Are you serious? Who cares about a news paper up there? Was it sunny and hot out? Maybe they didn't want it to get 100+ in the cockpit? Once again who cares? What do they say when a DAL, CAL, USair, AMR, or other guys pull up wearing ball caps to keep the sun out of their eyes? If this is what you have to complain about then either life's that good for you or you're a drama queen.

I flew with a CA once that carries around a magnetic chess board...

No, I told her we play Monopoly and the occasional Mouse Trap.

See I know you're lying because you can't keep the trap balanced while in a plane.

lmao, she probably thought it was real, too. That game was fun but a ***** to set up.

I would have suggested to those pax that they might have wanted to rebook.... preferably to a mainline flight.

oops.......

You are worried about a few people that can look up when we do something like this??? The Wall Street Journal?? Millions of people?? WHAT?? ANY BEANS TO EAT??


WSJ 2nd UPDATE:Colgan Air Transcript
Shows Lack Of Crew Discipline - WSJ.com

By Andy Pasztor
Of The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The pilots of the Continental Connection turboprop that crashed in February near Buffalo N.Y., rushed through mandatory checklists in a matter of seconds, but spent almost the entire 59-minute flight from Newark, N.J., bantering about personal issues, job goals and the theoretical hazards of ice accumulation during winter flying, according to the cockpit recorder transcript released Tuesday by federal investigators.

The transcripts shows that the Colgan Air Inc. crew, Capt. Marvin Renslow and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, violated mandatory safety rules by discussing extraneous topics during the descent to Buffalo, just before their twin-engine Bombardier Q400 aircraft slowed dangerously and went into an aerodynamic stall, killing 50 people.

Data released by the National Transportation Safety Board indicates that the stall wasn't triggered by ice accumulation, but rather Capt. Renslow's pulling back on the controls and overpowering an automatic stall-protection system that was pushing the nose of the plane down in order to regain a safe flying speed.

The transcript of conversations reflects a breakdown in cockpit discipline, marked by an almost cavalier attitude toward safety as the pilots laughed and joked extensively about previous flying experiences, the rigors of commuting to work by air and their own shortcomings as aviators.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)

There was hardly any discussion, until the last few minutes, about the conditions of the flight they were operating. Required checklists appeared to be done almost as an afterthought, according to the transcript, as the pilots resumed extraneous discussions immediately afterward.

Icing was on the crew's mind approaching Buffalo in snow and mist. Starting four minutes before the crash, and just before rushing through the descent checklist, the crew talked about dramatic buildup of ice around the windshield. "Oh yeah, it's full of ice," the co-pilot said. The captain replied, "that's the most I've seen . . . in a long time." But instead of discussing their situation and agreeing on a plan of action in case of an emergency, the crew immediately switched to discussing personal anecdotes regarding icing.

Co-pilot Shaw, for example, is quoted on the transcript reminiscing about how little experience she had with ice during her early training flying in the Southwest U.S. "I had more actual time (experiencing icing) on my first day" with Colgan "than I did in the 1,600 (flight) hours I had when I came here."

The co-pilot, who had been hired by Colgan less than a year before, went on to say: "I really wouldn't mind going through a winter in the Northeast before I have to upgrade to captain."

For the journalists, industry officials and relatives of victims packed into the NTSB's auditorium, the transcripts of what the crew said - and how distracted they appeared to be - provided the most chilling part of the hearing.

Right after completing the cruise checklist above 10,000 feet, the crew launched into an extensive discussion of Capt. Renslow's previous experiences with engine troubles on Saab 340 turboprps. Then Shaw, the 24-year-old co-pilot who recently moved to Seattle but flew out of Newark, talked about her hopes of finding a job that would keep her closer to home. "I would do three nights a week and be home, I could have kids and raise a family."

Two minutes into a discussion of future earning hopes by each pilot, the captain spotted a plane and said, "you got traffic out there, it's coming left to right." The crew continued to discuss personal matters, including co-pilot Shaw's head congestion. It "might be easier on my ears," she is quoted on the transcript, if the aircraft starts descending sooner and more gradually toward the airport.

