Ask The Pilot

[jb747]

Medical emergency question:

If someone in cabin is requiring CPR and the seat belt sign comes on for landing, should CPR contnue?

Keep working.

 

[Foreigner]

Plausible is wrong word in my post.

Of course there is, and it says it in the article.

On the one hand you have a conspiracy theory, and on the other the likihood of mistakenly flying into a mountain. Even aircraft with much better technology have managed this...look at American Airlines 965.

 

[jb747]

New roster time.

I'm on leave until the 25th of November.

26/11 93 MEL-LAX
27/11 94 LAX-MEL

05/12 9 MEL-DXB
08/12 1 DXB-LHR
10/12 10 LHR-DXB
13/12 10 DXB-MEL

30/12 93 MEL-LAX
31/12 94 LAX-MEL

07/01 9 MEL-DXB
10/01 1 DXB-LHR
12/01 10 LHR-DXB
15/01 10 DXB-MEL

 

[D747]

New roster time.


30/12 93 MEL-LAX
31/12 94 LAX-MEL

Does that mean you issue a dual NYE PA on the 94? Seriously though, the turn around from an early AM 30th arrival to a late 31st PM departure seems very short! Those trips must be very tiring.

 

[Quickstatus]

13/12 10 DXB-MEL

30/12 93 MEL-LAX
31/12 94 LAX-MEL

Christmas at home!. How many have you had over the years?

 

[jb747]

Does that mean you issue a dual NYE PA on the 94? Seriously though, the turn around from an early AM 30th arrival to a late 31st PM departure seems very short! Those trips must be very tiring.

It's not as bad as it looks...don't forget the international date line. The flight leaves Melbourne on the morning of the 30th, and gets to LA on the morning of the 30th. The slip is roughly 36 hours.

It arrives back in Oz on the 2nd...having only momentarily experienced the 1st. So, no new year PA required.

 

[jb747]

Christmas at home!. How many have you had over the years?

Approximately 9 out of 32. Counting this year as well.

 

[Quickstatus]

What do crews on a slip do for Christmas (assuming its a celebratory day for them)

Im on the 94 18/1. But as you know from my previous posts I will be wishing for a "splash and dash" into SYD. So I think you should Ok!

 

[Mule]

New roster time.

I'm on leave until the 25th of November.

A vagary of your rostering system or have you requested leave? That's a massive break if it is planned rostering.

Considering the role, first day back would be quite an adrenaline rush if you knit for a hobby.

 

[Altair]

Eastern Air Lines, no longer in existence, had plane crash in Bolivia in 1985.

There's no plausible explanation why it crashed.

The following link has background and info relating to last expedition to find answers:

What Happened to Eastern Airlines Flight 980? | Outside Online

The Mike Pence plane belongs to the "new" Eastern Air Lines that purchased the IP etc from the old group. IIRC this airline is a charter operation with some RPT to destinations around the Caribbean from MIA. Eastern Air Lines

 

[AviatorInsight]

What do crews on a slip do for Christmas (assuming its a celebratory day for them)

Depending on the type of slip, we do the best we can to celebrate Christmas with each other as we are all away from our families.

Last year I was in Abu Dhabi, and a lunch was put on at all the hotels, so all 17 of us went out for an awesome Christmas lunch. It's always hard being away from family at that time of the year so it's always important to support the other crew.

 

[jb747]

A vagary of your rostering system or have you requested leave? That's a massive break if it is planned rostering.

Our leave system operates with a couple of cycles, and you can choose which one you want to be on. Basically you can be on a 4 weeks in 8 months, or 6 weeks in 12 months. Whilst on average you'll end up with leave either 8 months or 12 months apart, it's quite possible that you could have leave back to back in two different cycles...basically coming off leave, and staight back into another slot. And, you could also have leave that's almost twice the cycle length apart...almost two years between leave slots.

I'm on the 6/12 cycle, and ended up with two slots much closer together than I wanted. I'm not that concerned, as I won't be around for too many more cycles.

Considering the role, first day back would be quite an adrenaline rush if you knit for a hobby.

First day back is normally a full on day of fun in the sim. In this instance, I'll have to break the leave and come back early to fit in a ground course that had been badly scheduled.

 

[jb747]

What do crews on a slip do for Christmas (assuming its a celebratory day for them)

Christmas. Everything is shut. Whatever is open is twice the price. If I had to work, I liked being in Singapore or Hong Kong, as they were just open as usual. In most places these days, there are few of us in town, the cabin crew are elsewhere. It can be a very quiet day. The worst two that I can remember are being in Sydney on standby (I lived in Melbourne at the time). A call out would have been welcome. Or Perth. Perth was just shut, and was the dullest place I've ever seen on Christmas day.

If I have to be away, I'd much rather be flying than having the day off in a random port.

Im on the 94 18/1. But as you know from my previous posts I will be wishing for a "splash and dash" into SYD. So I think you should Ok!

