"...pilot pressed a button 'no qualified pilot would' "

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asicer

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asicer
https://www.businessinsider.com/bri...esume-flying-experience-pressed-button-2022-4

I wonder which button he pressed. Perhaps this one?

what-site-changes-do.jpg
 
Yeah, I saw that article too and also wondered what freakin’ button did he push and why wouldn’t an experienced pilot push it. Just seems odd.
 
We've been discussing this over on reddit, answers are:

One of the fire extinguisher buttons.
water dump
cabin pressurization dump

I suspect that it just lit up a sign that said "Do not press this button again."
 
Yep. I wondered if he accidentally blew a fire bottle, dropped the RAT, disconnected an IDG, or something stupid like that.
 
Sounds kinda like the FO of Atlas 3591

“However, when presented with something unexpected in the simulator, the FO would get extremely flustered and could not respond appropriately to the situation. She said that when the FO did not know what to do, he became extremely anxious and would start pushing a lot of buttons without thinking about what he was pushing, just to be doing something.”
 
Here's what I don't get (and keep in mind that I've never flown anything bigger than a SEP):

Before you set foot in a revenue generating aircraft on an airline, there's weeks if not months of training on the aircraft you'll be flying, right? Then there's check rides on either empty planes or a sim. So how is it possible to be on the flight deck of a plane and not know about "the button you would never push"? And even if you did, that wouldn't indicate a failing as a pilot but more of a failing in the systems knowledge of that plane.

I mean, I've way more hours than needed for an ATP. I've got lots of IMC time and approaches in actual. But I bet there's a bunch of buttons on airliner that I would have no idea about.
 
DavidWhite said:
Sounds kinda like the FO of Atlas 3591

“However, when presented with something unexpected in the simulator, the FO would get extremely flustered and could not respond appropriately to the situation. She said that when the FO did not know what to do, he became extremely anxious and would start pushing a lot of buttons without thinking about what he was pushing, just to be doing something.”
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That is never good. One must wonder how someone like that ever managed to gain all of the required certificates, let alone get a type rating on a jet.
 
Todd82 said:
If no qualified pilot would ever push it, why is it in the cockpit to begin with? ;)
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The story didn’t say it was in the cockpit. It happened on the ground, so it could have been anywhere.

“Officials at BA CityFlyer became suspicious after an incident "on the ground" in Switzerland when the pilot pressed a button "no qualified pilot would," a source told The Times without providing further details.”
 
SkyDog58 said:
That is never good. One must wonder how someone like that ever managed to gain all of the required certificates, let alone get a type rating on a jet.
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Washed out of three regionals, washed out of Captain upgrade on his fourth. He lied on his application to Atlas, and since he was asked to resign from the aforementioned regionals before his check rides, they were "training failures" and not "checkride failures" and never showed up on PRIA.
 
...I was going to guess the "help" button on the computer.
 
DavidWhite said:
Sounds kinda like the FO of Atlas 3591

“However, when presented with something unexpected in the simulator, the FO would get extremely flustered and could not respond appropriately to the situation. She said that when the FO did not know what to do, he became extremely anxious and would start pushing a lot of buttons without thinking about what he was pushing, just to be doing something.”
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He missed his calling. He should have been a politician.
 
Mxfarm said:
like retracting the gear while on the ground to see if the squat switch is operational? :)
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I knew a CFI that did that once. And the sad thing was after the airplane was on its belly, she insisted she didn’t do anything wrong by pulling the gear switch up in the tie downs
 
I am glad to see some good reporting by the press, It is very important to get his kind of information out to the flying public. There was no mention of him failing to file a flight plan. Any pilot could accidently activate the flux capacitor.
Life is a barrel of fun.
 
ksandrew said:
There was no mention of him failing to file a flight plan.
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No, thankfully there was a flight (or at least ramp) plan, since failing to file a flight plan ALWAYS causes fatal crashes...
 
Maybe he was trying to push someone's button in a figurative way than a physical button.
 
There’s actually a guarded switch on the CRJ labeled high power schedule that was never used in normal, non normal, or emergency ops. In fact, no checklist ever directed its use. It was just a switch that bombardier had to put on the aircraft for certification.
 
He clicked No and declined the free FBO t-shirt.
 
One of the fun things about upgrading to a jet is you get some more fun buttons you have to be careful with. Four that come to mind are “Cabin Dump” (guarded) “Engine Fire” (Guarded) and “Bottle Armed Push” (which requires engine fire to be pushed first) and the “Drop Masks” setting on the O2 control knob.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Yep. I wondered if he accidentally blew a fire bottle, dropped the RAT, disconnected an IDG, or something stupid like that.
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No RAT on the E190 I think, but the other two are possible. There's also a water tank dump button which would be embarrasing to push if there's a rampie near the discharge.
 
Mxfarm said:
like retracting the gear while on the ground to see if the squat switch is operational? :)
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Is there a plane with a gear button? But either way, as a qualified pilot, I’ve thrown the gear switch countless times. Even ejection seat handles are pulled by qualified (and unqualified) pilots.

I’m guessing the internet story repeater didn’t actually understand what the reason behind all this was and then went the extra step to try to explain it to the average internet story reader.

What should really bother the public is that in today’s day and age, employers in highly regulated industries are just phoning it in on the whole “qualified to be employed here” piece.
 
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We can dump fuel on the 767. It’s not inhibited on the ground so you can inadvertently do it. It’s not easy though. You’d have move a switch and a button. Also the button is a guarded switch. But I guess it could happen somehow.
 
As being noted on other forums, he supposedly turned off ground power while on stand without APU running.... Couldn't get links to post but did find this:

upload_2022-4-2_18-13-36.png
 
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