Ask The Pilot

A rundown on another sim exercise.

It starts with both of us flying a circuit at KL, as a warm up.

This exercise is largely about teamwork and management, and a lot is directed at the FO (who starts off doing the flying).

Basically it starts in KL, with the aircraft having supposedly diverted there, and the crew running out of hours. The weather is poor, with heavy rain. Supposedly fuel issues, so minimal fuel load, though nothing nasty forecast at Singapore (!). Multiple little things inserted to basically muck up the flow. Start malfunction on one engine. Late notice runway change (so new performance data, FMC loading, SID). Lots of weather en route to Singapore, so the only time you're on track is as you cross it. Multiple changes to the arrival clearance...all of this is intended to try to reduce your situational awareness.

Approach flown into Singapore where the weather is rather worse than forecast, though still acceptable. The sim was supposed to insert a late 'windshear', but it didn't....so the instructor had to very quickly reduce the vis below acceptable to force a go around (would have been hilarious if we'd managed to land off the approach). Options could be to fly another approach, hold for a short while, or immediately divert to Batam. Fuel is now getting a little scarce, so I opt for the immediate divert. Radar vectors to join the VOR approach and land.

This is all in real time, and starts with a 'cold' aircraft, so elapsed time is about two hours thirty.

Coffee break.

Back into the sim, and we each fly a take off and then an ILS without any of our normal aids (i.e. autopilot or flight director).

We always have a low vis package in the licence renewals. So, we take off with 125 metres vis (i.e. thick fog), max crosswind (which in low vis is 10 knots) and max weight. First take off results in an engine failure just prior to V1, and abort. Next take off also has an engine failure, but this time right on V1, just as I'm pulling my hand off the levers. Continue the take off, clean up. The engine restarts in flight (yeh!). Instantly lose a couple of hundred tonnes, and fly a CAT II approach and landing. Back out to ten miles and do it again, but this time the system loses the plot at about 200 feet, so go around. Exercise over once the aircraft is cleaned up and checklist done.

A little bit of time left over, so we have a play with some windshear scenarios.
 
Out of interest how often do elements of the sim actually occur? I appreciate that the sim exercise is designed to heap issue on issue but on a standard month would you encounter one element or many elements of a recent sim?
 
Out of interest how often do elements of the sim actually occur? I appreciate that the sim exercise is designed to heap issue on issue but on a standard month would you encounter one element or many elements of a recent sim?

You never really know of course.... I'd practiced depressurisation for about 25 years before I actually had to do one. On the other hand, only about six months into flying the 767, I shut down an engine, and never did so again.

Low vis ops happen pretty regularly, though I've only ever done one go around off one, and that was the very first one I did in a 747-400, back when I was an FO. Funnily enough, the only other one that I've seen go wrong, was my very first as a Captain, but that was just a quick disconnect and land anyway.

Most of the failure sequences that we practise will remain nothing but training items for most people...though we do have a few people who are described as "**** magnets", who seem to get more than their fair share of the real thing.

It's truly a job in which you don't know what will happen next. Most likely nothing.
 
though we do have a few people who are described as "**** magnets", who seem to get more than their fair share of the real thing.

I am guessing you can't post their names and schedules so we can avoid them ;)

Mind you if they have more incidents than other people they are more practiced in the real world ;)
 
I am guessing you can't post their names and schedules so we can avoid them ;)

Mind you if they have more incidents than other people they are more practiced in the real world ;)

I'm one, and RdC is another. One of my pilots' course mates has done just about everything in the checklists, but in reality he's exactly the bloke you want to have there when things happen.
 
I am guessing you can't post their names and schedules so we can avoid them ;)

I'm one, and RdC is another.

I think I would speak for all of us here in categorically stating that we would be delighted to have either of the two of you in charge of the A380 we are on.
(And Simon, I know there's a smiley there to avoid misunderstandings).

I have not had the pleasure of JB flying me yet, but I have had RdC doing so, and he was an excellent communicator when things went awry.
 
