Re: Obscene pilot forces Northwest to cancel flightI'm sticking my preverbal neck out here as I haven't been in the regs for
many years :-))
Not sure just who actually removed the pilot from the flight, and it very
well might have been the front office, but the FAA can and indeed has
stopped pilots from taking off many times for various reasons. The legality
is usually settled later, but if a pilot is acting in an emotionally
unstable manner inconsistent with his duties , the FAA most certainly can,
if informed in time and able to act, stop the flight.
Two disqualifying disorders that nullify a medical certificate are
psychological disorders and psychosis. The legality of whether or not these
factors are present in the pre-flight demonstrated behavior of a pilot isn't
what stops the flight. Its the demonstrated behavior contrary to safe flight
practices that will stop the flight.
Granted, its a toss up on whether or not the behavior of this pilot legally
qualifies under the regulations, but demonstrated behavior contrary to
established safety standards is definitely basis for the FAA or the front
office to intervene, stopping the flight from progressing.
The lawyers will then naturally get involved and tear it all apart, but I'm
fairly certain under the stated conditions of the eye witnesses the FAA
could indeed intervene. But all said and done, I tend to agree with you that
it very well might have been the front office in this case.
Dudley Henriques
"K Baum" <kkwagp@yahoo . com > wrote in message
news:1175995312.182389.6260@b75g2000hsg.googlegroups . com ...
>> <dhenriq...@rcn . com > wrote:
>> >The real issue here isn't the language used by the pilot per se'. The
>> >issue
>> >of importance is the pilot's emotional and mental state leading up to a
>> >take
>> >off which the language indicated. This is why the FAA got him off the
>> >flight
>> >and probably why, after the hearing, he will no longer be employed by
>> >Northwest.
> A few misconceptions here. The FAA did not remove the pilot from the
> flight. They do not have the authority to do this except in cases of
> intoxication or gross vilolations . The FAA notified management and
> they removed him from the flight. Acting like a jerk is bad, but it is
> not a violation of FARs. In order to have a hearing, you have to have
> an investigation. We dont know what the outcome of that is yet. The
> FAA probably cannot revoke the pilots certificate over this, but his
> medical is another mater. Chances are, this incident will be taken
> care of with a trip to the chief pilots office.
>
>>
>> Agreed. I wouldn't want to have been on that flight if it
>> had taken off with him in command. However, it does
>> reinforce the need for airlines to have reserve pilots
>> available for situations like this.
>
> Airlines do have pilots on reserve. But this is not an NWA domicile,
> and the only thing they could do is get another pilot who is on a lay
> over and on the same equipment who is legal to fly (Per the duty time
> and rest requirements), or fly someone in from a domicile. If this
> takes too long, it can effect operations downstream, which is why
> airlines will sometimes cancel flights for reasons that might not be
> readily apparent
>>
> >
>> Just how expensive would it be for the majors to have a
>> short-notice pilot on call at each major terminal for each
>> of the most common aircraft types? It should even be
>> possible to have a pool system across companies if organised
>> properly.
>
> Dont know about down under, but here in the states, pilots are not
> dual qualified. In order to fly for another airline, a pilot would
> have to attend their training. The planes are different, the
> procedures and ops specs are different etc.. Even if a pilot could
> train for the 2 dozen or so airlines that fly into SFO, there would be
> almost no way he could stay current.
>>
>> Cheers, Alan, Australia
>> -- * loraltravel.blogspot . com /
>> latest: Epidaurus * loraldiabetes.blogspot . com /
>
>