Oct 25th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
Dear Heather, I have to share this with you. I'm a pilot and I was sexually harassed last night. While jump-seating home, the lead flight attendant calls the cockpit and says a passenger thinks one of the flaps is out of position. The captain sends me back to check the wings. I squeeze into the fully occupied exit row to peer out the window. While looking out the window, ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
pilots posts
Galley Gossip: Pilot sexually harassed by a passenger!
Oct 25th, 2011 at 12:00PM:
Dear Heather, I have to share this with you. I'm a pilot and I was sexually harassed last night. While jump-seating home, the lead flight attendant calls the cockpit and says a passenger thinks one of the flaps is out of position. The captain sends me back to check the wings. I squeeze into the fully occupied exit row to peer out the window. While looking out the window, ...Cockpit Chronicles: There's more behind the Air France 447 crash than pilot error
Aug 12th, 2011 at 8:00AM: Recently a couple of pilots found themselves in a situation that was foreign and perplexing to them; a scenario the designers of the airplane hadn't fully expected. They fought their way for 3 minutes and 30 seconds while trying to understand what was happening after a failure of one of the pitot static systems on their Airbus A330. At times the flying pilot's inputs exacerbated the problem when ...Cockpit Chronicles: Flying with my brother (Part II)
Apr 8th, 2011 at 4:30PM: Continued from Part I
We were both tired after arriving at the airport hotel in LA, so we didn't meet up for dinner, as it was too late anyway. Instead we parted to our separate hotel rooms on the same floor and vowed to meet up at 7 a.m. the next morning.
After picking up breakfast in the airport employee cafeteria downstairs, we proceeded up to the luxurious operations in LA.
The fact ...Cockpit Chronicles: So what's it like when your brother is also your captain?
Apr 8th, 2011 at 4:30PM: The temperature was fifteen degrees in Anchorage and it was getting dark. But we didn't care, we just wanted to fly.
My older brother Kurt and I were inside rushing through the final steps to build our styrofoam rubber-band powered Citabrias. Once finished, we still had to wait until the Elmer's glue was dry. If the white stuff wasn't set, the fuselage seams would split in half and we wouldn't ...Cockpit Chronicles: Six surreal sights seen by pilots
Mar 11th, 2011 at 12:00PM: I've said it before; the office view from the pointy-end of an airliner is something that can only be matched by an astronaut's view.
But that's not to say we don't get to see a few celestial sights of our own. No, I'm not going to touch on the rumored UFO sightings by pilots, although I promise I'll keep my camera ready, just in case. I'm talking about the stunning sights, both man-made and ...Hot coffee hijacks United Airlines plane?!
Jan 5th, 2011 at 3:30PM: Drinking and driving is a problem ... and drinking and flying is no different. A United Airlines pilot found this out the hard way: he spilled his coffee, which triggered a hijacking alert. So, United Flight 940, which was set to go from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, had to dash across the border to Canada for an unscheduled stop.
A hijacking alert can have that effect, you know.
The plane ...Galley Gossip: A flight attendant Christmas story
Dec 25th, 2010 at 9:30AM:
I graduated from flight attendant training on the 8th of December in 1995. Two weeks later, on Christmas Eve, my roommate and I were called out to work a trip - together. The crew scheduling God's must have been smiling down on us that day because it's not often a flight attendant gets to work with their roommate who also happens to be their best friend on reserve. Although we were scheduled to ...Ryanair insanity: Captain Morgan suggests mutiny, ordered to Lithuania
Dec 7th, 2010 at 1:30PM: If I could make this stuff up, I'd become a novelist. Seriously.
Captain Morgan Fischer, a pilot with Ryanair, decided to try out the type of stunt for which his boss, Michael O'Leary, is famous. And, he learned what happens when you tangle with a master media whore.
Apparently implying that O'Leary is a moron, Fischer took public issue with the company CEO's notion that a co-pilot could be ...Pilot body scans and counter-terror operations: distant consideration for special forces
Nov 24th, 2010 at 3:00PM:
The uproar over TSA body scanners and pat-downs has hit every corner of the aviation world, from passengers to pilots. The vocal consensus, at least, is that nobody likes them, even though 64 percent of Americans support the practice and 70 percent don't expect it to impact their travel. A friend of mine, flying today, tweeted that he made it through security at New York's JFK airport in a mere ...Airlines powerless against the pregnant
Sep 22nd, 2010 at 10:00AM: Fortunately, there aren't many babies born on planes. Run the numbers on this one: it just doesn't happen much. One would assume that rules around flying later in pregnancy have helped, but it turns out that these requirements really boil down to an honor system that leaves the carriers virtually powerless.
