Bird Strike
As I mentioned in my last post, some captain upgrades and new hires are finally appearing at Dynamic. For the past year and a half, things had been completely static. I was one of the last people to upgrade to the left seat, and those who were stuck as first officers eventually started to get discouraged. It’s hard to blame them. They work extremely hard for $11 an hour (yeah, you read that right) day in and day out. Thankfully, for those who stuck around, their patience has begun to pay off. And for those who haven’t upgraded yet, at least they see some light at the end of the tunnel. The down side to this is that I have lost some of my favorite first officers. I’m glad they’ve upgraded, but today I started to realize how much...
Read MoreUS Airways Flight 1549
So, the plane-in-the-Hudson thing. At the risk of tempting fate — because as more than one person has noted, many a captain has been hailed as a hero on Sunday only to be hung out to dry on Monday — it looks like Cactus 1549 was one of those rare cases where an airliner gets totaled and the flight crew’s careers don’t. Hundreds of articles have already been written about this incident — some by people who actually know what they’re talking about. So I’d like to focus on two things which really piqued my curiosity. Glider Training: Did It Make a Difference? Much has been made of the Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s years of experience in the cockpit, but one thing on his resume stands out: he holds a commercial...
Read MoreC-130 Bird Strike
Bird strikes make for dramatic photos. And the larger the bird, the greater the drama. Here’s the aftermath of a right-of-way argument between an Air National Guard C-130 and an eagle. As usual, the bird came out on the losing end. It looks like the pilot almost did, too. Speaking of which, our hero’s had a long day. “Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking…” ...
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