A thought for your next flight

[NightRaven]

This link headline bellow as it may not last the day.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4872031/?GT1=3391

Pilot nods off during flight, now faces probe
Japanese official woke up All Nippon pilot after several minutes

TOKYO - A Japanese airline pilot nodded off twice while at the controls of a domestic flight last month — in front of a transport official who happened to be on board for a routine inspection.

Wonder if these guys ever fly the South America areas.

Take Care ALL

[Pete E]

... in response to A thought for your next flight, posted by NightRaven on May 1, 2004

I haven't heard of them having a problem is SA but they used to hit the Bay instead of the San Francisco airport.The airport is surrounded by water on 3 sides so no one got killed.I guess they thought the runway was blue.

Pete

[NightRaven]

... in response to Re: A thought for your next flight, posted by Pete E on May 1, 2004

My favorite part was the comment about nothing to worry about as the plane was on auto-pilot. In Tokyo LOL

Granted that I have not asked in many years, but I am fairly sure that nobody is putting programming into the auto-pilots to allow them to react to things like that other plane in the wrong spot....oooops...or realizing that its own sensors are faulty.

Any commercial jet jockies here?

Any story like that always makes me think about the parts they did not tell us...

Take Care ALL

[Scott]

... in response to Re: Re: A thought for your next flight, posted by NightRaven on May 2, 2004

Well.... I'm not an ATP, but I'm rated and am very closely related to an ATP. Napping in the cockpit is not at all unusual.  It happens several hundred times a day, on ALL airlines all over the world, and is not at all unsafe.  Afterall, there are TWO crew up there and they're not both flying the A/C at the same time, they swap off legs.  If the FO has the leg the Capt may tell the FO... I'm going to take 10 or 15, or vise versa.  The napping happens at altitude and cruise, NOT during approach, departure or in congested airspace.  The crew is too busy working with ATC, and the radios. Cockpit automation in a modern A/C is unbeleivabe.  Very sophisicated auto-pilot systems, flight management systems (FMS), etc.  Modern transport A/C can take off, land and follow a programmed flight profile smoother and more efficiently than any human pilot can.  Autopilos can lock and fly the ILS, control the throttles and land the plane.  Relax.  Beter the crew nap during cruise than a difficult and dicey approach.