Makes for turd of a day for us, so I'll avoid it if I can.

 

[Quickstatus]

as I won't be around for too many more cycles.

water salute? Will you get a twitter post like Dooley?

 

[jb747]

water salute? Will you get a twitter post like Dooley?

Neither of those are appealing. I'll just quietly leave.

 

[Skyring]

Our radar doesn't see birds. Doesn't even see other aircraft unless you feel like playing Hornet pilot...and even then it doesn't see them all of the time.

Is this a function of the radar physically "seeing" things, or that the pilot chooses the settings to show what they are interested in, suppressing returns that are just clutter and noise for the job at hand?

What weather features can you see? Clouds, I guess, but are they differentiated at all? More subtle things like jetstreams and turbulence?

As for other aircraft, there must be some way of knowing where they are located. Do you trust in ATC, look out the window, keep track on the radio ("Breaker, breaker, this is Roo Two, what ya haulin', good buddy?"), or do you just plow on through God's wide night sky out over the Pacific, relying on the hand of the Almighty to keep everyone apart?

 

[AviatorInsight]

Is this a function of the radar physically "seeing" things, or that the pilot chooses the settings to show what they are interested in, suppressing returns that are just clutter and noise for the job at hand?

In the days of primary radar (especially in ATC), where any target reflected back on the screen as a 'blip', there was no way of knowing where it was a plane, a flock of birds, or the traffic on the highway. Thankfully these days technology is a wonderful thing. The radar can look out to 340nm and we can set the radar to our liking, for example, the sensitivity and how far above/below the aircraft we want to see.

What weather features can you see? Clouds, I guess, but are they differentiated at all? More subtle things like jetstreams and turbulence?

We can't see clouds, rather the precipitation is what is reflected back to us. So if a cloud mass is dense it will reflect something back to us. Unlike cirrus clouds which are quite thin. Jet streams aren't able to be seen on the radar, we look for things such as a change in wind speed, maybe even some turbulence when we enter/exit the jet. Turbulence in cloud is able to be seen on the radar although I find if it's red I'm not going to go in it anyway.

As for other aircraft, there must be some way of knowing where they are located. Do you trust in ATC, look out the window, keep track on the radio ("Breaker, breaker, this is Roo Two, what ya haulin', good buddy?"), or do you just plow on through God's wide night sky out over the Pacific, relying on the hand of the Almighty to keep everyone apart?

There is an element of trust with ATC, however, they are still human. The invention of TCAS is a great piece of equipment and we are taught to follow all TCAS commands irrespective of ATC instructions. We can see any traffic (providing they also carry a TCAS and transponder) within 12nm and depending on the setting (above/below), up to 7700ft. So there is still a requirement to see and avoid (the responsibility ultimately resides with the crew).

 

[ChrisGibbs]

One for the Airbus guys. Pushed back last evenings (Wed 02 / 11) 1830 QF460 MEL-SYD A330-200 service. Started engines and sat stationary for 5-10 minutes. Captain came on the PA and said we just need to reset our "computers" and passengers will see / hear some strange noises in the cabin including chimes, lights flashing, etc. After another 5 minutes Captain came back on the PA and said we're being towed back to the gate and engineers will come on to reset the "flap control unit". We sat at the gate for another 20-25 minutes with the flaps being extended / retracted while we were are the gate a couple of times. Captain came on the PA and said he just needed to do a walk around down below and sign off some paperwork and we would be on our way. All up we departed / arrived about 1 hr later than scheduled. A 1hr delay was reasonable as I've had previous A330 sectors where a failed "control surface check" after pushback resulted in the aircraft going U/S and being subbed for another tech crew and aircraft with a 4 hr delay being from the 2 person tech crew being subbed for a 3 person tech crew on a SYD-SIN sector.

 

[Quickstatus]

What is the question for the pilots?

 

[hummel]

Christmas. Everything is shut. Whatever is open is twice the price. If I had to work, I liked being in Singapore or Hong Kong, as they were just open as usual. In most places these days, there are few of us in town, the cabin crew are elsewhere. It can be a very quiet day. The worst two that I can remember are being in Sydney on standby (I lived in Melbourne at the time). A call out would have been welcome. Or Perth. Perth was just shut, and was the dullest place I've ever seen on Christmas day.

If I have to be away, I'd much rather be flying than having the day off in a random port.



Makes for turd of a day for us, so I'll avoid it if I can.

Don't happen to be doing QF9 on Christmas day this year? Wife & I are flying QF F for the first time.

Was speaking to my best mate last night, he was Rex Captain then moved to HKG as SO (777er) for CX 9 months ago and looks like he's coming back to jump on J* domestic. I found that interesting as he is a single guy, all the oppurtunies in the world but he said being away from home and being jet lagged just screwed with him too much. He also found the cost of living in HKG relative to wages wasn't as fair as what it is here in Aus.