Ask The Pilot

[defurax]

What incident?

ATSB investigating Virgin Mildura fog incident | Plane Talking

direct link: http://atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2013/aair/ao-2013-100.aspx

 

[jb747]

ATSB investigating Virgin Mildura fog incident | Plane Talking

direct link: Investigation: AO-2013-100 - Low fuel diversion involving Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YIR, Mildura Airport, Victoria on 18 June 2013

Interesting. I must admit that I generally find Plane Talking to be rather devoid of actual aviation knowledge.

How much fuel does he want them to have for the 'longer holding patterns'. A day? An hour? Easy to throw mud from a nicely grounded office.

it sounds like they had alternate fuel for Mildura, which would have made them quite legal at Adelaide. Weather forecasts are always a guess, so a percentage will turn foul. The real question is why aircraft had to leave an airfield which has a decent ILS (not CAT II/III, but auto land capable anyway) to go to a poorly equipped regional airfield. But I think I've said previously that Australia is third world as far as nav aids are concerned.

 

[legroom]

We get there an hour before. It counts towards your duty period (it's work...if you don't do it the jet won't go).

What shift change????

Thanks, JB, for the reply

5am start !

Not as bad as morning radio show jock!

I thought I read somewhere upthread that pilots for long haul flights change with another pilot after some (? 10) hours.

I must be wrong then. Sorry

 

[Hvr]

And I hear it is available on other sources.

I've heard that as well.

No mention of JB on episode two either.

 

[Skyhigh777]

JB, I was wondering, do the hours you spend in the simulator count towards your maximum flight hours?

thanks

 

[jb747]

Thanks, JB, for the reply

5am start !

Not as bad as morning radio show jock!

I thought I read somewhere upthread that pilots for long haul flights change with another pilot after some (? 10) hours.

I must be wrong then. Sorry

It's a 24 hour, world wide operation. Someone starts work at literally every time of day. It's shift work, but you work a different shift each day....

There is no shift change per se. If your planned work day is long enough, a Second Officer will be added to the crew, and you'll be able to get a break during the flight.

 

[jb747]

Sim hours don't count towards the limits, but are added to the log book.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There were probably quote a bunch, but they didn't have an expert on board.

It's not really up to ATC. You know the weather. You know how much fuel you have. I'll bet this whole thing was just a pretty normal day during the typhoon season.

thanks for the reply.

just a follow up regarding there being a whole bunch of planes up there... is it possible that one pilot might decide to keep flying through whatever it is when all the others have decided its too dangerous and gone elsewhere? would the pilot who deicides to stay KNOW he/she is the only plane left there (for example would they hear all the communication with ATC and the other planes who have decided to divert?)

I guess the question is whether a crew could be so caught up in what they're doing that they find themselves all alone in a situation others have chosen to avoid? or would there be enough clues from other aircraft that pilots would know if it's 'safe' to still be where they are?

 

[RobYg]

No mention either in Episode 3. Perhaps he will make the final one.

 

[jb747]

No mention either in Episode 3. Perhaps he will make the final one.

Whilst there is one night to go, I expect I'm on the cutting room floor. They wanted to tie the interview with Go Pro camera images from both a landing and take off, and simultaneous shots from ATC and the runway. It didn't all work out...

I think the show has done a great job of telling the tale of what goes on, without dumbing it down as do the various 'accident' shows.

 

[jb747]

Just a follow up regarding there being a whole bunch of planes up there... is it possible that one pilot might decide to keep flying through whatever it is when all the others have decided its too dangerous and gone elsewhere? would the pilot who deicides to stay KNOW he/she is the only plane left there (for example would they hear all the communication with ATC and the other planes who have decided to divert?)

I guess the question is whether a crew could be so caught up in what they're doing that they find themselves all alone in a situation others have chosen to avoid? or would there be enough clues from other aircraft that pilots would know if it's 'safe' to still be where they are?

Whilst there is often more than one frequency in use, you'd most certainly know you were the last man standing. I've never known an ATC person to be short of words, so I'm sure they'd tell you if you hadn't realised yourself.

The reality is that these blogs, no matter how interesting, are written by people who have little REAL aviation experience. No experience aft of the coughpit door actually counts. They mostly can't fly, and have no idea of the various balancing acts being done in the coughpit. Cabin crew are even worse, as they also know nothing of what happens in front of the door, but people think they do.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Whilst there is often more than one frequency in use, you'd most certainly know you were the last man standing. I've never known an ATC person to be short of words, so I'm sure they'd tell you if you hadn't realised yourself.

The reality is that these blogs, no matter how interesting, are written by people who have little REAL aviation experience. No experience aft of the coughpit door actually counts. They mostly can't fly, and have no idea of the various balancing acts being done in the coughpit. Cabin crew are even worse, as they also know nothing of what happens in front of the door, but people think they do.

thanks again.

totally agree... too many holes in the story and made it sound like this was a lone plane flying recklessly despite everyone else having diverted. as unlikely as that sounded I just wanted to explore if that could actually have happened!

 

[mjt57]

JB, with the new routing to London via Dubai, are you utilising SOs more or less or the same (ie. not at all, sometimes, all the time)?

I'm wondering that if there are fewer opportunities for SOs, how will this affect ongoing training and the manning of aircraft?

 

[RobYg]

A quick look through Episode 4 failed to find the footage we were all looking for. So the world has missed out on JB747's expertise. The rest of the series is very informative and, thankfully, completely non-sensational.

 

[petercr]

Just 'obtained' the first 3 episodes last night (and I guess the 4th will appear soon) so will be interesting viewing over the weekend...

 

[jb747]

Having seen it all, I ended up on the cutting room floor. The interview they did with me lost it's relevance without the Go Pro footage, so I'm not surprised.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good show, and gave a quite good idea of what goes on, especially the ATC stuff.

 

[jb747]

JB, with the new routing to London via Dubai, are you utilising SOs more or less or the same (ie. not at all, sometimes, all the time)?

I'm wondering that if there are fewer opportunities for SOs, how will this affect ongoing training and the manning of aircraft?

SOs are being used on some of the DXB-LHR sectors. If either of the other guys are near hours limits, or the weather is looking dodgy, then they're added to the crew as needed.

I guess the overall effect would be a slight reduction in the number needed, but as we've been short of them (A380 SOs) for a while, I expect they now have close to the correct number.

 

[NM]

[mod Hat]
Please note that I have moved some posts discussing airline callsigns to another separate thread. Please follow that discussion there where anyone (pilots or otherwise) can feel free to participate in the discussion.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....tions/airline-call-signs-moved-ask-51616.html
[/mod hat]

 

[jb747]

Roster:

12/7 QF9 MEL-DXB
15/7 QF9 DXB-LHR
17/7 QF2 LHR-DXB
19/7 QF2 DXB-SYD

27/7 QF9 MEL-DXB
30/7 QF9 DXB-LHR
01/8 QF2 LHR-DXB
03/8 QF2 DXB-SYD

12/7 QF9 MEL-DXB
15/7 QF9 DXB-LHR
17/7 QF2 LHR-DXB
19/7 QF2 DXB-SYD

The normal provisos apply...no trip is firm until we actually take off....

 

[SenZubEanS]

Is there a particular operational reason why the planners wouldn't have you on the 9 run there and 10 run back or the 1 and then the 2? Or just down to bidding etc?