Airline FA pilot lives the dream, acts as FO to land the jet

mikea

mikea

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A flight attendant who has a pilot's license replaced an ill first officer during a landing at O'Hare International Airport, officials said today.

The co-pilot of an American Airlines plane that departed San Francisco on Monday fell sick en route to Chicago, said American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan.

"He was unable to continue his duties and he moved to the passenger cabin," Fagan said, adding that the flight's captain checked to see whether any off-duty airline pilots were on board the flight.

A female flight attendant advised the captain that she is a commercial pilot and the captain asked her to sit in the right-hand seat in the cockpit, Fagan said.
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http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/flight-attendant-helps-pilot-land-plane.html
 
Thats the dream for sure. Unfortunatly it always comes at the expense of someone being ill which isn't good at all. I'm wondering what the pax thought when the FO took a seat in the cabin.
 
Uh, oh now the regionals will figure out that it is cheaper to fly captain-only and to put a CP-AMEL into the cabin. The FA on the AC with less than 50 seats has nothing to do anyway.

Don't tell me 'its illegal'. There is nothing that can't be waivered given a sufficient amount of money involved.
 
weilke said:
Uh, oh now the regionals will figure out that it is cheaper to fly captain-only and to put a CP-AMEL into the cabin. The FA on the AC with less than 50 seats has nothing to do anyway.

Don't tell me 'its illegal'. There is nothing that can't be waivered given a sufficient amount of money involved.
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Not only is it not illegal, it's all that's required. No waiver needed. For now, at least.

And, for the record, the FA on AC with less than 50 seats actually does do quite a lot. Serving drinks is really just a side note in their job description.
 
weilke said:
Uh, oh now the regionals will figure out that it is cheaper to fly captain-only and to put a CP-AMEL into the cabin. The FA on the AC with less than 50 seats has nothing to do anyway.

Don't tell me 'its illegal'. There is nothing that can't be waivered given a sufficient amount of money involved.
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Not only is it not illegal, it's all that's required. No waiver needed. And not just at the regionals. For now, at least.

And, for the record, the FA on AC with less than 50 seats actually does do quite a lot. Serving drinks is really just a side note in their job description.
 
weilke said:
Uh, oh now the regionals will figure out that it is cheaper to fly captain-only and to put a CP-AMEL into the cabin. The FA on the AC with less than 50 seats has nothing to do anyway.

Don't tell me 'its illegal'. There is nothing that can't be waivered given a sufficient amount of money involved.
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Surely you can't be serious. :tongue:
 
Teller1900 said:
Not only is it not illegal, it's all that's required. No waiver needed. And not just at the regionals. For now, at least.
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You could fly part 121 single pilot ?


The Beech 1900 is available as single pilot, but then it is limited to 9 pax or so. Don't know whether that is a regulatory limit or just how Beech wrote the paperwork.
 
RJM62 said:
Surely you can't be serious. :tongue:
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Follow up story:

Patti DeLuna hadn't piloted a plane in about 20 years until this week.

Back then, it was a small Cessna. On Monday, she quickly stepped up to a Boeing 767 airliner.

DeLuna, 61, an American Airlines flight attendant, helped her captain land the jumbo jet at O'Hare International Airport after the flight's first officer fell ill with stomach flu.

"I was the best available (back-up pilot) they had on the plane,'' DeLuna said Tuesday from her California home. "I spent a lot of time in the cockpit looking at the flight deck panel and asking questions. My first question to the captain was, 'Where are the brakes?' ''

...

The flight's purser also had been a pilot many years ago. But DeLuna, with a mere 300 flight hours and a commercial pilot's certificate that she earned in about 1970 and was no longer current, was selected by the captain.

"That doesn't mean I'm a hot shot pilot, it only means I was the best they had-- I was the best candidate for the job at the time," DeLuna said.

...

The captain assigned DeLuna to change the altimeter settings a few times because the altimeter gauge, which measures the airplane's altitude, was on the right side of the flight deck panel, she said. She also familiarized herself with the cockpit's public-address system.

"Otherwise, I let the captain know I was not the panicky type,'' said DeLuna, who has been a flight attendant for 32 years, 14 1/2 of them at American. She previously worked for TWA and Flying Tigers, she said.

"The captain had me watch for traffic and listen to the radio for our aircraft call number to receive course headings from air-traffic control,'' she said.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...-pilot-ohare-attendant-helps-lands-plane.html
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I don't suppose asking a lot of questions helped the captain out much. I'd only ask what he wanted me to do and what I need to know to do it.
 
mikea said:
Follow up story:

I don't suppose asking a lot of questions helped the captain out much. I'd only ask what he wanted me to do and what I need to know to do it.
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I bet that she was asking lots of questions of the captin between when the FO got sick and they started to land the plane to be familure with what she might need to do durring landing.
 
I love this version of the story:

One pilot is fully capable of flying a 767. In fact, the sophisticated plane, equipped with an array of computers, can fly and land by itself.

But there is plenty of work for two pilots to do, especially during a descent to the crowded airspace around [URL="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/neighborhoods.html?region=1435491"]Chicago[/URL] and at touchdown.
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:crazy:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/...-pilot-ohare-attendant-helps-lands-plane.html

Good for her! As a CP she probably handled checklists, etc. pretty well.
 
weilke said:
You could fly part 121 single pilot ?


The Beech 1900 is available as single pilot, but then it is limited to 9 pax or so. Don't know whether that is a regulatory limit or just how Beech wrote the paperwork.
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No, I miss read the post. I thought you said put a captain with the other pilot as commercial AMEL only. Which is all that's required. Never mind.
 
In an emergency the captain decides which regulations apply. Correct?
 
AuntPeggy said:
In an emergency the captain decides which regulations apply. Correct?
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Yeah basically. Just like any emergency, you can do pretty much whatever it takes to protect the passengers and aircraft. You'll certainly have to answer for your decisions later, but during the emergency, do what it takes to get the best and safest possible outcome.
 
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