Originally Posted by
strfyr51
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What actual difference does it make HOW it came about? Because just llke everything Else, Unless they issue the iPad to EACH pilot and make THEM Personally responsible for them? As usual, it will fall on Maintenence
to replace them after they're abused or stolen from one airplane to another after one doesn't work somewhere and a Captain will tell some Controller they can't Possibly open a flight bag and READ the flight manual anymore. Just like we've had refusals for Autobrakes, Autothrottles an Adiru being inop (when there are Three on board. Or an Apu being inop Flying over Mountains west of Denver, as if having the APU is going to help the airplane in GETTING over the Mountains. So No, I don't care essentially about the ipad OR the EFB just the added BS it will bring after it's installed. Heck I'm still wondering How some crew's flew BEFORE we had autoland to hear all the "Caterwauling" I hear when it's inop. JEEZ!
Just seems like another "Bell and Whistle" to me..
Quite a post there, where to start in reply??
How 'bout we start with it is NOT YOUR JOB to question a Captain's refusal of an aircraft, for WHATEVER REASON HE DEEMS NECESSARY. It IS your job to provide answers as to when the aircraft in question can be fixed to said Captain's satisfaction. I'm painfully aware that UAL management has sold most of the spare parts inventory, and furloughed many maintenance techs, which requires the line pilots to be the adult supervision around here and fight off the 'just take it as is" mentality, no matter what you, the FODM, or the flight office says.
Aircraft refusals for inop systems are often situation dependent, with many factors playing a part in the decision, including weather, and runway length/condition, among others. What may be acceptable to defer on one flight may be a no-go on the next. The FARs and our own professionalism require us to make those decisions based on
maximizing the safety of our flights, regardless of inconvenience or cost.