As the crew noticed the buildup of ice, the co-pilot acknowledged her fear of ice accumulation on aircraft surfaces, which can decrease lift. In the past, she said, "I would freak out (if) I would have seen this much ice; and thought, of my gosh, we were going to crash," according to the transcript.

Below 2,300 feet, things deteriorated quickly for the crew. According to documents released at the hearing, the crew leveled off the aircraft and set the engines to idle in what seemed like a normal approach. Within three seconds after the landing gear went down, however, the engines were revved to maximum power.

It took only a total of about 20 seconds until the crew received a stall warning, the autopilot disconnected and the Q400 lost lift, rolled and slammed into the ground.

While the broad outlines of the last few minutes of the flight had been reported earlier, the first day of the hearing provided more information about the crew's actions in the cockpit. The data confirmed earlier reports that Capt. Renslow continued to pull back on the controls to raise the plane's nose during the entire seven seconds the so-called stick-shaker was warning the crew about an impending stall. The normal reaction to such a warning is to lower the nose in order to gain speed.

Just after the cockpit microphone picked up the sounds of the engines increasing to full power, Capt Renslow exclaims: "Jesus Christ."

Shaw, for her part, began doing what she could to save the plane. "I put the flaps up," she said. Eight seconds later, she asked the captain, "should the gear up?"

Capt. Renslow replied: "Gear up. Oh (expletive)."

From there, the cockpit microphone picked up an increase in noise from outside the plane.

Less than a second before impact, Capt. Renslow said: "We're down," followed by the sound of a thump.

The last words on the recording were those of Shaw. "We're (sound of scream).

Today - May 29. I have deliberately left out any other specific details as I feel it would be inappropriate to identify a specific crew (thereby eliminating plausible denyability should someone from their management learn of this.

Duck, you can call me a drama queen if you want, but I was taught a long time ago that people's perception of you is affected by how you present yourself. Frankly, I'm tired of direction this profession has been headed for a while now (yes, now I'm a crochety old coot), and how eagerly many help this deterioration out.

I understand doing something to shield the cockpit from the sun - IN CRUISE! Put the crap out of view at top, don't leave it laying out as you taxi in. And for the record, it didn't look like leftover heat shield - it had every appearance of the entire paper (multiple sections) strewn across the glareshield. Guys taxiing in wearing a ballcap - I don't care for it, but that's a COMPLETELY different image than a newspaper all over - at least the guy in the ball cap MIGHT have been paying attention to the flight. Of course, the public knows nothing could go wrong with no one watching the aircraft - I mean you could never bleed off 50+ knots and get into a stall... oh wait, I guess you could.

Think people, think! I have a pretty low view of public opinion, but the fact of the matter is if we are viewed as button pushing chimps, then we will be treated (and compensated) as button pushing chimps.

A wise man long ago had an excellent mantra - KDA:

K - know what you are worth
D - demand what you are worth
A - accept nothing less

Pilots (particularly in many of the regionals) have a LONG way to go on this, and if this job is ever going to be worth anything it's going to require exactly that (including burning a few places down - figuratively). It first has to start with knowing what you are worth, and to be of value you need to be a professional aviator, not a button pushing chimp. Put the newspaper away at top (sure, take off the ball cap as you taxi into the gate too). Better yet, if you feel compelled to read inflight (certainly understandable), why not read something which enhances you capabilities as a professional aviator (and put it away at top). Demonstate to the public that you (we) are highly trained professionals who deserve to be compensated accordingly (feel free to also explain how we've been repeatedly robbed by bankruptcies and whipsawing of one regional against another). Then at section six time, demand what you are worth and accept nothing less.

Like I said, if you don't care about it for yourself either:

A) do if for the rest of us who do

or

B) get out of the cockpit and go to work somewhere else

Pay has nothing to do with being a professional, it's your attitude!