Can a private pilot land a big boy?

WannFly

WannFly

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The other thread on pilot jumping out of the cockpit got me thinking... this is my fantasy world and it's my rules...nut some valid questions.

Say I am going from KFAR to kmsp ... it's a regional jet. The pilot dies, the FO isn't there, for whatever reason, he fell sick, had a fight with the captain and decided to jump out of the window bla bla bla.... can a private pilot actually safely take her back to the ground?

What about my next flight from kmsp to wherever in a 747.... with all the help in the world, can you as a private pilot land it?

On a diff note, if I do land it... can I log that time as PIC in complex??

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
 
You best believe that I would give it my best shot, but it probably wouldn’t be pretty.
 
The passengers may find it disconcerting when you practice stalls and steep turns to get the feel of it.
 
It's just another airplane. with some help from your friends YOU. CAN.DO.IT.

 
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FWIW its worth I worked with a former Continental guy who had been in DEN for a while. He got to know the sim team and he was sharper than the average, he got to fly the 720 sim and said he had a ball landing it........don't think he had even a private ticket. I'm sure he had some coaching and a run through or two....also he used to taxi DC-3's around Boise........so there ya go
 
WannFly said:
The other thread on pilot jumping out of the cockpit got me thinking... this is my fantasy world and it's my rules...nut some valid questions.

Say I am going from KFAR to kmsp ... it's a regional jet. The pilot dies, the FO isn't there, for whatever reason, he fell sick, had a fight with the captain and decided to jump out of the window bla bla bla.... can a private pilot actually safely take her back to the ground?

What about my next flight from kmsp to wherever in a 747.... with all the help in the world, can you as a private pilot land it?

On a diff note, if I do land it... can I log that time as PIC in complex??

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
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In a practical sense, I say that anyone can land anything in a true emergency -- pilot certificate or no pilot certificate. Necessity is a well-established principle of law. If the alternative to a non-pilot landing an aircraft would be everyone on that aircraft dying, I think that would cover the non-pilot pretty well legally if the government were silly enough to prosecute.

Whether they survived or not would be another story; but with some good coaching from the ground and a long, wide runway, I imagine that many ordinary people could pull off a survivable landing. (Survivable for the people, that is, not necessarily for the aircraft.)

As for logging it, the pilot would have to be rated for the aircraft, which does not necessarily require an ATP nor even a CP. It depends on the aircraft.

Rich
 
Back in the 1970s Air Progress magazine did a story on that. They set up a 727 simulator in cruise and showed a private pilot to the cockpit door, with an experienced 727 pilot ready to talk to him on the "radio". With some coaching, he got it down intact.
 
Sure.... but it likely wouldn't be pretty. Starting a flare at 30' (autoland at 40') is unatural for a small airplane pilot until you get use to it.

At least in the Airbus you can autoland.
 
IFR Magazine did a story where they grabbed a high time instrument GA pilot (it was Scott Hartwig, air traffic controller and 195 owner), a student pilot, and I think one other person and dropped them into a 737 simulator or the like. All tended to over control at first, but I think Scott was able to do a passable landing.
 
RJM62 said:
In a practical sense, I say that anyone can land anything in a true emergency -- pilot certificate or no pilot certificate. Necessity is a well-established principle of law. If the alternative to a non-pilot landing an aircraft would be everyone on that aircraft dying, I think that would cover the non-pilot pretty well legally if the government were silly enough to prosecute.

Whether they survived or not would be another story; but with some good coaching from the ground and a long, wide runway, I imagine that many ordinary people could pull off a survivable landing. (Survivable for the people, that is, not necessarily for the aircraft.)

As for logging it, the pilot would have to be rated for the aircraft, which does not necessarily require an ATP nor even a CP. It depends on the aircraft.

Rich
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i was just thinking about that. there is a video on YT I saw a few months back about a 77 yr old dude landed a 172 from rt seat, in darkness, with no panel light with a dead friend (the pilot) on the left seat; and this dude had zero previous training. at one point he even went to a stall-spin scenario on departure and magically recovered.

 
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WannFly said:
i was just thinking about that. there is a video on YT I saw a few months back about a 77 yr old dude landed a 172 from rt seat, in darkness, with no panel light and a dead friend on the left seat with zero previous training. at one point he even went to a stall-spin scenario on departure and magically recovered.
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Did it really matter that his dead friend in the left seat had zero previous training?
 
Can one of us get the airplane to the runway environment? Almost assuredly. Will the airplane be re-usable? I'd say most likely not.

