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Pilots forced to talk about work in the cockpit

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) on Feb 25th 2010 at 12:00PM

Big Brother may not be watching, but he'll be listening. A new recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board would involve the use of "black box" recordings to monitor the conversations that occur among pilots in the cockpit. This comes on the heels of several high-profile incidents in which pilots were distracted. According to a report by USA Today, this would be the first time that workplace monitoring would penetrate the cockpit. Of course, pilots' unions oppose the measure, calling it intrusive (isn't that the point?).

Until now, the black boxes have only been used after accidents. This new step, if executed properly, could make the recordings useful in preventing them – well, that's the plan, at least.

Needless to say, the timing couldn't be better for the NTSB, given the Northwest Airlines flight that overshot its destination by a hundred miles and the Colgan crash near Buffalo last year. In both case, pilot conversations were cited as among the reasons for the problems that occurred.

So far, this is only a recommendation from the NTSB to the FAA (the former has no regulatory authority). The NTSB's Robert Sumwalt claims, "This is not a case of Big Brother spying on pilots." Well, it really does seem like one, but it isn't a hard measure to defend in this climate. It might be easier to see the pilots' point of view if their objections weren't centered on pilot privacy. Workplace privacy is a thing of the past for everyone.

Mike Michaelis, chairman of safety at the Aillied Pilots Assocation, the union over at American Airlines, told USA Today, "It's the wrong way to go safety-wise." What I don't understand is how that can be true.

Gallery: Ten pilots you don't want in your cockpit

Filed under: North America, United States, Airlines

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Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)

Grape Ape Feb 27th 2010 8:59PM

Do we really know what happened in the Northwest cockpit that overflew Minn?
Truth be known is that the were having sex with each other. Tha capt. is well known in his company the he chooses that life style. Not that there is anything wrong with that. They won't chose to pusue (NSTB and FAA) this becuase they don't want to pick a fight they know will draw so much attention.

Greg Feb 27th 2010 1:23PM

Arguing with the general public that doesn't come close to remotely understanding the aviation industry is pointless. Especially when given such a shoddy "news" article from AOL that can't even get the smallest of details correct.

floyd Feb 27th 2010 12:58PM

as A truck driver we went through this first. No-one has A problem with us being subjected to roadside random search's & drug tests.We said then all policies should be uniform be you A truck driver riverboat captain pilet or the wife of A lawyer DR or congressmen. the excuse for taking away yet another right or freedom our ancestors fought so hard for is always public saftey.Statisticly more of the public is injured or killed bycommon citizens screwing up [ie drunk ,texting, or just being unskilled or stupid] our group is just more visible why are we so quick to surrender Just wait till they come for you

Don Feb 27th 2010 1:09PM

I would think conversations would contribute to pilot alertness almost to the point of being a necessity on longer flights. I would imagine it is not the conversations that are distracting in these few examples but the lack of stimulation that caused pilots to "zone out" and fly past the airport. Most pilots for major airlines are consumate professionals. The issues are usually from younger pilots in commuter airlines. Focus should be on ensuring the quality of pilots and not worrying about what they talk about. Try this at home: buy a flight simulator program and fly it straight and level for eight hours over an ocean landscape and see if you focus better if you can talk to someone or if you are in virtual isolation. Now do it several days a week for years.

jamesnpost Feb 27th 2010 1:13PM

It is time to get rid of pilots. All airline planes should be flown like our new bombers... by a kid with a cup of coffee in a robot-control bunker at Nellis AFB. Since stewardesses became Traveler Comfort and Security Associates, the only important person on an airplane is now the Federal Marshal who is there to protect the children from underwear bombers and pederasts in the next seat.

mikey Feb 27th 2010 1:18PM

Welcome to the NEW WORLD ORDER!..

Tom Feb 27th 2010 1:24PM

RR companies want to put camera's as well as voice type recorders in locomotive cabs. I was a locomotive engineer for 48 years and unless company officers want to know what the crews think of them, not the blowing of smoke that gets passed up to the upper level folks, they best not do this. In my 48 years I was never involved in an incident, yes I had a few incidents, where my talking with other crew members in the cab had one damn thing to do with what happened. I would imagine airline crews would say the same thi g.

jessica Feb 27th 2010 2:04PM

This is just one more nail in the coffin of American freedom. Those of you who think that we are free, just remember, you are next when it comes to monitoring what YOU are doing because of some idiots. There may be a few bad apples among the pilots, but they still have a much better record than vehicles. Keep letting the government interfere and we will be in the USSR.

kermit Feb 27th 2010 2:34PM

I agree, at some point they will want to monitor us while we drive our cars to ensure that we are not being distracted while we drive. That could save the lives of thousands on the road every day. Gee why don't you anti American liberals jump on that band wagon, think of all the Children we could save.

kermit Feb 27th 2010 2:28PM

I'm just thinking..If I'm flying the plane and I have to concentrate on my every word, that's going to cause a whole lot more stress, which is the number one reason for Pilot error. Also while I am concentrating on not offending anybody and possibly losing my job over an off the cuff remark made to a co-worker. I just passed my destination. this thing will cause more mistakes then it cures, Just have an alarm go off 10 min before I reach my destination, that would be helpful. Monitoring my every word, screw it I Quit!! Fly your own blanking Plane.

PappyBoynton Feb 27th 2010 2:37PM

Of the all the pilots I have known, only about 40% have been drunks.

Scott Feb 27th 2010 3:50PM

Pilots are sometimes in a position where an immediate action or actions is required in order to ensure the safe outcome of a flight. They must communicate effectively in the cockpit between themselves, the flight attendants, air traffic control, and their company during an emergency. If the pilots are aware that their every word will be scrutinized for some sort of disciplinary purpose down the road it will inevitably lead to second guessing and communications failure. These people are professionals and should be treated as such. How many thousands of flights operate safely every day, without incident? I wonder how these people in the NTSB and Mr. DeMint would react if a recorder were placed in their office and turned on 24/7 for "possible disciplinary actions". Maybe you people should ask yourself the same question...

Patrick Feb 27th 2010 3:20PM

Are any of you pilots? Unless you are you have NO idea what this means from their perspective. Don't give me any crap about it would be safer if we knew what the pilots were saying. It wouldn't. The only thing this will do is give the FAA someone to blame after the plane has already crashed. Yea, Yea, the pilots will pay more attention if they know the recording is there, but that is only going to last so long. Even so some of them are not going to give a crap. All of you idiots who watch the news and believe that these plane crashes happen because the pilots were talking and not paying attention need to research some more. It has been reported that pilot attention played A ROLE in the mishaps, it did not state that this was the main and only cause. You cannot make assumptions without all of the evidence. The news media doesn't have all of the evidence, so unless you are the pilot of one of these aircrafts or you work for the FAA shut your holes.