Flight attendant downplays role in helping land airliner

Source: CNN

A flight attendant with a pilot's license who stepped in for a sick co-pilot said the experience was "not your ordinary workday," but downplayed her role in the safe landing of an American Airlines flight in Chicago, Illinois.

"This was not heroic by any means. I was just trying to be part of a team," flight attendant Patti DeLuna, 61, told CNN on Wednesday.

The first officer became ill Monday with flulike symptoms an hour or so into flight 1612 from San Francisco, California, to Chicago, DeLuna said. When Captain Jim Hunter deemed the first officer too ill to fly, the flight's purser looked at the passenger list for off-duty pilots, but none were onboard.

DeLuna and the purser both had piloting experience, but DeLuna had slightly more and a commercial license, she said, so Captain Hunter tapped her to assist.

"I went up about an hour and a half before landing and talked at length to the captain and familiarized myself with the cockpit and asked him, 'So, what if this?' and 'where are the brakes?'" DeLuna said.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/06/16/flight.attendant.landing/index.html?hpt=T2

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Good for her!

:)

It just seems odd he would ask for help when they are trained for this scenario.

Two sets of (experienced) eyes and ears are better than one for sure. I just hope the Captain doesn't get in any trouble later - although it doesn't sound like he will.

I suppose I'm not the only private pilot who has run a "what if" scenario (fantasy?) through my mind while flying commercially.

and is always Pilot in Command and at that point it was his airplane, his decisions were final.

:wtf:

Desired or hoped-for? No.

I was just wondering out-loud if the pilot was in jeopardy for violating company rules - if any. I'm not familiar with their incapacitated pilot procedures but they probably don't include recruiting a flight attendant. These pilots spend 100s of hours in the simulator training for this exact scenario (among countless others).

There was an incident earlier this year or late last year where one of the pilots died from a massive coronary. If I'm not mistaken the pilot didn't recruit any help - he landed by himself.

Do I think he was smart to do what he did? Absolutely. Heck, I fly a little Cessna and I like to have the SO operate the flaps and help watch for traffic during landings.

she lowered gear, set the flaps to settings the pilot asked for, read out airspeed and altitudes. She also read the prelanding checklist while the pilot confirmed the steps addressed in said checklist. In the event of emergency, the copilot also has checklists with actions that are read and pilot confirms are done. Short of having the pilot die, copilots have a pretty boring job.

they were "stewardesses" and had to be young and pretty? That was the prime qualification, whether the companies said it or not. A lot of very qualified women were quietly let go when they got a little older.

Now it's different.... I'm always grateful when I see a seasoned vet up there with me. This woman is 61. She probably has a ton of hours and lots of experience.

I want my flight crew to look like Sully Sullenberger and Patti DeLuna.

...which is far different from the 767 on this flight. The Cessna is essentially a "stick and rudder" airplane which can be flown manually; "piloting" a 767 mostly involves programming and re-programming the flight management computer and tending to lots and lots of complex systems she'd never have encountered in her previous flying. It's a little like saying that, because someone has hang-gliding experience, they're qualified to pilot the Space Shuttle. (Those of you with Flight Simulator on your computers can get a sense of the difference by flying the default Cessna 172, then switching over to the add-on Level-D 767. There's really no comparison.)

I have no doubt that Ms. DeLuna's main task was to run down the checklist and take over minor tasks to make it easier on the PIC, but he probably had to basically give her in-flight training on each of those minor tasks, in which her prior training played little or no role.

she read of prelanding checklists, changed flap and gear settings, and red out airspeed and altitudes. Even in a glass cockpit, aispeed indicator and altimeter are in the same basic place as just about every other airplane out there, even cessnas that have "steam" guages.

But according to some ass on another thread yesterday said us old guys don't know shit, I assume that goes for old gals too. I wonder if idiot boy would convey that remark to the lady as she's helping fly the plane.

Joey: Wait a minute. I know you. You're Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You play basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Roger Murdock: I'm sorry son, but you must have me confused with someone else. My name is Roger Murdock. I'm the co-pilot.
Joey: You are Kareem. I've seen you play. My dad's got season tickets.
Roger Murdock: I think you should go back to your seat now Joey. Right Clarence?
Captain Oveur: Nahhhhhh, he's not bothering anyone, let him stay here.
Roger Murdock: But just remember, my name is

Roger Murdock: ROGER MURDOCK. I'm an airline pilot.
Joey: I think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't work hard enough on defense.

Joey: And he says that lots of times, you don't even run down court. And that you don't really try... except during the playoffs.
Roger Murdock: The hell I don't. LISTEN KID. I've been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I'm out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.

He was probably in close contact with his airline's dispatch office from the first sign of trouble. They obviously thought the descent into O'Hare was safe, or they would have diverted the plane somewhere with less traffic, like an Air Force base where they could have the place to themselves.

emergency exit.