Of course, most pregnant women pay attention to the rules (or guidelines, in ...Delta pilot nailed for (allegedly) drunk-flying from Amsterdam to Newark
Sep 15th, 2010 at 2:00PM: It's a long flight from Amsterdam to the New York City/Newark area. I've done it. I get antsy and bored. I bring lots of stuff to do. Anything that could make the time pass a little faster would make it onto my list ... and that includes putting a few cocktails back.
Of course, I'm not the guy flying the plane.
A Delta pilot was arrested and fined for being drunk, allegedly, when getting ...Cockpit Chronicles: Avoiding bird strikes
Sep 10th, 2010 at 12:00PM: On the season finale of the TV show 30 Rock, Alex Baldwin says to a pilot, played by Matt Damon:
"You're a pilot, huh. I should pick your brain. I'm developing a daytime talk show with Sully Sullenberger."
"Yeah, I met that guy. He's not that great." Matt Damon, the pilot, says.
"You know what a great pilot would have done? Not hit the birds. That's what I do every day, not hit the birds. ...Trucker-style pilot gets nine months in jail
Sep 7th, 2010 at 12:00PM: Stephen Sharp was pushing for probation. The former US Airways Express pilot was nailed by the feds for selling "selling a powdered drink mix over the Internet that he claimed was '100 percent' effective in helping drug-using truck drivers, pilots and train engineers pass federally mandated drug tests."
Yes, it was a genius move for a man in a highly regulated profession ... which is why the ...Galley Gossip: Funny flight attendant book - Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase!
Aug 9th, 2010 at 9:30AM: Ever since reading the book Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase: Hilarious Stories of Air Travel by the World's Favorite Flight Attendant, written by Betty N. Thesky with Janet Spencer, I've been tempted to do a spin in the middle of the aisle as soon as I've finished serving my three rows to alert the flight attendant working on the other side of the cart that I'm ready to move. Normally we'll ...Spirit Airlines grounded by pilot strike - UPDATED
Jun 13th, 2010 at 10:30AM: Spirit Airlines has found itself grounded this weekend, after contract negotiations with their pilots failed to result in an agreement.
The pilots have been negotiating for four years - and Spirit claims they have offered a 30% pay increase over the next five years, along with several other perks.
Sean Creed is the head of the Spirit Airlines pilot group within the union, and had the ...Galley Gossip: Goodies for the crew
May 26th, 2010 at 9:30AM: I'm taking a trip next week to Las Vegas. Is there anything I can bring the flight attendants and pilots as a little token of my appreciation. You guys work a really hard job. I just saw the Capitalism Micheal Moore movie and I had no idea that pilots and flight attendants got such a raw deal from their employers. I thought about making cookies or muffins? Any ideas would be great - Tina B.
...JetBlue pilot removed from Boston plane after gun threat incident
May 23rd, 2010 at 12:00PM:
A JetBlue co-pilot has been removed from his Boston crew lounge when he sent an email to his ex-girlfriend mentioning his plans to harm himself.
The pilot is a member of the TSA Federal Flight Deck Officer program, which allows pilots to carry guns on their plane - the program was developed after the attacks on 9/11. Upon being confronted by authorities, the pilot handed over the gun and ...
Galley Gossip: Do flight attendants hang out with pilots on layovers?
May 3rd, 2010 at 9:30AM: Dear Heather,
is it common that you associate with pilots when on layovers? Also after each leg of a trip, does everyone go to the bar? I can't imagine this is a great family lifestyle for those married.
Just My Thoughts
Dear Just My Thoughts,
Do pilots and flight attendants spend time together on layovers? Sometimes. Depends on the crew. Also depends on the length of the layover. At ...Galley Gossip: Enter to win two business class tickets to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific!
Apr 26th, 2010 at 9:30AM: Until May 31, 2010 Cathay Pacific is giving away two free tickets in business class from any city to Hong Kong, as well as three nights' accommodation at The Upper House, a portrait session with campaign photographer Andrew J. Loiterton, and eight times the Asia Miles you earn flying on Cathay Pacific from now until the end of May. Now that I have your attention, keep reading. Contest details can ...Pilots forced to talk about work in the cockpit
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 ...
