Attempted hijack in Alaska...

Curious request. Beware of passengers that “had asked the pilot to fly the plane earlier during the flight and initially asked to sit in the unoccupied co-pilot seat. Both requests were denied by the pilot.”
 
If I let a passenger in the copilot seat all depended on how pretty she was....

But since revenue is important it was often necessary to have a passenger in the right seat.
 
I flew as a passenger from Fairbanks to Central, Circle, Eagle, and back to Fairbanks.

Manager put me in the right seat when I requested it. Firm briefing about no input to controls at any time, and I honored that rule.

We were not ever full, and the pilot was very conversational, we had a fun flight. He even dropped down along the Yukon River to look for moose, we saw none, but there were a lot of tracks. Yes, we were very low!

I suspect that in Alaska the passengers would be much inclined to intervene in a case like this one.

The rules up there are quite different than down here.

I presume that the 18 year old was not a pilot.
 
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PeterNSteinmetz said:
Curious request. Beware of passengers that “had asked the pilot to fly the plane earlier during the flight and initially asked to sit in the unoccupied co-pilot seat. Both requests were denied by the pilot.”
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The "co-pilot" seat is often used for passengers as mentioned by @Zeldman .
One flight in Alaska, and another in Canada, I asked for, and got the co-pilot seat both times. It is easier to take pictures when I can see what is coming, and also have a side window. It really isn't a curious request.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
The "co-pilot" seat is often used for passengers as mentioned by @Zeldman .
One flight in Alaska, and another in Canada, I asked for, and got the co-pilot seat both times. It is easier to take pictures when I can see what is coming, and also have a side window. It really isn't a curious request.
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But to “fly the plane” ?
 
PeterNSteinmetz said:
But to “fly the plane” ?
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Why not? I'm sure I could so it. All joking aside, I didn't ask to fly the plane. I didn't even hint I could fly. I'm sure the pilot couldn't care less. I did make one of the two requests deemed "curious", sitting on the co-pilot's seat.
PeterNSteinmetz said:
...asked to sit in the unoccupied co-pilot seat. Both requests were denied by the pilot.
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Not sure if it was 135, but if it was, you're not supposed to let the passengers manipulate the controls. In my experience, passengers I allowed in the right seat (of a King Air) were afraid to touch anything lest the plane crash.

They must not have rules like that in Africa, or they are not enforced, because I have sat in the right seat on a couple different occasions (a 210 and some Piper twin) and the pilot has let me fly.
 
Stewartb said:
That pilot needs to carry a fish bonker.
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.

I knew a helicopter pilot who would give rides at local fairs etc ...... he had ticket sellers who would try to "screen" the passengers ahead of time .... no unruly kids etc.

He had a small wooden baton hanging on his console and I asked him why .... he said it was to whack anybody who tried to grab the controls or overpower him.

Turns out some years earlier he gave a ride to a mother and son ..... the son was about 18 , a muscular guy , about 240 pounds , and had some mental disabilities ..... because of weight and balance he had to seat him in the middle and the (tiny) mother on the outside.

The kid was calm and peaceful at first but then became out of control excited and started to grab controls and poke at buttons on the panel .... the pilot had no choice to punch him in the face as hard as he could and do an emergency landing.

.
 
I have flown with Ryan Air and Grant Aviation many times. The Caravan is their primary workhorse for flights to smaller towns in Alaska. In recent years, Grant at least, has not allowed anyone in the copilot seat even with many passengers on standby. Interesting that the news reports seemed to believe a Caravan had 5 passenger seats. They have way more than that, typically 9 or more.
 
How many seats were in that Caravan? 135 we weren't allowed to seat a pax in a pilot's seat. We had 11 total seats in the KA200.


"""§ 135.113 Passenger occupancy of pilot seat.
No certificate holder may operate an aircraft type certificated after October 15, 1971, that has a passenger seating configuration, excluding any pilot seat, of more than eight seats if any person other than the pilot in command, a second in command, a company check airman, or an authorized representative of the Administrator, the National Transportation Safety Board, or the United States Postal Service occupies a pilot seat."""
 
edo2000 said:
Interesting that the news reports seemed to believe a Caravan had 5 passenger seats. They have way more than that, typically 9 or more.
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If you've ever seen one used for skydiving you'd be surprised how many bodies will fall outta one of them!
 
That Caravan may have had just 5 passenger seats.

The number of seats in any plane operating into the villages of Alaska will be much less than the allowed number.

Cargo is a mainstay of their business, the Navajo Chieftain I flew as a right seat passenger had only 6 passenger seats installed, the rest was palletized cargo and mail. The wing lockers were also filled with cargo.

Besides my wife and myself (round trip for the fun of seeing the Alaska north), there were only 3 passengers, Eskimo college student returning home to Eagle, hunter going to Circle, and a prospector going from Central to Eagle.

We offloaded cargo and mail, and picked up mail at every stop.

The manager said that many of the rules of the lower 48 did not fit in Alaska. If there was an experienced passenger, he would be in the co pilot seat, if he was comfortable with the responsibility that went with it. ASEL COMM INST, with some MEL training made me comfortable. Again, I agreed to keep my hands off all controls as long as the pilot remained alive.
 
What little I know about Caravans is that they vary ten or eleven passenger seats and have a quick change interior. You can pull some or all of them for more cargo space. I have not seen a Caravan built before Oct 15,1971 so the prohibition of non crew members in a pilot seat is in effect.

I sometime flew an aircraft certified before 1971 certified for two crew and thirteen passengers. An aux fuel tank was installed in place of two seats. Down to eleven. I flew it single pilot on occasion and two seats had to be blocked. Down to nine. That is the max number that can be carried single pilot on a ME turbine A/C .

Because it was certified before Oct 15,1971, I could and did load a passenger in the CP seat. My carrier had a waiver on the nine passenger, single pilot limit way back. That is until an inspector from the FSDO said in passing to a pilot: "I expect that your company will ask for it to be renewed." The pilot replied bitterly "And I expect you will do it." It was not renewed.
 
“Our pilot relied heavily on his training procedures and his professionalism and landed without further incident,” Ryan told the Daily News. “We’re extremely thankful for the safe outcome and extremely grateful for the passengers and the pilot and (flight) command collectively working together to land safely.”
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Our training to take care of unruly passengers was to take the flight can and beat the holy #%*$ out of the person not behaving...
 
Zeldman said:
Our training to take care of unruly passengers was to take the flight can and beat the holy #%*$ out of the person not behaving...
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I guess gone are the days when the ship’s captain carries a firearm to enforce the law…
 
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