here we go again… it isn’t about personal limits or confidence levels… it’s about risk management and doing what’s smart for the circumstances… no chest thumping even allowed in the equation… just because you can doesn’t mean you do it.

Of course we are all trained at United to fly it… but unless an emergency makes it absolutely necessary I won’t be doing it on a WB plane I’m CA on… other CAs can do whatever they want. If the Threat forward discussion is done properly prior to descent then the same decision should probably be made… not worth the risk “IF” other options available at EWR.

 

i was playing Kenny Loggins in my head when I read this.

 

You know ......looking at my lanyard I have this blue/yellow card attached to it, on the yellow side it says: Discuss threats First; Personal? Environmental? Technical?..........which Ugleual's technique of avoiding 29 if his callsign includes heavy is a great example of filtering the current flights circumstances through a layer of threats be they personal, environmental or technical.

The narrative of some here seems to be that NO threats ever exist for any approach, as long as its line selectable and its on there ATIS well (kind of like the 91 guys who can legally take off in 0 and 0, does it mean they should do it)....which is strange to hear.......you see if I had an Indian Rupee for every time I heard a United callsign request the ILS in place of the RNP that hey had just been issued........ which usually is just a result of people not being situationally aware to correlate that it is very foreseeable if not probable since their STAR terminates in a downwind...they have briefed the wrong approach and in order to do so now workload would increase at a critical time...........but see that still is TEM, albeit a an error not a threat.

 

Well said! Probably everyone involved in events like the EWR accident believed, until things went wrong, that they were up to the task. For all on this thread exuding confidence and even bravado, remember aviation’s ability to humble and kill. We’re paid to mitigate and minimize risks, not demonstrate our prowess while taking unnecessary risks.

I’m not saying this to castigate the EWR crew, as I wasn’t there and I’m not privy to all the facts. But this discussion should center on conservative decision making with a little humility sprinkled in.

 

Happens all the time, for reasons both foreseeable in hindsight and not. AA rushing to get down for a no time to spare RW change at Cali for example. Experienced crews can & do fall behind the path sometimes. Tough lesson. Unnerving for more than a few line dogs most definitely. Oh look, here comes light pole Larry

 

“I’ll fire when I’m g0d@mn good and ready!!!!!!”

 

"If time has taught me anything, you've got to learn to be the ball"

-"I'm Going All the Way", theme from Caddyshack 2

 

So tell me why its so much more difficult in a heavy again.............

 

If given the choice between circling to 29 in a Triple or a 737 I’m taking the Triple every time. Much less stress in an airplane with slower approach speeds and amazing stopping power.

 

‘maybe one day you’ll get to figure it out yourself…