A good takeaway is that just because both the company and the manufacturer will put in writing that your MEL is totally AOK with them, it doesn’t mean you’ll be shielded from certificate action (or worse..civil/criminal liability) if you accept a plane and something like this happens.

Almost learned this the hard way. If the MEL says something like “at the discretion of the pilot”, discreetly walk back into the terminal. Make your boss send you an email ordering you to take it.

If the MEL has an ocean worth of qualifiers, it’s to protect the builder and the company, not you.

(Almost exclusively related to packs, lack thereof, and basic human climate needs. I’d imagine lavatories, water, pressurization and catering would fall into this category as well. We’re getting pretty soft though, so Wi-Fi might be in this category in a few years, and I’m not even joking)

 

Who gives a flying phuck what the dispatcher thinks!

 

No kidding! On hot days, inop pack or apu=refused aircraft. Putting passengers in that situation is the epitome of dereliction of duty, IMO. Perhaps it was a new Captain? Good learning opportunity for all involved.

 

I flew an aircraft today with no pack. Captain didn’t refuse it. Landed, then it was going trans-con at 25,000 feet. That captain didn’t refuse it. We can all be keyboard warriors, but the reality is our company has no problem dispatching planes with inop APU or packs and most of our captains are not going to refuse the plane.

I commute out of Florida and have been on 90 plus degree airplanes multiple times where everyone is soaked in sweat.

 

There is no reason to always “refuse” an aircraft just because one pack (or the APU) is inop, even in summer, even in Florida. I also flew an aircraft today with one pack and it was just fine. Nobody was soaked in sweat. It’s always a judgement call and captains have the authority to use judgment, and accept the criticism from the commuters in the back. And if things don’t work out as expected more judgement is required.

 

Delta. We love to fry and it shows.

 

it was a left-of-left pilot who believes any AC is bad for the environment and wanted all the social credits they could get from their other leftist friends.

 

It’s easy to say they shouldn’t have accepted the plane after the passengers start passing out. How close do you want to get to that point before you go against the grain?

 

thank you for lacking self control and inserting random political ideology into a conversation. Hopefully you at least have a sliver of professionalism and dont do this childish crap on the flight deck

 

#sarcasm bro