Now Ye're Talking - to a Commercial Pilot

Precious flower

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA wrote: »

I think I understand some of the reasons why some people fear flying. I know pilots who won't go up a ladder...

I would say to someone what is it about the flight that triggers the fear? Many people focus on exceptionally unlikely potential problems rather than the reason they are travelling in the first place. Aren't you going on holiday? Won't the sun be shining when you arrive? No worries about work while you're away? Seeing friends/family you haven't seen for a while? These are all positives you can focus on that the fact of being able to fly gives you the potential to do. Even going to the airport as a passenger can be stressful (for me too) which doesn't help. Bring your favourite book, music etc and surround yourself with stuff that does make you feel happy; it might sound a bit "airy fairy" but when I listen to my favourite music it puts me in a good mood.

Unfortunately whenever something does go wrong it makes for great media coverage which provides for lots of drama. You will read about car crashes every single day of the week but people still drive. This is not being flippant; you have to put some rationale around the fear you do have. If you continually kept asking what if? you would never get out of bed!

Understand that on board there is a crew with the same objective as you, the passenger: to get to the destination safely and on time. We are trained that if something does go wrong we have the capability to deal with it and the aircraft are designed with so much redundancy that enables us to land safely even with significant failures. Dunno if that helps!

Someone asked you about jetlag and lack of sleep and I'm curious is that something that is a serious concern for a pilot considering the machine you are flying?
Also do you have any say in who your co-pilot is, or is it just picked at random?:)


I just want to say as well this thread is actually really helpful for someone who is a fairly nervous flyer. I think your comment about being able to see the pilot before the flight actually would be quite calming. I've been overcoming my fear slowly, progressing from not being able to get on a plane, to flying to London and gripping the seat the entire time (We hit turbulence as we were taking off), to flying to Barcelona and the Czech Republic and being a little bit more relaxed (thanks in part to Xanax). I even went to one of those flight simulators in Shannon and the guy showing me laughed (in a nice way) when I told him I was afraid of flying and was showing me how the plane could literally land in any conditions.
I remember one thing that oddly helped was looking up the chances of being in a plane crash and then the chances of not surviving the plane crash. Friends thought it was a bit extreme but on the flight I just reminded myself that I traveled in buses everyday nearly for years and never crashed and yet I had more chance of crashing in that then in an airplane. That and 90% of crashes have zero fatalities. People hear about car accidents everyday but no one stops driving. But when it's planes it just seems so much more frightening.

My friend is talking about going to Nepal and I think that's a bit outside my capabilities at the moment. I can't see myself on a 13 hour flight just yet, I think.:(

funkey_monkey

What was the last event you had to contend with when you were in the simulator? Do you go there on a regular basis?
How often do the pilots receive training and/or updates on operating procedures?

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA

blue5000 wrote: »

Great AMA, thanks for sharing with us.
How many hours have you flown?

I remember flying South to the Canaries on an early morning flight and was lucky enough to have a window seat. Anyway over the bay of Biscay I had the pleasure of seeing concorde coming towards us slightly above us, one of my favourite flying memories.
Do you think we'll ever see commercial supersonic flights again in our lifetime? I'm in my fifties btw.

I'm north of 10000 at this stage....

I don't see commercial supersonic flights certainly in the next 10 years, maybe not even 20...

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA

Precious flower wrote: »

Someone asked you about jetlag and lack of sleep and I'm curious is that something that is a serious concern for a pilot considering the machine you are flying?
Also do you have any say in who your co-pilot is, or is it just picked at random?:)

Fatigue is a big concern; you do get used to how your body adjusts (or doesn't adjust) to time zone crossings and working strange hours and you can plan accordingly. You are no use to anybody if you are flying while tired. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it, you just have to remember it's very difficult to spot fatigue in yourself so you keep an eye on how much rest you do get as you go.

Crews are assigned at random....!

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA

funkey_monkey wrote: »

What was the last event you had to contend with when you were in the simulator? Do you go there on a regular basis?
How often do the pilots receive training and/or updates on operating procedures?

