Airline Pilot Central Forums - Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?

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Quote:

Originally Posted by KC10 FATboy (Post 1191442)

How do two pilots inadvertently zoom climb at 5700' per minute while in cruise and NOBODY notices? Seriously, something must be wrong with the Airbus design or the pilots that get chosen to fly for Air France are seriously inept!

From the article:

"Recent studies show that the effect of surprise is the subject of little, or no, simulator training," says the BEA. It is recommending to the European Aviation Safety Agency that surprise effects be introduced to training scenarios to help pilots react to them and work under stress.

How do you study for surprise in a simulator when most guys are constantly expecting to be surprised? :confused: Quite the conundrum.

Scoop :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scoop (Post 1191489)

I've been inadvertently surprised in the sim and it was quite the eye opener. Briefed and prepared for a specific maneuver and you're expecting it to come at any moment and it doesn't... then something else happens.

A lot of times, this has been by accident. My favorite, and most recent example, was an engine failure being set for the wrong speed by the instructor. I was expecting the takeoff to turn into a reject... it instead turned into a V2 cut. Caught me off guard and I'd say I actually gained a lot more from it than had it actually ended up being the planned RTO.

Or trying to guarantee themselves a full 7 days of fpl and free booze and food:eek: Just kidding, I'm sure they are going over the whole contract with a microscope.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shiznit (Post 1191301)

Anyone else think that they are following the Delta MEC policy manual and doing their due diligence?:rolleyes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by NERD (Post 1191498)

Or trying to guarantee themselves a full 7 days of fpl and free booze and food:eek: Just kidding, I'm sure they are going over the whole contract with a microscope.

The reps are not happy about being there over the weekend,but they know the debate needs to happen. Our careers and families deserve their honest thoughtful debate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucking Bar (Post 1191412)

This TA apparently isn't getting instant "approve this thing by acclimation" treatment, which tells me there are a couple of NO Votes. That's a good thing, indicating democracy is working. The bad news is that there are obvious indications of problems with this agreement.

Fair assessment. I'd also add that if that is the case, the fact that its still being vetted troubling because that means its being pushed by the NC and/or MEC despite reservations bad enough to warrant some reps (at least initially wanting to) vote no.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Too Tall (Post 1191485)

RA is working the beer tent at the block party if anyone wants to ask him any questions

oooh. i should go over there and introduce myself as [redacted but 80ktsclamp real name] and ask a bunch of questions I wouldnt dare ask with my name.

Question. Due to a VD award on the last AE I have to rebid my vacation. Is there a way to see what weeks are available? When I go into Icrew all it shows are the start date and selection #, not weeks available.

Didn't make the block party, but ran the scholarship 5k with 7:45 pace. Not to shabby for a 55 year old fart! :p

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1191452)

Airmanship is the problem. Airbus made a big point in their development that they intended to design a aircraft that did not require airmanship. Sadly it has not worked out quite like they planned. We have also watched as most airlines eliminate basic flying skills from training. If you don't require those skills you open the profession up to a larger group and can then lower wages. What does it say when a pilot at a major airline is not comfortable when cleared for the visual on downwind in a 757 flying a standard visual pattern and instead has to fly out to the OM before turning back into the field. They are not even comfortable with their own skills to fly the aircraft. When the chips are down and things go very bad it will not be a matter of trying to fall back on old skills, there will be no old skills to use and the result can be predicted in advance. More and more accidents are along these lines. Many pilots today could not pass a sim check from 25 years ago. The solution is make the check rides easier and easier. That falls back on management desire to expand the pool of pilots to keep wages low.

I think you're spot on with all of your points and consequences Sailing. But I want to expand though on this thought:

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingfun (Post 1191452)

What does it say when a pilot at a major airline is not comfortable when cleared for the visual on downwind in a 757 flying a standard visual pattern and instead has to fly out to the OM before turning back into the field. They are not even comfortable with their own skills to fly the aircraft.

I cannot offer a solution to fix this ^^^ and wouldn't try to as I am not a LCA. But I can tell you what imho makes this true- stabilized approach criteria.

We can't deny that it's there for good reason for the criteria so everyone seemingly abides by it, especially knowing FOQA is watching us. So given the issues with close in visuals we now see the command to move towards OM visuals. So that degrades those visual skills. Tack on that no-fault-go-around policy seems to be adhered to by the company and the FAA but not necessarily the guy next to you and frankly, rightfully so. Thus you can see how there is less of a desire to "experiment" and therein not refine one's visual skills. Add on the severe consequences of an altitude bust and you can see why guys out of self preservation don't hand fly more and are not keen on the other guy hand flying more because they're not in the mood to baby sit them either.

Like I said, I don't have a solution that I think the company or FAA would buy off on, so that's just an observation of some of the things working against keeping one's basic airmanship skills current.

Now, I think we could be aided overall in basic flying skills if imho:

In recurrent we would run an MEL that says no FMS, no AP, no FD (although that might not be allowed), and no autothrottles. Which I know the DC-9 guys say that's life out of ATL every day for them, but for the rest of us, it'd honestly be great thing to have hanging over ours and our instructors heads leading up to a LOFT.
We also heard "if in doubt click off the AP" as much as we hear "VNAV to the marker! VNAV to the marker!" IMO I think we should have a no-fault-FMS-screw-up policy that says "the FMS can't keep up or is screwed up, probably my fault, don't care, AP is coming off and don't try to fix the FMS, thanks..."

That's all I can think of to add to your great post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by forgot to bid (Post 1191575)

I think we should have a no-fault-FMS-screw-up policy that says "the FMS can't keep up or is screwed up, probably my fault, don't care, AP is coming off and don't try to fix the FMS, thanks..."

Hmm. That's how I've always flown the aircraft.

On those rare occasions when the airplane starts to do something I didn't intend, I kick off the AP and fly it like the knuckle-dragging Herc guy I am. Nobody has ever hassled me about doing this.