Back in the '90s, had a flight, ORD-NRT, on United. Had a J Class seat, but after the doors were closed, the F/As went through the cabin and asked the biggest PAX they could find and moved us to 1st. Seemed that there were only two paid 1st seats sold and the pilots wanted a near normal front end load. As soon as the seat belt sign was turned off, we "visitors were asked to resume our ticketed seats. In my case, a fellow larger than I had been asked to take my Business Class seat, He was "rewarded" with a handful of mini Jack Daniels. There was no redistribution of load for landing. The front end guys must have leveled the load with fuel movements. All in all, a good flight :)

(Written on 10/12/2020)(Permalink)

From a travelers point of view: How can anyone trust what the FAA states or certifies? What I'm looking for is the highest time pilots from every airline currently owning the MAX, fly the sim and actual aircraft, doing what ever test the engineers design that tests the entire system. Of course, the engineers must be seated in the test planes, along with the FAA administrators, who seem to have such a big say in these proceedings. Once the PILOTS are satisfied, bring in the lower hour crew and judge their handling of the SAME TESTS. Perhaps that test scheme will uncover the fact or fiction about how well crews are trained in any region or country. This should not be a hard problem to solve, once the political BS is removed from the proceedings.

(Written on 03/02/2020)(Permalink)

The real issue is the FAA. Why doesn't Congress check into why there are not enough qualified inspectors to oversee the systems design and certification process? Perhaps, Congressional term limits should be on the table.

(Written on 10/31/2019)(Permalink)

I was able to read the entire article, just had to decline the newsletter, which uncovered the rest of the item

(Written on 10/31/2019)(Permalink)

Yes, a well written article with a very informative video embedded. This could have saved Patrick Stewart and, perhaps, many more where the pilot falls over and is no longer capable of effective flight activity. Not a product to "replace" the pilot, but a useful backup system. Now, could a similar system prevent the Asiana 214 flop at SFO? Time will tell!!

(Written on 10/31/2019)(Permalink)

To what type(s) do the pilots typically transition when they leave the MD-80?

(Written on 10/30/2019)(Permalink)

Paint it PURPLE and you'll have a - Flying PURPLE people eater :)

(Written on 07/22/2019)(Permalink)

The basic issue will be in the agreement which should address the ultimate responsibility for final delivery of the service. No party should be allowed to simply walk away from any operation that may not be following expected, or normal, flow. Take Apollo 13 as an example, things are totally normal until, BANG. Now it's time to act and act correctly. Failure is not an option, the mission, and perhaps lives are in the balance. Yes, many extra hours of effort and man-hours will be required, and there may not be any hope of monetary compensation. In the case of resource failure, the comm satellite just got hit with a Coronal Mass Ejection and further data updates are just plain gone, something is going to have to replace that missing data. First in the near term, in order to get the current load of flights safely on the ground. Then longer term, how to get back to normal operation, where the AI has all the inputs required to deliver the expected results. Will the legal troops be a

(Written on 07/19/2019)(Permalink)

Aside from the already posted comments, but doesn't the major source of noise helicopters produce, comes from the blades. Right??

(Written on 02/20/2019)(Permalink)

The schools have to get tougher on admission or the problem will never be solved. These kids need a wake-up call before they hit the job market. Can't get into a school should provide that call. But the schools will cave to the revenue and pas the problem up the line. SIGH.......

(Written on 12/31/2018)(Permalink)