I’ve been getting the best info on the crash from AV Herald. It sounds like the previous flight had an unreliable airspeed issue. I have a hunch that if the plane didn’t crash, it would have still wound up on that site under the title “flight control problems.” But I’m such an armchair expert that I don’t really know what I’m talking about.

Hope all is well with W0X0F - haven’t heard from in a while!

Hear anything about this Vegas controller having a medical episode? https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/las...ller-heard-slu

Your link seems broken, but I did see a YouTube video showing this incident.

Really interesting story from this past weekend.

https://www.dansdeals.com/airfare-de...aking-flights/

@W0X0F, how would you say the pilots handled this situation?

Per the ATC audio they had permission to return to gate and they proceeded to take off anyway.

I would hate to be faced with delaying a flight for such a trivial reason, but I think I'd have returned to the gate to deplane those passengers. In general, I'd go back to the gate to get rid of any passengers who were so adamant about not going (for any reason) that they stood up en masse to demand their right to get off. The reason is one of safety. If these people are already disruptive, there is potential for an unsafe situation in flight.

Sharing a couple of pics from a recent flight...

Just took off from LGA, heading to DEN. Nice view of the Hudson River, Manhattan on the left, Jersey on the right. GW bridge in the foreground. Sully landed just beyond the bridge.





Night view of Chicago from the same flight...

Sully "landed"...

You guys all stick together, eh?

Beautiful

Since I'm not on Facebook (abandoned it early, back in 2007), I only have this place to share news: I was awarded Captain for the 7ER category (which is the 757 and 767). I flew these planes for several years as a First Officer and now I get to try out the left seat, which is reputed to be much more comfortable.

In other news, my older brother Scott has one four-day trip left at Delta. He turns 65 on January 4th and will fly his last flight on December 20th. I am going to try to join that last flight and occupy the jumpseat if it's available. He's looking forward to retirement. I, on the other hand, am dreading it. And it's less than two years away.

Scott and I were both First Officers on the 767 for a few years and we had two trips together during that time. One was to Amsterdam and one was to Nice. I remember when we signed in for the Amsterdam trip, the Captain met us both and, noting that we shared the same last name, looked at us quizzically and asked, "Are you guys....partners?" My brother said, "Well, we did share a bedroom for 17 years"

Congrats on making captain. Is the retirement age the same across all commercial flying or can you move to something smaller.

This will be my third aircraft type as a captain (MD-88, B-737, B-757/767) at Delta. I was captain on three other types at ACA/Independence (BA-31, BA-41, CL-65). Note that the 757 and 767 are one type rating due to the similarity of the cockpits and systems. We fly them interchangeably and often move from one to the other during the same multi-day trip.

Retirement age is 65 at all airlines operating under FAR 121, which is any name carrier you've heard. I can still exercise my commercial pilot privileges (i.e., fly for hire) as long as I can pass a flight physical. So I could, for example, fly corporate if I could find a company willing to hire a fossil.

I'll fly as long as I'm able to do it safely, even if that means just using my CFI license and teaching at the local airport.

Congrats! What type of trips will you be able to get in this position?

Congrats on making Captain.

Re: the bolded: I'm closing in on 68, still working in a job where they don't require me to retire, and the only person I know who is more opposed to me retiring than I am is my wife.

I'm very happy for you WOXOF. I haven't seen you in ages. Too busy for poker?

Wow, so Sully was 65 at most during his adventure? I figured him in his 70's at least. He must have been in a high-stress occupation.

lol

As a Delta mega-flyer, I can tell you that internationally out of JFK those aircraft mostly go to smaller cities in Europe. There are also a ton of them used for mid-haul cross-country to all over the west coast (LA/SF/Seattle etc). They probably run the Brazil and Honolulu flights with them as well. The bigger cities in Europe like Paris, Rome and London are usually the big Airbus but the smaller cities will all be 767s.

Congratulations, W0X0F!

Well, that's the rub. I'm going to only have seven guys junior to me in the category (at least to start), which means a life on Reserve. On the other hand, that also means that any trip is possible (when, for example, someone calls in sick). So, I'll probably get a lot of domestic trips with an occasional pond crossing thrown in.

It's great having a job you enjoy, isn't it? It's like not working at all.

What's your most desired trip? Do you want a regular run or mixup?

Not at all. I've been getting sessions in while on trips occasionally (most recently in Columbus, San Jose and Las Vegas). I only get to MGM about once a week on average. That's your main place now, right?

When I was flying international as a first officer, Nice was always my most desired destination. But, honestly, I think if I was only going there I'd tire of it and the best thing about this job is the variety. I just did a five day trip over Thanksgiving with layovers in Ft. Lauderdale, Seattle, L.A. and Indianapolis and this might surprise you but the place I enjoyed most on this particular trip was Indianapolis. It had been years since I was there and the downtown area is really nice.

Oh, and I always love seeing Las Vegas pop up on my schedule.

Congrats.

I can't see any outcome that doesn't involve that mandatory retirement age increasing, just not sure it'll happen in time for you. I'd rather fly with a 70 year old seasoned vet than a kid fresh out of a regional, but then again I'd trust any US carrier with my life.

Snap some pics if they do some cool retirement stuff for your bro, always find those fun.

I agree that the retirement age will change at some point (simply due to the pressures of supply and demand) and I also think you're right that it'll be too late for me, because legislative wheels turn at a glacial pace. Forced retirement should only happen if someone is medically disqualified or unable to perform to standards during recurrent training. Age affects us all differently. Some 65 year olds should definitely not fly and others may have a good 10 years or more left in them.

I'll try to get some pics.