Eagle Flight 3215 10/28/12
 

Dear Pilot of American Eagle flight 3215 on 10/28/12 that operated from DFW to HOU,
Your comments on several frequencies today were unprofessional, disrespectful, and completely inappropriate. When given several commands by a very busy Controller, your response with "anything else" and a harsh attitude is an embarrassment and not compliant when reading back a clearance.
My airplane was near yours so I heard most of your read backs. I looked up your flight, you were close enough to on-time so being delayed and missing your commute home isn't an excuse for poor attitude. As I’m sure you are aware, those tapes are recorded, allowed to be listened to by anyone who has an internet connection, and broadcasted to passengers in several airplanes including mine. When my own client (who is also a private pilot) comes up to the flight deck and asks why you are being so rude, I can only shrug my shoulders and try to come up with an excuse. Since it's part of the entertainment system in our plane, they are allowed to listen to the same radio we use.
I've never met an unprofessional Eagle crewmember and I travel on you frequently. In fact, of all the regional airlines I fly on, Eagle is probably the most professional and that's not easy when your company is going through tough times. I went through the regional lifestyle for 6 years and I doubt what you're going through is so bad that you need to express it on the radio. If your life is so bad that you must act like this, then you should have called in sick this morning as you were not fit to fly.
If you were the First Officer, then your Captain should have put you in your place before you left the gate or ripped you a new one the first time you mouthed off. I honestly doubt you were the Captain but if so, you should know better then that. Not only did you embarrass yourself, you embarrassed your crew, your airline and most of all, OUR profession. Your attitude is unacceptable and I hope you grow up and learn how to act like a professional pilot.

You have a bright future as a guard nazi

Hold on there DMB, maybe he's onto something here. I'm not going to spend any time looking up the tapes on Listen to Live ATC (Air Traffic Control) Communications | LiveATC.net, but I will listen to the recordings if someone else finds and posts them. If this crew member really was being an idiot on frequency, then maybe a good public thrashing is in order.

Fairly new FO (less than 2 years) so I doubt it was him.
Not sure what happened but it's no excuse to take a bad day out on a controller.

fairly JR RSV captain, and soon to be 2 year FO. 1000 hours as Capt.

I put my money on the left seat! However your little rich man is no reason why any of us care how we talk on the radio, if I knew so many rich guys had this on their corporate jet as entertainment I would have been cracking tons more jokes about the rich. Going forward I will make sure I joke with controllers about it!! Maybe a new APC thread, joke of the day with ATC to **** off the rich guy who has comm 1 as a speaker in his plane!

Is that your secret to picking up chicks, by making fun of rich guys?:rolleyes:

You may call me Margaret, not Francis. HA. I have a sense of humor too!

My little rich man is far from that stereotype. This is my own business and my own airplane. He is one of my best customers and unlike most companies out there, I make it a point to keep my clients happy. Very few of my clients use this feature of the system but he does.

If anything, when pilots act like this it makes me look better and keeps my clients coming back since they know what to expect. Make all the jokes you want

An Eagle pilot had a bad day? So what. That poor controller. He’s so over worked? Not! How many times have I witnessed, or been on the business end of a cranky controller’s rude and dis-respectful wrath. Forget about it.

The ATC animal never has to worry about a furlough, a downgrade, or a termination. Unlike the majority of us, has a retirement.

So, the mean Eagle Pilot gave him some s@it.

Sir or Maam I nominate you TOTD! While you're criss-crossing the sky dealing with one person (heaven for-bid) I'm sure that crew had a whole list of things that led to their frustration. Spare us your better than though comments. Everyone is allowed a bad day (even pilots)....for you to call these guys out on a PUBLIC forum is a petty and egotistical move on your part. If it was as bad as you said it was im sure the feds would handle it accordingly. You friend are a tool

+1...............

Well, I will have to be the opposite of your plus one. I have had many, many bad days in this industry. From divorce, to strike, to furlough to family member illness and I have never been disrespectful or idiotic on the ATC frequencies. Maybe we all need to grow up and start acting like the professionals that we all so desperately want to be treated like.

Exactly!!!

BINGO!!!!!

For all of you calling the original poster a tool and whatnot, did you hear what the Eagle pilot said and sounded like? Maybe he actually WAS rude/unprofessional! It wouldn't be the first time it's happened especially from regional pilots, and before you condemn me for that comment consider the fact that I came up through the regional airline ranks.

