It turned into a layover and a reposition flight after the charter because of weather and rain delays of the game. I wish they would have deadheaded the FAs out of their separately. Either way, maybe this is just my bad luck. I avoid charters because of this experience. The food or the proximity to the vips or whatever people like about these trips isn't worth it.

 

If the story that the captain went home and bypassed customs then refused to return to the airport is true, she’s lucky they didnt show up to her house and arrest her.

 

Decade plus here & I’ve never flown a sports charter (fortunately, perhaps I'm realizing) so I can’t sound off on “cultural” claims but I really feel for the FO in this situation. There are days when the right seat feels like the easy job but this is definitely not one of them. As a CA I make my share of unintentional errors but anyone asks me to intentionally violate the FOM/FARs, it’s an easy conversation- “Sorry, I don’t feel comfortable with that.”

We can judge his decision in a vacuum, but most will probably agree that having your concerns explained away by multiple tenured employees as a probationary pilot is a crappy position to be in. Yeah the guy would have been better off to have called the FODM himself, but there are a lot of other pressures that go along with being new & I think it’s probably an overreach to assume he’s necessarily someone who wouldn’t ever assert himself in the future. In fact, had this been used as a teaching moment he’d probably be far more likely to do just that than the fresh new guy you hire off the street to replace him.

 

Yes, difficult position for sure. I would have thrown the flag, even on probation, but I'm also older, experienced in life, and experienced at several airlines. Many folks, especially if younger or straight out of other aviation sectors wouldn't have quite the same SA as to the left and right lateral limits in 121.

Especially people from non-121 backgrounds, those sectors (including mil) tend to be more "personality driven".

But even with my experience, I did learn something from this discussion: avoid charters 🤣

 

I've been following this pretty closely since it happened. Watching this entire narrative being carefully re-crafted in the public space over the course of two years has been a disturbing masterclass in gaslighting. I'll just say that it's a good thing that it isn't being adjudicated in a court of law where perjury is on the table.....

 

In your opinion, who’s being gaslit? Who would be in trouble for perjury? Looks like the company is pretending to be “shocked, shocked I say!” about charter behavior.

 

We're all being gaslit. The narrative that she's some sort of hero trying to protect the sanctity of the world's aviation safety reporting systems is spin of the highest magnitude. If there is some sort of cultural problem causing crews to violate the FAR's and company policy then it should have been FSAP'd BEFORE things went sideways. Taking this on as a last-ditch effort to get your job back is not some sort of courageous maneuver. Four airlines and 30 years and I have never seen a situation where there is an obvious, systemic effort to have crews violate FAR's. Certificates (both airline and airmen) are far too hard to come by for that. The pilots I know wouldn't do it regardless. She's not the victim. The victims are all of the people who were in a 757 with a slightly lubricated assistant baseball coach at the controls.

14 CFR § 91.3 states that the pilot-in-command is directly responsible for and is the final authority as to the operation of the aircraft. Not much gray area is there?

As to perjury, it's just a hunch. I know how long it takes me to pee.

 

I guess IYKYK……cause I ve never heard that saying. I also am in my early 40’s and grew up with parents not from the United States…

But you should talk to your doctor before taking Tamsulosin

 

It's not a saying. She claims that this entire episode occurred while she went back to pee. She caught neither the beginning nor the end. Just normal ops as far as she knew. Do the math.

 

So she’s blaming it all on the FA and FO? Unbelievable