We are in the simulator twice a year for checks and for training, we would look at a lot of system failures over the course of a year and also look at certain approaches or procedures that may have been updated or that will be updated once everybody has completed their training. We also do safety training every year, a technical refresher plus exam each year, CRM training, security training etc etc so it's quite a bit.

linpoo

I'm a really nervous flier :-(

Just wondering why sometimes after take off does you head go all light headed for a min. Ive noticed this a few times on Ryanair.

Alerium

How similar is the simulator to the real thing? Where do they differ most (apart from the obvious)?

smurfjed

Did you ever fly an aircraft with a comfortable cockpit seat ?

Nesta99

linpoo wrote: »

I'm a really nervous flier :-(

Just wondering why sometimes after take off does you head go all light headed for a min. Ive noticed this a few times on Ryanair.

If I may - basically cabin pressure drops while climbing (and increases when landing), this can cause the pressure in the outer ear to be different from the inner ear. The inner ear is an important part of balance (along with visual reference points), and simply unequal pressures confuse the brain until the pressures in the inner and outer ear equalise or the brain just adjusts to the difference. Swallowing, sucking on sweets, valsalva manouvre(holding nose/mouth shut and breathing out) causes the inner ear to change air pressure to the same as the outer ear/equalising. There is a bit more to it, like changes in interthoracic (chest) pressures which can cause a change in blood pressure a little quicker than the body adapts, anxiety, rushing last minute. the little bit of stress on the body when accelerating off etc. If looking out the window and things are wooshing by at speed during take off but you are actually sitting still can cause grief for some people and what causes motion sickness for some. The light headedness is one of, or a combinantion of any or all the above.
I doubt who you are flying with would make a difference - maybe the airplane model would? Thats another question question and apologies for jumping in here, I hope its ok to do so:o

easygoing1982

I do listen to a few YouTube atc recording.

Do you find the US atc to be as ignorant as they come across on the recordings.

Have you ever had any run ins with atc.

And finally did you ever deal with Kennedy Steve.

Soulsun

Are you in a union?

Do you eat the dishes/grub on board?

Ever date a hostess?

dazed+confused

Soulsun wrote: »

Are you in a union?

Do you eat the dishes/grub on board?

Ever date a hostess?

Read the bloody thread before posting a question!

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA

Alerium wrote: »

How similar is the simulator to the real thing? Where do they differ most (apart from the obvious)?

The newer ones certainly model the motion pretty well I find, or as well as they can, it'll never feel the same as real life. The visuals have also come a long way but it will never replicate the real world visual cues. If you spend a lot of time working in one particular sim you will learn that it flies a particular way (just like an aircraft) so you can learn to handle the sim's own peculiarities...

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA

smurfjed wrote: »

Did you ever fly an aircraft with a comfortable cockpit seat ?

Comfy for an hour....ten hours....?

Boeing seats seem better to me, but I wish they had more recline..! Either way I find myself getting up to stretch out every so often, even standing for a few moments helps. Luckily no back problems yet!

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA

easygoing1982 wrote: »

I do listen to a few YouTube atc recording.

Do you find the US atc to be as ignorant as they come across on the recordings.

Have you ever had any run ins with atc.

And finally did you ever deal with Kennedy Steve.

Some US ATC can be challenging; sometimes they can make life more difficult than is necessary..

..never had a run-in, heard some good ones though...!

Probably have talked to Steve but thankfully I never got in trouble with him!

Alerium

Few quick fire ones:

What is the largest plane you flew?
What is the longest distance in km and hours you flew?
What's your favourite place to have a layover in?
Best hotel?
Do you get to fly for free with your airline when you are a passenger?
What pair of Ray Bans do you have?

Thanks

Manic Moran

I'm A Commercial Pilot, AMA wrote: »

Some US ATC can be challenging; sometimes they can make life more difficult than is necessary..

For the sake of it, as a GA (General aviation) pilot in the US, I have found them to be very patient and tolerant with my slightly less abbreviated/commercial-professional manner. I need help, or don't understand something, I ask, and they help. I tend to have an inferiority complex when sharing the frequency with commercial pilots, and ATC take a lot of the worry out of it. Granted, my flying experience is limited to NorCal and Kentucky. Also, I believe we have a lot more GA in the US than in Europe, so they may well be more familiar with us low-timers.

Boards.ie: Niamh

It's time to wrap this one up folks - thanks for all the genuine interest and questions and to our guest for answering them all patiently

Over and out.

:pac: