her.
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My question concerns pilot training for emergency situations where one of the pilots is suddenly incapacitated. Is it standard operating procedure (in long-haul "heavy iron" aircraft) for each pilot to be trained to fly the plane solo, if need be, or do the airlines hope and pray that this kind of thing doesn't happen too often? Saying it another way, when this kind of situation develops, is it SOP to have the pilot who is still flying ask the passengers if there is a pilot onboard?
There is no training whatsoever for single pilot operation of the airplane. We're all capable of flying the plane alone. The crew concept provides redundancy and reduces the chance for a bonehead pilot error (setting the wrong altitude or missing a crossing restriction). The extra pilot is really useful in IFR approaches to minimums. While the flying pilot stays "on the gauges," the non-flying pilot cross checks instruments and looks outside for approach lights and runway, calling them out when they're in sight. But even this isn't absolutely essential. We've all flown as single pilot in our pre-airline days and it was up to us to fly our approaches solo.
There is certainly no SOP on this topic; it's strictly a judgment call by the pilot who is still flying. If it were me, I'd probably ask the FAs if they knew of any company pilot on board and I'd take his/her assistance even if they were from another fleet, because they still know procedures and can assist me. My second choice would be a pilot from another airline, then a military pilot and, lastly, a GA pilot. Barring that, I'd probably just handle it solo. On a plane with excess FAs (e.g. our 767 international flights have eight FAs but only legally require five), I'd probably have one of them sit up front through the approach and landing, just to have someone to read the checklist and maybe be looking outside during an IMC approach.
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I have a feeling the B-1B pilot probably realized, fairly quickly, what was going on and volunteered his services, so he didn't have to be asked. (I recall Denny Fitch, a senior check pilot for United doing the same thing in that famous 1989 crash of UA-232 in Iowa. Realizing the pilots were dealing with a very bad situation, he informed one of the flight attendants that he could help and Captain Haynes gladly accepted his offer.)
When I'm flying non-rev and not in uniform, I introduce myself to the lead flight attendant and let her know I'm a pilot, available to help if they need it. I've never been asked to come up and fly the plane.
In the case of UA 232, it was really lucky to have Denny on board. He was (iirc) a check airman on the DC-10 and knew the plane and its systems very well. He ended up handling the throttles which was the only method available to steer the plane after all the hydraulic systems failed.
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I would think one of the pilots coming over the PA system asking if there is a pilot onboard might alarm the passengers a bit, so I'm curious as to what the "official" airline policy is with regard to these type situations? I'm kind of assuming that pilot training anticipates this type of contingency as it is certainly not a routine everyday occurrence, but it is certainly within the realm of possibility. I suppose the real question is: Just how difficult is it to fly (and safely land) a large plane solo - especially if you just happen to be in heavily congested airspace? How can a single pilot watch all the controls and all the instrumentation - and look out the window for other aircraft - all at the same time? I would think that would tend to introduce a certain amount of STRESS!!)
I would
never do that. The message conveyed by such a PA ("I need help flying this thing!") would make
me panic if I was riding in back.
Let's not overstate how tough such a situation would be. There are lots of GA pilots flying single pilot in congested airspace all the time. That extra pilot is there to reduce workload and provide a cross check and redundancy, but any pilot worth his salt could do the job alone if necessary.
When I was a First Officer at ACA, flying the J-32, I flew several months with one particular Captain who was quite a character. I really enjoyed flying with him and there was some good-natured ball busting from time to time. On more than one occasion, I'd say something to him during flight and he would cross his arms and say, "Well, now you've traumatized me. I don't think I can fly anymore." And from that point on, I'd be flying single pilot, handling the plane and the radios while he watched, arms folded. One time, flying into PHF (Newport News, VA), this continued right through landing and taxi in.
The whole thing was kind of an exercise to illustrate what would be involved in single pilot operation and it was actually a vote of confidence in me that Pete had me do that. I can still see him sitting there, claiming to be traumatized by whatever wise-ass response I had given him. And, btw, lest I leave you with the impression that Pete was some kind of immature prima donna, he was one of the best pilots I've flown with and extremely passenger oriented and, of course, he would have unfolded those arms in a second if he saw I was getting overwhelmed.
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I haven't flown that many times commercial, but the few times I have flown I always look for pilots with a little gray around their temples. You guys make it look easy, but we passengers want folks in the cockpit who've been around the block (and around the world) a few times. The cockpit is no place for inexperience.
My gray crept up from my temples long ago and took the high ground. A lifetime of flying has been a lifetime of learning. Right now, I miss it more than you could imagine. If my current appeal to the FAA is successful, I'll post a pic of my first time back in the cockpit.