Epic airline announcement

Ed Haywood

Ed Haywood

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Big Ed
Sitting on AA flight from RDU to TPA right now, boarded and waiting to pull away. Pilot gets on cabin address system and says:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the First Officer cannot find his wallet. He is going to airport security to be see if they can assist. His pilots license is in his wallet, so we cannot take off without it. But don't worry, we have 20 minutes built into the schedule for delays, so we could still be on time."

Can't make this stuff up.
 
Race to the bottom

I flew them recently, plane was down for mechanical, filed a complaint, they filed it as a weather delay, as they don’t have to reimburse when it’s a weather or ATC delay.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Sitting on AA flight from RDU to TPA right now, boarded and waiting to pull away. Pilot gets on cabin address system and says:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the First Officer cannot find his wallet. He is going to airport security to be see if they can assist. His pilots license is in his wallet, so we cannot take off without it. But don't worry, we have 20 minutes built into the schedule for delays, so we could still be on time."

Can't make this stuff up.
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Breaking News. Man dressed as a pilot without a boarding pass or any form of identification taken into custody at airport.
 
Ed Haywood said:
Sitting on AA flight from RDU to TPA right now, boarded and waiting to pull away. Pilot gets on cabin address system and says:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the First Officer cannot find his wallet. He is going to airport security to be see if they can assist. His pilots license is in his wallet, so we cannot take off without it. But don't worry, we have 20 minutes built into the schedule for delays, so we could still be on time."

Can't make this stuff up.
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Dude. This is your big chance. Run up to the front screaming "I got one, I got a pilot license."
 
When the decision was made to make the crew a target. Taking out your wallet to pass through security means its going to get scrutinized, and maybe lost. Not the first time i delayed for something left at security.
 
Ed Haywood said:
We're taking off, so I guess he found it.
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It takes about five minutes to download a temporary authorization to exercise privileges of your certificate from the FAA and the airline can provide a copy of the medical. The pilot was looking for their credit cards ;-)
 
Tarheelpilot said:
It takes about five minutes to download a temporary authorization to exercise privileges of your certificate from the FAA and the airline can provide a copy of the medical. The pilot was looking for their credit cards ;-)
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I thought copies of the medical were not valid.
 
So one pilot blamed the other for the delay?

I thought they always blamed ATC, maintenance, the FAA, or just some faceless paperwork.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
There are *******s at every job. Thank God for that because I like having a job.
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Doesn't even look like the flight left late - if my FO left his wallet at security I'd absolutely hang out for a bit to let him run up there and look for it. Wouldn't throw him under the bus to the pax though!
 
The Epic Airline Announcement I most remember came on a Pan Am flight from Rio to JFK in 1989. Pan Am wasn't doing well by the late 80's. It was a late evening departure, and I think most of us were asleep by the time the aircraft was somewhere over the Amazon rain forest. We woke to the pilot announcing that the aircraft had lost it's navigation systems (I don't recall if he gave more detail, and this was decades before I was a pilot), so we were going to return to Rio. But not to worry! It was a clear night, so they were going to turn east to the coast, and when they spotted the lights of the coastal villages they would simply turn south and follow them down the coast back to Rio. It all sounds quite implausible now-surely they had more options than that-but at the time I only remember thinking: 1) this guy gave us way too much information, and 2) that better work because if they miss the lights of the coastal villages the next landfall will be Africa.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
It takes about five minutes to download a temporary authorization to exercise privileges of your certificate from the FAA and the airline can provide a copy of the medical. The pilot was looking for their credit cards ;-)
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The certificate holder (airline) will have a procedure for temporarily replacing lost pilot documents that will allow the pilot to operate domestic flights until replacements are received from the FAA. That process will only take a few minutes and may be what happened in this case to allow the flight to continue.
 
I recall a 60 minutes segment years ago where they did a story on contractors who fly soldiers to and from deployment. They talked to one of the pilots, who described frequent navigation outages. These were transoceanic flights by the way. He was really nonchalant about it, saying they'd follow another airliner or navigate by the stars.
 
Ed Haywood said:
His pilots license is in his wallet, so we cannot take off without it.
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License to Ill!

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He probably left his wallet at the airport bar after pulling it out to pay his tab.
 
I have to ask:
Are there any professional pilots on this board who carry their credentials in their wallet?
The very idea of sitting on a wallet for hours on end causes me pain in the buttocks.
When I am flying, I keep my wallet in my flight bag so I don't have to sit on it.
I keep my physical, pilots certificate, 2 credit cards, drivers license and a few hundred dollars in cash in a case on a lanyard around my neck, tucked in my shirt.
I have had occasions where it was necessary to get out of a plane in a really big hurry and leave everything behind. Hence the lanyard.
 
