Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Save it for the simulator ....

I left the Lufthansa slide alone when it came out, as Lex had it well covered ... but this little tidbit caught my eye from Der Spiegel,
A young co-pilot steered the Airbus A320 that almost crashed on Saturday while trying to land in heavy wind. The more experienced 39-year-old pilot then took over to abort the landing and take off again.

The Lufthansa Airbus A320 that almost crashed (more...)while trying to land at Hamburg airport in heavy wind was being steered by the 24-year-old female co-pilot, named only as Maxi J., according to a spokesman for the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation.

The subsequent maneuver in which the landing was aborted and the plane quickly took off again for a second attempt was conducted by the more experienced 39-year-old pilot, Oliver A.
Isn't is best not to train junior pilots in that kind of weather ... with paying customers in the back? Just asking.....

I also notice that the European press still has the habit of putting in the sex/gender information - which is nice to know. I'll let others make the "woman driver vs. woman pilot" comments. Reminds me of a P-3 NFO who told me a story about his pilot and co-pilot sleeping together .....




Oh, lucky for Lufthansa that didn't happen in the US of A. The trial lawyers would be stacked up on top of the airline's HQ....

No comments: