yeah, cause pinnacle is the only one who hires 280 wonders,, i am sure there are a couple at your place of employment.

This is a point that has been argued many times at many airlines... personally I think its wrong that 280 hour wonders are doing anything but CFI'ing and I would have some serious doubts as to whether or not a 280 hour wonder could handle this type of situation and I know I wouldn't want myself or my family in the back of an airplane that would now be down to a 280 hr wonder at the helm..... It's not just the being able to physically fly the plane there is also a lot of coordination, decision making and judgement that goes into a situation like this. On a side note I have said it before and I will say it again I view it highly unethical and to a stretch immoral that airlines are willing to go along with this preferential highing BULL $HIT... If somebody wants to go to an academy and get their CFI and learn in a structured program good for them but I say one hiring standard for all..... academy or not..

I won't argue that 280 hrs. is low for an airline environment. I'm sure most people have heard the saying, "I got my Private in 50 hrs. but I didn't learn to fly until I had 500 or 1000." However, even a "280 hr. wonder" could land the aircraft at a somewhat suitable airport. Some of the other decisions would most likely be overlooked but I doubt anyone would be injured.

well thats not really all that true, I have been in airplanes with pilots well over 280hrs and there landing was anything but safe, now picture a 50k lb jet

very true. Landing a seminole, and landing a plane that can carry the weight of a seminole(max weight) in its cargo bin are way different. I am not completely sold that someone with 280 hours could do it in a safe manner. if you were to take off in a crj from mem to bos, you are at about 53000lbs. if that were to happen after take off and you had to return, not only would you be over max landing weight, but your vref speed would be around 157. that could turn into one INTERSTING landing.

Come on people, its amazing how quickly something like this can bring the politics of a completely unrelated issue into the fold. A fellow pilot is gone because of something out of his control.....have some respect and dont interject politics when its not even remotely appropriate....

What a Fuddy Bucker....

I think what i am finding most amazing is that there are no news stories on this happening. I have been looking through all the major news sources, MSNBC being my primary source for aviation news, and not a peep about what happened.

Odd how they choose not to cover issues like this, but beat the heck out of every other negative event.

Very good observation, A few people have asked me about it, but I have not heard anything on the news myself.

Hahahaha, you've obviously never watched a mediocre pilot with a mediocre background and barely enough time in type to figure out the seatbelt try and land and 50,000lb aluminum tube! I guarantee you I would be wishing I had on the brown underwear if I was riding in the back