Agreed, but I doubt any informed passenger wants to roll the dice on this pilot again. You can not discount the severity of the errors that flight crew made on that morning, or the extreme liability any air carrier presents by allowing him to operate another passenger flight. Given a 100% recovery - I could not/would not endorse his desire to return to passenger operations.

I don't claim super-human invincibility, or above average airmanship - nor does anyone argue the character of the pilots involved. We have to be realistic though.

From one airline pilot to another I wish him the best of luck, and he may be blessed to have survived. May we all be lucky enough that we never share a similar fate.

 

I met Jim Polehinke a couple of months ago. He's a very nice guy. I applaud him for the courageous fight that he is putting up in his physical and emotional recovery. It's easy to sit behind a keyboard and pick someone apart. A dose of humility in this business goes a long way. I can think of several accidents over the years that could have as easily been any one of us. Whether you're a high time pilot, low time, military, civilian, your currently flying fighters, or at the regionals, the majors, in a corporate outfit, a flight instructor or just flying around for fun, we can all have something reach up and bite us. We are all capable of making that one fatal error. If you truly believe that you're not, perhaps it's time to get out of this business.

Probably like the rest of you, I hope to fly a long career without putting so much as a scratch on one of my pax or a dent in an airframe. I start every rotation by asking the pilot that I'm flying with to please speak up if I'm doing something out of the ordinary or if I missed something. It never hurts to make a second call to ATC if either of us has even the slightest question regarding a clearance. You're not going to hurt my feelings.

Jim, God Bless you and I pray for your speedy recovery.

With much Respect,
Tomcat

 

I somehow knew someone would say something like this. While I think everyone will agree it was a pretty dumb mistake that had a very catastrophic outcome, I really don't think this was a necessary comment. As well, his counterpart, who wasn't as lucky, also missed the cues that something was wrong. While I do agree that the passengers wouldn't knowingly roll the dice, I doubt many of them would be any happier knowing that their captain had just met the ATP mins and upgraded, or that their FO had 250 hours and was on his first IOE flight. Honestly, I can see both sides of this issue, but either way, as a person, I wish him the best of luck in overcoming the medical issues. That will be what gets him. If Comair still has him on the seniority list and payroll, he hasn't been terminated, so the medical may be what holds him back. He has quite a challenge ahead of him.

 

He deserves nothing. He is in part responsible for the death of 49 people. Saying he wants to fly for the airline again is crazy, who of you would want to fly on his plane, how about as a Capt.

I feel for the families of the 49 who died that morning, not this guy.

What if a doctor made a mistake and killed 49, would we want him in the O.R. again?

How about a bus driver who crashed a bus that killed 49?

It is easy for us pilots to have empathy towards a fellow pilot. However, everyday we are trusted with human lives. People blindly board our planes hoping the two pilots up front know what they are doing, it is complete trust in the system. To violate that trust like this accident deserves no second chance, the victims have no second chance.

 

this is going to get ugly...

 

Soooo....He deserves nothing. Hmmmm.

There but for the grace of God go you. (even though I don't believe in God the expression is still useful)

I've heard the ATC tapes and seen the simulation. I have come to conclude the controller did a lousy job of ground control. His phraseology was not helpful and could have gone a long way to prevent this accident. Sure the pilots are ultimately responsible. Sure if they had bugged the heading on the NAV display they may have noticed the error. I wonder who gave them IOE? I know from my experience, at the regionals I flew for, the instructors were some of our worst pilots. Brown nosers usually ended up getting the instructor positions. My experience has been better at the majors.

My point is, there is plenty of blame to go around. He made a mistake with devastating consequences. He will live with the physical and mental consequences for the rest of his life. I'm willing to bet he won't make that mistake again. Perhaps he will be the safest pilot out there. If he can get medically re-certified and re-qualify, he should be allowed to fly.

Good luck to him.

 

Don't worry, I wish no ill will towards you about this thoughtless, uncalled for comment. I'd be willing to bet you'd be singing a different tune if you were in his shoes. I can only hope to be half the aviator you are.

 

You are a TROLL

 

FYI the INSTRUCTORS at COMAIR are TOP NOTCH and I think are amongst the best in the industry

 

It's not a matter of sympathy just because he's a pilot. We all make errors as pilots. Unfortunately for this guy, all the holes in the cheese lined up. Not so with most of the errors though.

While I won't say that I believe he'll never make the mistake again, I'll be bold enough to say that we'll make the mistake before he does.