Let us remember that 1.5 is an arbitrary, reasonable number established by humans with experience and education in their respective field. We could make it 2.0 have cost the flying public millions, if not billions, of dollars because of the added weight of the structure, or we could go the other way, and be closer to potential loss of life. Yes, sometimes judgements regarding other factors like $ get in the way of those numbers, but in general those numbers (like 1.5) have proven their worth as a good balance of safety factors, engineering costs, manufacturing costs, and economics. For example: When the 747 did a qualifying evacuation using an average cross-section of population including elderly, adults, children, physically challenged, etc., one of the requirements was that half of the exits (there were a total of 10 on the -100 model)had to be rendered inoperative, and which ones were inoperative were not known to the flight attendants onboard. The evacuation had to be completed in

(Written on 29/11/2019)(Permalink)

I understand that there was such a flight not long ago, and the captain raised a few eyebrows when she welcomed the passengers on the airline's "unmanned" flight. After the announcement sunk in, there were many smiles all around on a very pleasant flight.

(Written on 26/10/2019)(Permalink)

But it did cost him some things-time, effort, all those things that money can't buy. Obviously you've never worked for an organization that has a 24/7/365 staffing requirement and the attendant people impact that implies. Perhaps human and familial interactions mean nothing to you, but to a lot of people they're pretty valuable.

(Written on 29/12/2018)(Permalink)

It's not about the money at all, it's about the spirit of putting the time and effort in giving a gift only he could give, and, if he did fly non-revenue, with no assurance he could even get on the flights.

(Written on 28/12/2018)(Permalink)

Agreed and amen.

(Written on 21/12/2018)(Permalink)

On a US domestic commercial flight recently, the entire crew was female. The captain, in her preflight announcement, welcomed the passengers to "our unmanned flight".

(Written on 21/12/2018)(Permalink)

On this forum, no matter how experienced we are, and no matter what the previous history of the participants (Boeing, Lion, crew) we can, at best, only speculate because we don't have good, complete data. Of the information that is actually, publicly available, it seems that Lion's threat is a pretty empty one--if they cancel those orders, what are they going to do for aircraft? Airbus is fully booked for years to come, so unless there's some major disruption to Airbus' production plans, there may be no other alternatives available.

(Written on 21/12/2018)(Permalink)

I believe lots of pilots , particularly in light planes have done it (even Charles Lindbergh in the Spirit of St Louis), but the vast majority lived to learn the lesson. I did once, delivering a Tomahawk, again after a full day's work, drone of the engine, etc., but the lesson was severely learned and I was one of the lucky ones. Does this add credence to the FAA's concern re sleep apnea?

(Written on 27/11/2018)(Permalink)

Unfortunately, over the years this has not been an isolated incident, even in multi-pilot 121 aircraft (all three crew members were asleep), but fortunately it's very rare.

(Written on 26/11/2018)(Permalink)

Thanks for the clarification.

(Written on 04/05/2018)(Permalink)