Originally Posted by
dawgdriver
The company should also be worried about captains who are afraid to execute the emergency procedures they were taught and trained to do. Allegedly, there was one recent instance where slides were deployed but the passengers were not evacuated. Was this hesitation out of fear? How much time does it take to evacuate 150+ souls from a smoke filled cabin?
Aborts, go-arounds, missed approaches, evacuations, you name it, captains must be nervous over there and first officers probably refusing the upgrade out of fear of getting snared in one of the webs G4 weaves. These are split second decisions that require clarity of thought and conviction, not doubt and fear of being second guessed by armchair heroes. The MD-80 is a complex, archaic and difficult plane to operate WHEN WELL MAINTAINED. Those guys deal with countless engine failures, air returns, smoke in the cabin, etc so their career fears are not unreasonable. I'm sure the opinion and rebuke expressed by Sky Gods are not shared by most G4 pilots.
I completely agree. I can't speak for what happened during that incident you mentioned, but from an outsider's perspective, it seems as if safety has been replaced with the fear "of costing the company money" and potentially losing ones career over doing what you've been trained to do.
During an emergency situation you shouldn't have to stop and think about "Well, what will keep me from getting fired like that other CA did?" or the thought of losing your job and not being able to provide Christmas presents to your kids. There should never be any hesitation in decision making when it comes to safety...especially with the 80.