The biggest win in the whole terrible flight 232 tragedy is those guys somehow got that crippled airplane to the runway environment. Yes, the landing was horrible, but they put it on the runway where the fire/rescue people were ready and waiting.
 
Kritchlow said:
Sure.... but it likely wouldn't be pretty. Starting a flare at 30' (autoland at 40') is unatural for a small airplane pilot until you get use to it.

At least in the Airbus you can autoland.
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We have autoland too. It’s called me!
 
Clark1961 said:
Did it really matter that his dead friend in the left seat had zero previous training?
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I didn't construct the sentence correctly. his dead friend on the left seat was the pilot, this dude who landed had zero previous training
 
Bill Jennings said:
Can one of us get the airplane to the runway environment? Almost assuredly. Will the airplane be re-usable? I'd say most likely not.

The biggest win in the whole terrible flight 232 tragedy is those guys somehow got that crippled airplane to the runway environment. Yes, the landing was horrible, but they put it on the runway where the fire/rescue people were ready and waiting.
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that's all that matters at the end of the day. I can pretty much guarantee, if I am the pilot, the plane would be unusable :d:d
 
The important thing is to talk like an airline pilot.

"Dammit Jennifer, I told you *2* sugars in my coffee, not one. And try not to overcook my steak."

:p
 
Airplane%2521%25281980%2529%255BDVDrip%255D-Spectrael.avi+-+VLC+media+player_2011-12-01_19-30-44.jpg

"I may bend your precious airplane but I'll bring it down!"
 
Ok. I've been waiting for this topic to pop up again. I'm going to say it's doubtful, but possible.

I was waiting for all the YouTube clips of guys landing the simulator to show how easy it is. It kills me that the ATC in these scenarios are the most knowledgeable-type rated controllers ever.

"Simjet 123 turn left heading 120... now reach up and turn the heading knob to 120... no not that one, the one to the left of that." What?

I'd love to see this Private Pilot lands a 747 set up in the sim like it would happen in real life. Put the guy in the seat somewhere over the Pacific about 200 miles from coast-in, and say "have at it." Controllers can't "see" what's going on in the cockpit and know nothing about the airplane. They'll only talk to the pilot if he's on the right frequency and actually keys the mic button correctly.

I'd really love to see the outcome of a true-to life version of this rather than the softball they always give.
 
Sluggo63 said:
Ok. I've been waiting for this topic to pop up again. I'm going to say it's doubtful, but possible.

I was waiting for all the YouTube clips of guys landing the simulator to show how easy it is. It kills me that the ATC in these scenarios are the most knowledgeable-type rated controllers ever.

"Simjet 123 turn left heading 120... now reach up and turn the heading knob to 120... no not that one, the one to the left of that." What?

I'd love to see this Private Pilot lands a 747 set up in the sim like it would happen in real life. Put the guy in the seat somewhere over the Pacific about 200 miles from coast-in, and say "have at it." Controllers can't "see" what's going on in the cockpit and know nothing about the airplane. They'll only talk to the pilot if he's on the right frequency and actually keys the mic button correctly.

I'd really love to see the outcome of a true-to life version of this rather than the softball they always give.
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I will give it a shot if delta let me

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Well it's not rocket science. It's just a lot more energy and a different sight picture.
 
But but all them lights, switches, skin magazines laying around....
 
After they got a pilot familiar with the aircraft on the radio, the first words out of my mouth would be "Does this thing have autoland capability?"
 
To me, it seems like this would be mostly about a stabilized approach and a very long final. Establish a descent, aligned with the runway. Check your aim point and make small adjustments. Keep the nose up, pull the power over the runway and then manage the descent of the nose, burn the brakes out.. But I know nothing about it, it just seems like it's still just flying...a brand new kind of airplane.

I actually think it would be terrifying.

And you can only log if you're rated in it.
 
One POA mod (ahem), member's teenage son did a fine job in the AA sim (MD88?), a non-pilot handflying a very decent ILS to a very good landing.
 
bflynn said:
To me, it seems like this would be mostly about a stabilized approach and a very long final. Establish a descent, aligned with the runway. Check your aim point and make small adjustments. Keep the nose up, pull the power over the runway and then manage the descent of the nose, burn the brakes out.. But I know nothing about it, it just seems like it's still just flying...a brand new kind of airplane.

I actually think it would be terrifying.

And you can only log if you're rated in it.
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Pretty much... one thing to add is don't over flare. If you start flying longer fuselage airplanes (A321) it becomes easy to hit the tail.
 
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