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Cheers - AE

Friday, 22 October 2010

One pilot gets it.

If you're my age, give or take, then you might remember when flying was fun. Even into my early teens arriving at the airport felt like the beginning of the holiday. Not any more. These days, thanks largely to a fuckwit in a cave and the spinelessness and paranoia of various governments, it doesn't feel like you're on holiday until you're finally released from the destination airport. Going to your departure airport isn't the beginning of the trip but just the beginning of all the checks and questions and scans you have to go through before they let you squeeze into a space that would make a veal calf claustrophobic. Travelling light is no answer since even with no luggage at all you're increasingly likely to be ordered to take your shoes off. I'd made the mistake of wearing hiking boots the last time this happened to me, and since then I've vowed if I've got the choice I won't fly anywhere again as long as they insist on treating me like a suspect even though in this country it can take a day or more to drive between major cities and well over a week to go from one side to the other.

But of all the insane security theatre in airports now the most window lickingly pointless is putting the bloody aircrew through it. I mean, think about it. You don't need to check to see if pilots have tucked away something they intend to use to gain access to the cockpit for a very obvious reason: it's where the airlines pay them to fucking be anyway. If one of them goes off his head and wants to kamikaze the plane I doubt there's much to stop him. So how many other people are being scanned pointlessly? Well, if the Israeli experience is any guide the answer is virtually everyone. Now one pilot has decided he's had enough of being treated as a suspect as well.
A Tennessee pilot is waiting to find out if he has lost his job because he refused to go through a full body scanner at a Memphis airport.
ExpressJet Airlines first officer Michael Roberts turned up for work on Monday but says he's tired of being manhandled by security agents and went home after deciding he didn't want to be patted down.
Roberts was chosen to go through the X-ray scanning machine at Memphis International airport before getting into the pilot seat to fly a commercial aircraft.
The Houston-based pilot walked off his job after declining to go through the security screening but has said he wants to go back to work.
The 35-year-old says he has an issue with the security procedure because he doesn't want to be 'harassed or molested without cause'.
And good for him. Now if all of us self loading freight can just follow his lead and refuse to accept our unjustified treatment as terrorist suspects by most airports then maybe, just maybe, flying anywhere might stop being the miserable and tedious experience it's become. Vote with your feet and your wallets - it's all they'll understand.

Comments (6)

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microdave · 753 weeks ago

I'm bloody glad I travelled down your way back in the 80's. Since it was largely due to my interest in Shortwave radio, I had a suitcase full of equipment, batteries and chargers. I even took a pair of cutters and a screwdriver in case of needing to modify plugs etc. Can you imagine trying to do that today?

I joined a group of enthusiasts taking a short pleasure flight on a DC3 Dakota from our local airport 2 years ago, and we STILL had to take our shoes off and put cameras through the scanner. Did they seriously think any one of us intended to blow the old girl up??? Considering the abuse they suffered in the last war, I doubt we would have succeeded anyway. That apart, it was a great way to travel - ambling over the countryside at a mere 1500ft.

I would have to think very hard before getting on a jet these days...
1 reply · active 753 weeks ago
Sorry, microdave. For some reason this went into the moderation queue. No idea why since you didn't use any of the spam words and didn't put in any links, so unless there's a secret list of trigger words and they have concern about either blowing the old girl up or you taking your shoes off I can only assume it's been having a funny day. And bloody Support still haven't got back to me about where the bloody comment links have gone.
Yep, and that was in my mind when I wrote that.
Thanks for the explanation - I saw the "Awaiting Moderation" message, but wasn't aware you had bought it back. As to pilots bringing planes down, there was an incident fairly recently when a First Officer (co-pilot ) cracked up during a flight. The Captain had to call for cabin crew to restrain him... Now imagine it happening to the SINGLE pilot that Michael (Ryanair) O'Leary thinks would be perfectly safe!!
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
There's permanent but very loose moderation as per the last para below the comment field, and although I didn't realise it at the time certain keywords will trigger moderation too. Oddly you appeared not to use any of them so why it was moderated I have no idea. I'm glad there's a message that tells you about the moderation at least.

Hadn't heard about the incident where the FO went off it but as per the link in my reply to JuliaM's comment it's not unprecedented. In that case he waited for the captain to go to the lavvy, and of course in these post Sept 11 times when all the cockpit doors are armoured and lockable from the inside it becomes easier still. No need for O'Leary's single pilot bollocks, which I'm sure he has no real plans to do (I doubt many countries will let him fly single piloted large commercial aircraft in their airspace) and said purely to get a lot of free publicity from a very predictable media. When one pilot leaves the cockpit for any reason the other can quickly lock him out and then take his time setting the controls:

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to one of our aircrew going mad and our inability to get back into the cockpit to drag him off the controls we regret to announce that this flight will no longer be landing at it's scheduled destination. Instead we will be flying directly into the next world via the middle of a nearby mountain. Loose Sphincter Air would like to apologise for the inconveni..."

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