Pilots interacting with passengers.


In the early days of air travel it was very common for airline Captains to go back to the passenger cabin and talk to the passengers. Many airline managements considered this good public relations, and even encouraged it. What put an end to this practise is interesting.
In 1958, a new regulatory body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) replaced the old Civil Aviation Administration in the USA. The first FAA Administrator was a former World War II fighter pilot ansd retired Air Force General, Elwood R “Pete” Quesada. He was trigger-tempered, demanding, forceful and determined to wipe out the old CAA’s image of ineffective bureaucracy and week-kneed leniency. From the day he took office, airlines and their crews, commercial and private pilots, and aircraft manufacturers received citations in unprecedented numbers for violations.

On 3rd February 1959, a Boeing 707 belonging to Pan Am was flying from Paris to New York at 35,000 feet. Captain Waldo Lynch left his co-pilot at the controls and stood in the cabin chatting with passengers. The autopilot disengaged and out the plane in a dive so shallow that at first the crew did not realise they were accelerating. Soon the dive steepened and the aircraft started to buffet violently. Lynch, struggling against massive centrifugal forces crawled along the aisle to the cockpit and managed to climb into his seat. The altimeter was unwinding so fast that he could hardly read it. With superhuman effort he rolled the wings level and it took the combined effort of both him and the co-pilot to end the dive. When they finally regained level flight they were at 6000 feet. They had plunged 29000 feet in less than a minute.  

Even while Pan Am’s Waldo Lynch was hailed a hero for saving a 707 from disaster, Quesada socked him with a $1,000 fine for being out of the cockpit unnecessarily and issued a stern edict. Henceforth, pilots would not be allowed to leave the flightdeck for anything less than a call of nature.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Windsurfing Champion pilot

Capt.Christian Marty was the pilot of the Supersonic Concorde which crashed as it was attempting to take off from Paris to New York on 25th July 2000. Though Capt Marty had crossed the Atlantic many times flying the Concorde, not many knew that he had also crossed it windsurfing. He was a very simple modest man. He was not a champion windsurfer, nor did he want to become one. Unfortunately it took his death for us to know him. Pilots flying the supersonic Concorde in Air France belonged to an elite corps. It was considered to be the pinnacle of the profession. Capt.Christian Marty rightfully belonged to this select band. The drive that pushed him to the top of his profession also drove him to indulge in many extreme sports. In 1982 Capt.Christian Marty became the first person to windsurf across the Atlantic Ocean in 37 days 16 hours and 4 minutes. On his way across the might ocean Marty struggled with seasickness, skin fungi, sunburn, boredom, fatigue, muscle cramps and sha...
Read more

The Air India crew who were awarded Ashok Chakras

On April 11th, 1955, a chartered Air India flight named 'Kashmir Princess' was carrying a small delegation of Chinese and East Europeans, mainly journalists, from Hongkong to Indonesia to attend the Asia-Afro Bandung Conference in Indonesia. In command was Capt.D.K.Jatar.   At about 18,000 feet a time-bomb detonated in the wheel bay of the plane, blowing a hole in the fuel tank. The rapid spread of the fire caused hydraulic failure followed by electrical failure. Air Hostess Gloria Berry emerged from the dense smoke carrying life jackets for everyone and even personally ‘fixed’ the life jackets on the flight crew members. In an effort to save the aircraft and it’s occupants, Capt. Jatar decided to ditch the aircraft in the sea. He carried out all precautionary measures for the ditching and issued orders in a cool and unperturbed manner. Though this brave decision resulted unfortunately in the self-sacrifice of the Captain, there were three survivors-the flight engineer,...
Read more

The Airline Captain who ‘Spliced the Mainbrace’!

The Airline Captain who ‘Spliced the Mainbrace’! For many years the Royal Navy would issue a daily ‘rum ration’ for all sailors. In the age of sailing ships when a ship came out of a battle, repairs had to be carried out. The most challenging and dangerous was that of ‘splicing the mainbrace’. Once completed, the sailors who did the job were rewarded a double portion of rum. With passage of time, the order “Splice the Mainbrace” became an euphemism for authorising celebratory drinking. Only one airline Captain has been known to order “Splice the Mainbrace” aboard an aircraft and the unique distinction is held by Captain Gordon Vette of Air New Zealand. On December 21st 1978, a ferry pilot Jay Prochnow was carrying out a trans-oceanic ferry flight in a small single-engine aeroplane across the vast Pacific ocean. Though very experienced, due to some technical problem he became completely lost over the Pacific and his fuel reserves were being depleted. Capt. Gordon Vette...
Read more