I thought the B1 was multi crew. So it aint just one guy but the guy who should have cross checked it too.

Doesn't the B1 have a co-pilot? If so what was he doing when the system checks were being ignored?

Hagar wrote on Dec 18^th, 2006 at 6:44pm:

Be careful with that one Doug, that's jumping far too quickly to broad, sweeping conclusions about character.

Im not sure how the USAF manuals read on responsibility and authority of the pilot on command, but most books for multi crew operations say its standard operating proceedure for "it is the responsibility of the non flying pilot AKA additional crew member AKA second in command to offer up any information regarding the safety of and the normal conduct of the flight" failure to say "hey captain your about to belly us in" is in essence neglecting ones responsibilities as SIC.

There are some situations that the SIC wouldnt be held accountable for that the PIC would be... but gearing her up isnt one of those situations. I can guarantee you - regardless of if it was my leg or the captains leg on the trip - regardless of who is at the controls - if we geared one of the company planes up onto the runway we would be held jointly accountable for that action, and thats a fact!

short answer - when you F*ck up, you f*ck up as a crew. there are no grey lines in the book about who is responsible for what and when they are responsible for it... without regard to who is SIC or PIC

Chris_F wrote on Dec 18^th, 2006 at 7:47am:


You are only as good as your last fuck up

Matt

Brett_Henderson wrote on Dec 18^th, 2006 at 12:56pm:

I agree with your weird school of thought and have an even weirder one:

If you do throw the book at the guy just think of what that'll do to the morale of all the other pilots.  Now they all know that if they make a similar mistake there is no leniency, they lose their jobs, their career, and they go to jail.  They don't get to see their family again for a long time, their family also gets thrown in to the poor house.

That group of pilots is going to be so hyper paranoid they're going to be making all kinds of mistakes.  Try this:  Don't think of a green chair.  Are any of you successful in NOT thinking of a green chair?  No?  well, imagine that same thing only with a couple hundred tons of airplane moving at a couple hundred miles per hour, and instead of green chairs, the thing that's tatoo'd on your brain is "don't screw up".  You're GOING to screw up!

I'd give the guy a probationary period.  Maybe make him fly right seat for a month, then left seat with a senior right seater reporting on him for another month.  If he does okay under the magnifying glass then put him back in the game like nothing ever happened.

Mistakes happen.  It's what we do about mistakes that determines whether we'll be successful or a failure.

Chris_F wrote on Dec 19^th, 2006 at 9:46am:



I have to say, that I agree with both points, however after 20 years in aviation, I have noticed one thing, pilot or mechanic, mistakes don't happen. You are not allowed to make a mistake. If you do, you pay and pay big. If you are lucky you will not have killed anyone. 

Pilot or Mechanic = Production line robot. There is no room for error, error is not tolerated. If you make a mistake it travels with you forever. The aircraft industry is too small to hide in a corner and think that your "mistake" will be forgotten. If you are lucky, it will only pop its head up now and then. If you are really unlucky it will be on the internet or used as an example of what not to do when you are on a course learning about a new aircraft or piece of equipment and you all get to have a laugh at some other poor crappity smackers bad day. Let us not forget gentlemen, it is only by the grace of your god that you at some point.....................

Matt

I did qualify it as "weird" and "mine"  

I can't defend that school of thought .. other than to say that I still think every other B1 pilot is more likely to screw up now.. than is he. And maybe the pilot in me doesn't like the idea of another pilot being grounded..  ALTHOUGH, this does constitute GROSS negligence and probably got a few other people into trouble too. And the fact that it's such an important and coveted seat means there'd be no problem filling it with a qualified pilot.

I'm just glad I don't have to make the call. And I'm STILL dumbfounded that THAT plane could get anywhere near the ground, in landing configuration, with the gear up