SQ 777 missed approach, two go-arounds, fuel emergency - report now out

[JohnM]

There was nothing professional about the outcome or event.

Exactly the response of a retired EK A380 driver mate of mine when we were having a coffee a couple of weeks ago.

Failure to follow SOPs was his nutshell comment.

 

[MIAWS]

Comment still stands, and no such thing as 'bad weather', and as many have commented. Risk management, contingency, what to do in the event of...etc., etc., etc., great commentary above, and it all adds value to perspective.

 

[jb747]

Comment still stands, and no such thing as 'bad weather', and as many have commented. Risk management, contingency, what to do in the event of...etc., etc., etc., great commentary above, and it all adds value to perspective.

What part of your comment? That it was professionally handled?

The entire concept of risk management is based upon the assumption that things won’t actually happen. And if they do, then the management person who thought it was a good idea would already be gone to greener pastures. Basically within an airline risk management means that the hierarchy will do the managing, someone else will take the risk.

So, within airline flying, what do you consider to be contingency planning, and how, exactly do they do it? How would you then mingle “risk management” into that.

 

[SCM]

I'm wondering if there's any issue with SQ pilots pool, they have had massive fleet growth and passenger growth on the back of COVID - many airlines have struggled to bring back staff made furloughed or redundant, so how is SQ faring on this?

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm wondering if there's any issue with SQ pilots pool, they have had massive fleet growth and passenger growth on the back of COVID - many airlines have struggled to bring back staff made furloughed or redundant, so how is SQ faring on this?

I love flying Turkish airlines, but this issue is the one that gives me pause for thought. They have had massive, massive growth.

 

[Quickstatus]

SQ pilots pool

My hunch is that there is a simpler explanation. IMO the simplest explanation is the very powerful psychological pull of Get-there-itis.

The technical term is Plan Continuation Bias

It can be a killer - not only to pilots but to people on the road- like you and I. We have all experienced it and have given in to its pull.

 

[jb747]

I'm wondering if there's any issue with SQ pilots pool….

My hunch is that there is a simpler explanation. IMO the simplest explanation is the very powerful psychological pull of Get-there-itis.

The technical term is Plan Continuation Bias

It can be a killer - not only to pilots but to people on the road- like you and I. We have all experienced it and have given in to its pull.

I’m not picking on SQ here. Post COVID especially, the coughpit world has been turned upside down. Worldwide there’s a shortage of pilots…but not actually pilots. What they mean is Captains, and the simple solution to that leads to other issues. Having said that, I don‘t know that this had any part to play in the SQ incident.

Looking at QF here, but basically SOs had years of watching FOs and Captains handle, and sometimes not handle, the events that happened. By the time they got their turn in the window seats, not much was totally new to them. But, the fast tracked world we now live in means that the experience levels we previously took for granted in the coughpit may not exist any more. All pilots are confident by their nature, but there is no replacement for experience, and you don’t learn that in a classroom.

During COVID, many airlines outright fired their expat pilots. And in some cases, they had been the backbone of the airline. The ME airlines probably led the pack here. Post COVID, those people will never come back to them, and many others are wary. So there will be some interesting promotions. They had already managed to have a number of own goal issues, so I expect there will be more to come.

And then we have management, and their attempts at micro managing from afar, via SOPs. Just coming out with a rule does not make you safer, and can have the opposite effect. The EK 777 that crashed at Dubai almost certainly wouldn’t have done so if not for their “tea and bikkies” reaction to any long landings. Now, they’re not a good thing, but 3,000‘ feet in on a 12,000’ runway should not be the initial hole in any piece of cheese. If not for their SOPs they would never have initiated their piss poor go-around in the first place.