Shepherd said:
I have to ask:
Are there any professional pilots on this board who carry their credentials in their wallet?
The very idea of sitting on a wallet for hours on end causes me pain in the buttocks.
When I am flying, I keep my wallet in my flight bag so I don't have to sit on it.
I keep my physical, pilots certificate, 2 credit cards, drivers license and a few hundred dollars in cash in a case on a lanyard around my neck, tucked in my shirt.
I have had occasions where it was necessary to get out of a plane in a really big hurry and leave everything behind. Hence the lanyard.
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I keep all my certs in my wallet but my wallet usually gets thrown in my flight case. I don’t have anything in my pants pockets except for my cell phone. Sometimes that even gets thrown in my bag. I also have an RFID passport holder that I keep miscellaneous stuff like vax cards, some credit cards that don’t get much use, etc.
 
I have a separate passport case that has my certs, medical, etc. It generally lives in my flight kit - I use the same kit bag for both work and personal flying, so it's a convenient solution. Like Jordan, my wallet goes in my flight kit too while at work so there's nothing in my pant pockets except my cell phone.

Outside of work, when I have my wallet with me it'll always be in my front pocket anyway - a product of living in cities. ;)
 
steingar said:
I recall a 60 minutes segment years ago where they did a story on contractors who fly soldiers to and from deployment. They talked to one of the pilots, who described frequent navigation outages. These were transoceanic flights by the way. He was really nonchalant about it, saying they'd follow another airliner or navigate by the stars.
Click to expand...

Rode on many of those flights. Always very sketchy. Typically an older plane retired by the airlines and picked up second hand. Half the overhead baggage latches would not stay shut and would dump gear on everyone in turbulence.

The security measures were kind of absurd too. Sometimes you would have to disassemble your rifle and carry it in a bag. But the best was in Bosnia, where we had to go through a French airport screening checkpoint to board. We were a special ops unit, so we were fully loaded for bear. Every man had a rifle, pistol, knife, basic load of ammo, and assorted grenades, pyro, etc. They made us take off all our gear, run it through the X-ray machine, go through the metal detector, and put it all back on. I guess to make sure we did not have any hidden weapons other than all the weapons we had.
 
jordane93 said:
I keep all my certs in my wallet but my wallet usually gets thrown in my flight case. I don’t have anything in my pants pockets except for my cell phone. Sometimes that even gets thrown in my bag. I also have an RFID passport holder that I keep miscellaneous stuff like vax cards, some credit cards that don’t get much use, etc.
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kayoh190 said:
I have a separate passport case that has my certs, medical, etc. It generally lives in my flight kit - I use the same kit bag for both work and personal flying, so it's a convenient solution. Like Jordan, my wallet goes in my flight kit too while at work so there's nothing in my pant pockets except my cell phone.

Outside of work, when I have my wallet with me it'll always be in my front pocket anyway - a product of living in cities. ;)
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I keep my wallet in my pants pocket the entire flight. Of course, my pants are hanging in the back of the airplane because I’m wearing sweats when I fly. #freightdoglife
 
Sluggo63 said:
I keep my wallet in my pants pocket the entire flight. Of course, my pants are hanging in the back of the airplane...
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If you'd left it at that you might have won the forum for the day.

Nauga,
who knows why the cockpit door is locked
 
kayoh190 said:
Like Jordan, my wallet goes in my flight kit too while at work so there's nothing in my pant pockets except my cell phone.
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Where do you keep the keys to the jet?
 

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Ed Haywood said:
Rode on many of those flights. Always very sketchy. Typically an older plane retired by the airlines and picked up second hand. Half the overhead baggage latches would not stay shut and would dump gear on everyone in turbulence.

The security measures were kind of absurd too. Sometimes you would have to disassemble your rifle and carry it in a bag. But the best was in Bosnia, where we had to go through a French airport screening checkpoint to board. We were a special ops unit, so we were fully loaded for bear. Every man had a rifle, pistol, knife, basic load of ammo, and assorted grenades, pyro, etc. They made us take off all our gear, run it through the X-ray machine, go through the metal detector, and put it all back on. I guess to make sure we did not have any hidden weapons other than all the weapons we had.
Click to expand...

I have flown a lot of military charter flights since at least 1990. The government publishes rules on the charters. All weapons must be safe with bolts open and zip tied or other safety devices. Ammunition must be in the baggage compartment and explosive devices like grenades can’t be carried. Not once ever have the troops come through the airport and airport security to board. They are bussed directly to the aircraft.
 
One of these days I'll be on a United flight where they say "Ladies and Gentlemen, your captain is <insert name of crazy neighbor>." I'll be screaming, let me off this plane. The other neighbor points out that he will have a co-pilot and I point out that the FO lately has been the other (slightly less crazy) neighbor.
 
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