Guess you forgot about the 80s when they went on strike and Reagan fired them all. They never got their jobs back.

The CA in question is well known among FO's.

I have to agree with the orginal poster on this. Everyone has bad days and everyone has bad things happen to them. Thats life. However just because you are having a bad day you have no right to take that out on the people around you. We are supposed to be PROFESSIONAL pilots. Part of being a professional is being respectful and acting professional even if you are having a bad day. Constantly giving controllers attitude and using snide remarks not only makes you look bad but also makes your fellow pilots look bad. People on this forum may tell me to lighten up, but it drives me nuts hearing stories like this. Our profession has taken enough beatings from everyone else, we don't need to do it to ourselves.

This last line is perfect. If we as a group want to be treated as professionals, we can't have this type of crap happening. Ya 99% of us probably do act very professionally and derserve to be treated as such, but that 1% can ruin it for everyone.

Isn't that what being a professional is all about? Not letting your bad day affect other people, or taking it out on other people? If you think it's ok to be disrespectful to anyone just because your vagina hurts then you are a tool.

Actually many got rehired in the late 90's. Many of them didn't make it through training but many were hired back.

+1000============================

here is what I think.....the CA in question.... most likely out of line.... just about everybody has made at least one off handed remark to a controller at some point...numerous occasions during the same flight... ??? not good. I also think the OP is a bit over the top as well. If the guy is "that well known" in the Eagle crowd ....calling him out isnt going to change the behavior.... Pro Standards in the Union is where this should have gone.

I have no clue who he is....

Who cares? D@mn. Way to make a mountain out of a molehill. I highly doubt the controller went home in tears that day. The controller is a professional as well and sometimes part of being a professional is having thick skin. I doubt it ruined his weekend. Big deal. A ****y moaning pilot...imagine that.

Amen to that....

-1 (dislike)

+2 (like)

Now I haven't heard the tapes, but IF the crew was being as unprofessional as the OP claims, there really is no excuse.

Ya, one bad day. Big deal. The 80s? When was that? How long ago?

Just to play devil's advocate...

What happens a few years from now when controllers look back at 9/11 and say "One bad day that eventually led to thousands of furloughed pilots..."

You know, being a professional includes how you respond and conduct yourself around those that are not.

The fact that the OP all but called the crew out by name in my opinion is just as unprofessional, if not worse, than how the crew may have acted. If you really have an issue, I imagine that you can get in contact with somebody at Eagle and express your feelings that way. But I guess its easier to call them out in a public forum where they most likely aren't going to have a chance to speak for themselves. While I don't necessarily condone the crews action (I tend to agree with most here that bad attitudes should be left off freq), I find it very juvenile this is how you decided to go about expressing yourself in this matter.

The OP didn't call anybody's name. Only an Eagle pilot would even be able to find out that info.

will someone post the audio already jeeze

Way to many "by the book" captains on this thread. Ya'll missed the point. Going on a public forum and calling out a guy or gal for something that could've been handled by someone else is a tool thing to do. I'm sure you're all professionals and a treat to fly with but that is just my opinion. Glad to know we have each others back in this profession when stuff hits the fan...

I get what you're saying, but disagree. I've been around long enough to know that pilots who come across as asshats on the radio over and over again, generally ARE asshats - and are difficult to live with in the cockpit.

Someone like that DESERVES to be called out.

The point? If you're an ass, then expect to be called on it.

We all have been guilty of making comments about ATC to the guy we're flying with like, "This guy is a moron" or "What is this guy doing?" However, they still have a job to do, and I would never make a comment on the radio like "anything else?" If the Eagle pilot was having a bad day and taking it out on ATC, it's wrong for him to do. I also don't agree with a person calling another pilot out on a public forum, like the OP.

thank you for understanding my point.... haven't heard the tape the guy/gal is probably maybe a pinhead or not but this isn't the place for that

I'm curious why you think it is corporate. UAL has had these as an inflight radio station for many years. Taps into the Jumpseat avionics panel. And I wish I read this a month ago to look up the names. Cus I fly with a bunch of DBs. One just lit a cigarette while taxing with apu feeding packs. Recirc off. And cockpit window open. So I put money on captain. The FO is probably happy to have a Job.

Was it Bob M. smoking?