*snip*
It's truly a job in which you don't know what will happen next. Most likely nothing.

And that is very much the way this pax would like to keep it!

(the sim descriptions are fascinating, JB; please share more, as and when is appropriate)
 
he was an excellent communicator when things went awry.

Perhaps he's getting used to it. :)

But having said that, all QF pilots are trained to the same high standard, so I wouldn't worry about who's in the pilot seat.

Sadly though, it looks like I've taken my last QF A380 for now, being based in SIN and no non-stop SYD/MEL flights booked for the next few months.
 
I'm one, and RdC is another.
As far as probabilities go, I'd much rather have either you or Richard up front. After all, how many times can a pilot be expected to cop such a failure in their career?

It's like that Robin Williams movie. He's looking at a house to buy. A Cessna crashes into it. He decides to buy it. Why? Because the likelihood of another aircraft crashing into it is so remote...

Of course, that matters not if the guy up front is a "**** magnet"...
 
Ask The Pilot

JB - you say the Sim started with a warm-up of a circuit around KL...

How long would the warm-up(s) take to complete on average?
 
Curious as to whether you 2 have actually had more incidents than your colleagues or simply two of the more dramatic/ prominent/ obvious/ serious issues?

It will be like everything else....a bell curve of distribution, with a few magnets inhabiting the far end.
 
Ask The Pilot

And a few in Teflon suits down the other end.....

JB could you comment on eg. Captains choice tour, ferry flights etc. do people bid for these like any other roster or are there other factors in "selection"?
 
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And a few in Teflon suits down the other end.....

JB could you comment on eg. Captains choice tour, ferry flights etc. do people bid for these like any other roster or are there other factors in "selection"?


This was covered earlier in the thread:



jb747,
Would a "Captain's Choice" tour be something that interests you as a pilot, given the opportunity to go to different ports not on Qantas' network?
Q&A: Qantas pilot Captain Ossie Miller, Fleet Captain Qantas 747

Doesn't matter whether interested or not...they aren't available to the line pilots.


So who captains these flights (assuming not JT
icon_biggrin.gif
) ?



As far as I know, they have always been management. Ossie is the 747 fleet manager.
 
Just snapped VH-OJI in Singapore, and it's clearly missing its right winglet (a Google search turns up much better pics from a few days ago on the yssy forum). Do things like this happen often, and is there much of a performance hit from having a winglet missing?

vh-oji.jpg
 
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Just snapped VH-OJI in Singapore, and it's clearly missing its right winglet (a Google search turns up much better pics from a few days ago on the yssy forum). Do things like this happen often, and is there much of a performance hit from having a winglet missing?

When, exactly, did you take that picture? The aircraft you're in looks to be on C23, and I parked QF9 there at about 9pm on Sunday night. Qf 5 wasn't far behind us, but I didn't see the aircraft.

Small winglets are more marketing than anything else. They need to be in the proportions of the 737-800 to provide much in the way of savings. From what I recall of the early days of the 744, I think we decided that their saving just about paid for their weight. I haven't looked at the 744 MEL for many years, but if I recall correctly, it allowed the aircraft to be flown without restriction with one winglet missing.....but strangely, not two.

I've never seen an aircraft with one removed, so it certainly isn't common. I expect that it's not something you'd keep as a spare either.
 
it allowed the aircraft to be flown without restriction with one winglet missing.....but strangely, not two.

I don't know if this is an urban myth or the truth, but from what I've heard, back in the days, Boeing only tested it for certification with one winglet off, so should a winglet be damaged, it can be taken off and the plane can still fly. For some reason, Boeing never thought that you could damage both winglets at the same time (or perhaps they considered the chances low enough to not bother have it certified in that form).
 
In this rather simple report which I am sure has many details missing. Is there any reason a landing after and engine fire is more likely to have tyres blow out?

Air Berlin A330 makes emergency landing in coughet after engine fire
 

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