Geek in the Cockpit

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My turn in The Crew Lounge

February 20th, 2010 by Geek Pilot
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I was a guest on this weeks podcast from The Crew Lounge. Myself, along with a pilot from a major were asked to be on to discuss pilot and flight attendant relations. It was a lot of fun.

Check it out here…and subscribe!

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PSA CRJ High Speed Abort at CRW……the safety of EMAS

January 21st, 2010 by Geek Pilot
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I’ve only performed high speed aborts in the sim. They can be very intense. The most difficult abort was done on a snow covered runway with a stiff crosswind. The plane ended up off the runway. Cudos to this crew and to the party responsible for getting the money to install an EMAS.
Follow this link for a photo of the CRJ-200 in this story after being stopped by the EMAS. I respect the work of photographers which is why I didn’t copy and paste the photo on my blog.
Original Story
January 19, 2010
Plane skids off runway at Yeager; airport reopens
Safety zone system stops US Airways jet 100 feet from edge of hilltop airport
Lawrence Pierce
Emergency crews respond to the aborted takeoff of a Charlotte-bound US Airways Express jet that came to rest in a safety zone at the end of Yeager Airport’s main runway on Tuesday.
By Rick Steelhammer
Staff writer
By Kathryn Gregory
Staff writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A US Airways Express regional jet carrying 30 passengers and three crew members aborted its takeoff at Charleston’s Yeager Airport on Tuesday, rolled onto an overrun area at the end of the main runway, and came to a stop in a specially designed safety zone about 100 feet from the edge of the hilltop airport.

No one was injured in the incident, which took place shortly before 4:30 p.m. The airport remained closed until the 50-passenger Bombardier CRJ200 regional jet, which was bound for Charlotte, N.C., could be removed from the safety zone.

The safety zone contains a runway-wide Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS), comprised of concrete blocks designed to collapse under the weight of an airplane and bring it to a safe stop. It was installed in 2008 for $5 million as part of Yeager’s new runway extension project.

The jet’s wheels were buried in the EMAS material, with its fuselage coming to rest only a few feet above the specially engineered pavement.

A crane was brought in and used to remove the aircraft from the safety zone. The airport reopened shortly before 10 p.m.

“The EMAS system did exactly what it was supposed to do,” said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper. “My understanding is that the US Airways plane rolled through about three-fourths of the EMAS at the Charleston end of the runway.

“If it hadn’t been for the EMAS, I’m convinced a catastrophic accident would have occurred.”

Passengers were taken off the plane and back into the terminal.

“It was a little scary, but everyone remained calm,” said Julia Shaffer of Valrico, Fla.

“We were going pretty fast down the runway and then all of a sudden we started to slow down and it started to get bumpy. Then we completely stopped,” said her 14-year-old son, Jonah. “I thought the tire had shredded or something.

“But when we stopped it seemed like the wing was a little lower to the ground than it should be,” he said. That was due to the plane sinking into the EMAS.

“We sat in the plane for a little while until the firemen came, and then we just went down the ladder and walked out,” he said.

After the aircraft came to rest, “The pilot said he decided to stop because he was getting some kind of a warning signal,” said Julia Shaffer. “He said he thought it was better to stop on the ground than in the air.

“He had to make a split-second decision, and I’m glad he decided to stop. Everyone’s safe — that’s all that matters. It all happened pretty fast. No one was panicky.”

“It was kind of alarming — kind of a jerky ride before we stopped really close to the end of the runway,” said Lindsay Robinson of Charleston, who was among the Charlotte-bound passengers. “But everyone seemed really calm.”

Julia and Jonah Shaffer, along with Julia’s husband Steve and Jonah’s sister Hannah, had spent the past several days skiing with relatives at Winterplace.

“I think Jonah’s hoping this means we can stay here and keep skiing,” said Julia Shaffer.

Authorities did not immediately know what warning signal prompted the pilot to abort the flight.

“The cost to repair the EMAS area will be enormous,” said Carper. “But when you have everyone walk away uninjured from something like this, the cost is insignificant.”

Staff writer Kathryn Gregory contributed to this report.

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Colgan and American Eagle are hiring in 2010

January 17th, 2010 by Geek Pilot
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Got word Colgan and American Eagle are hiring. Last time Colgan hired mins were 1000/100.  American Eagle stated they want 1000/200 with 1500/500 being more common by those who have been interviewed. This is all hearsay though. Either way both use AirlineApps.com. Anyone who wants a job at a regional anytime soon should go ahead and start an Airlineapps.com application. Cost nothing until you submit an application.

Colgan is hiring 150 First Officers and American Eagle is hiring 70 or so. Good luck to all those looking for a job.

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This career can destroy a relationship

January 16th, 2010 by Geek Pilot
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Saw this in an online forum I read. I changed the cities and taken out the airline, but the rest remains.

I may not have been around for that long, but when I started with XXXX last year (and no I was not a 250 hour wonder, I was 2300, CFI<CFII<MEI) I was happily based in LAS for a few months and engaged to a great girl. I signed a lease for a 12 month apartment. After a few months LAS closed so I was forced to commute to IND. The commute was getting to tough so I had to cancel my lease (paid a 3 month penatly) and got a place right next to IND . A month later I was displaced to CMH, which now cause me a 1 hour commute through CMH when I was living walking distance to IND. A month later I was displaced to SFO. Half way through training then I was displaced to ORD and sent home. When I came back for training about a week in I was displaced to MCO. When I told my fiance this she ended up leaving me because she couldn’t deal with the airline life anymore and was not willing to move to Florida. Then about 3 days later after my fiance had left me I was told I was being furloughed. I was furloughed one week before I would have finished training and didn’t even get the XXX type. I was moved half way around the country for an entire year and had my fiance leave me over XXXX. I’d say some of us have sacrificed more then you realize just to fly an airplane for a living. I don’t think you really realize how many times the bottom 20 or so of us were displaced in just one years times.

I’m very lucky that I haven’t been displaced/furlough and have an amazingly understanding wife.

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