Southwest Pilot a "Hero"?

DGS49

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Apr 12, 2012
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Southwest pilot, a former Navy fighter pilot, praised for her 'nerves of steel' during emergency

A mini-controversy has erupted over whether this bus driver is to be referred to as a "pilot" or a "woman pilot" or a "hero" or a "combat veteran feminist hero icon."

First: Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress? They do simulations like this regularly in training, so actually flying the twin-engine plane with one engine is something that every commercial pilot is trained to do. But very few pilots have ever had to fly a twin-engine commercial jet with one engine blown away. Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Second: She is being lauded for "not losing her cool." Really? She is a commercial pilot and a 50-year-old adult. Would the normal result have been to have the pilot running up and down the aisle's screaming, "The plane is going to CRASH!"? She didn't lose her cool. So what?

Third: She is being lauded as a "hero." I don't think so. A "hero" is someone who voluntarily places herself at risk, for the benefit of others. This was not voluntary, and she was flying the plane to save HERSELF, as well as everyone else on the plane. I don't think that is very heroic; just self-preservation.

The comparisons with "Sully" Sullivan landing his plane in a river are unavoidable, but I think, on balance, Sully's flying feat deserves a little more credit. Nobody trains to land a plane on water, safely, without loss of life.

In summary: No big deal.
 
Southwest pilot, a former Navy fighter pilot, praised for her 'nerves of steel' during emergency

A mini-controversy has erupted over whether this bus driver is to be referred to as a "pilot" or a "woman pilot" or a "hero" or a "combat veteran feminist hero icon."

First: Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress? They do simulations like this regularly in training, so actually flying the twin-engine plane with one engine is something that every commercial pilot is trained to do. But very few pilots have ever had to fly a twin-engine commercial jet with one engine blown away. Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Second: She is being lauded for "not losing her cool." Really? She is a commercial pilot and a 50-year-old adult. Would the normal result have been to have the pilot running up and down the aisle's screaming, "The plane is going to CRASH!"? She didn't lose her cool. So what?

Third: She is being lauded as a "hero." I don't think so. A "hero" is someone who voluntarily places herself at risk, for the benefit of others. This was not voluntary, and she was flying the plane to save HERSELF, as well as everyone else on the plane. I don't think that is very heroic; just self-preservation.

The comparisons with "Sully" Sullivan landing his plane in a river are unavoidable, but I think, on balance, Sully's flying feat deserves a little more credit. Nobody trains to land a plane on water, safely, without loss of life.

In summary: No big deal.
She did a good job. I don’t know if I would consider it spectacular flying.......just doing what she was trained to do

I was on a flight one time and one engine caught fire due to a bird strike. We flew around for a while and landed with just the one engine.

It never even made the news
 
You hadn’t had a cabin breach.
Southwest pilot, a former Navy fighter pilot, praised for her 'nerves of steel' during emergency

A mini-controversy has erupted over whether this bus driver is to be referred to as a "pilot" or a "woman pilot" or a "hero" or a "combat veteran feminist hero icon."

First: Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress? They do simulations like this regularly in training, so actually flying the twin-engine plane with one engine is something that every commercial pilot is trained to do. But very few pilots have ever had to fly a twin-engine commercial jet with one engine blown away. Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Second: She is being lauded for "not losing her cool." Really? She is a commercial pilot and a 50-year-old adult. Would the normal result have been to have the pilot running up and down the aisle's screaming, "The plane is going to CRASH!"? She didn't lose her cool. So what?

Third: She is being lauded as a "hero." I don't think so. A "hero" is someone who voluntarily places herself at risk, for the benefit of others. This was not voluntary, and she was flying the plane to save HERSELF, as well as everyone else on the plane. I don't think that is very heroic; just self-preservation.

The comparisons with "Sully" Sullivan landing his plane in a river are unavoidable, but I think, on balance, Sully's flying feat deserves a little more credit. Nobody trains to land a plane on water, safely, without loss of life.

In summary: No big deal.
She did a good job. I don’t know if I would consider it spectacular flying.......just doing what she was trained to do

I was on a flight one time and one engine caught fire due to a bird strike. We flew around for a while and landed with just the one engine.

It never even made the news
 
Sully was like "oh yes on one engine, yeah that's a tough one, I wish I knew what that was like."

She performed exceedingly well. And no it isn't an 'easy' task to land an airliner with one engine. Normal landing speed is 150 kts. For safety you land an engine out aircraft at 20-30kts faster just in case. She landed that plane at 190kts. Once a jet lands the fan blades on the engines are reversed and the throttle applied, which actually produces thrust out the front of the engine to help large jets slow down on their rollout. One engine out, one less engine to help you brake with coming in at 190kts. She definitely had to know her stuff and she did.

I myself think heroes are people that stepped off the boats onto the beaches of Normandy. Today's society wants to paint everyone as heroes. Fine I guess, I just don't follow that logic. She did a great job and saved lives, as did Sully. Why can't we just leave it at that.
 
Why don't you ask the surviving passengers of that Southwest flight how best to refer to the pilot...


And please, while you're at it, tell us all about your experience piloting commercial airliners...
 
The term "hero" is emotional anyway. There's no way to have a point after which a person becomes a hero. Sometimes a hero will be because people like that person.

Had the pilot been a fat ugly man, and come off the plane and been like "these fucking idiots of the plane, I hate flying these assholes around and their bad karma caused the engine to do this", no one would have been calling the pilot a hero.

Sometimes the media is looking for something that SELLS newspapers, and "heroes" sell newspapers, sometimes.
 
Why don't you ask the surviving passengers of that Southwest flight how best to refer to the pilot...


And please, while you're at it, tell us all about your experience piloting commercial airliners...

A hero to one person isn't a hero to another, right?
 
Southwest pilot, a former Navy fighter pilot, praised for her 'nerves of steel' during emergency

A mini-controversy has erupted over whether this bus driver is to be referred to as a "pilot" or a "woman pilot" or a "hero" or a "combat veteran feminist hero icon."

First: Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress? They do simulations like this regularly in training, so actually flying the twin-engine plane with one engine is something that every commercial pilot is trained to do. But very few pilots have ever had to fly a twin-engine commercial jet with one engine blown away. Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Second: She is being lauded for "not losing her cool." Really? She is a commercial pilot and a 50-year-old adult. Would the normal result have been to have the pilot running up and down the aisle's screaming, "The plane is going to CRASH!"? She didn't lose her cool. So what?

Third: She is being lauded as a "hero." I don't think so. A "hero" is someone who voluntarily places herself at risk, for the benefit of others. This was not voluntary, and she was flying the plane to save HERSELF, as well as everyone else on the plane. I don't think that is very heroic; just self-preservation.

The comparisons with "Sully" Sullivan landing his plane in a river are unavoidable, but I think, on balance, Sully's flying feat deserves a little more credit. Nobody trains to land a plane on water, safely, without loss of life.

In summary: No big deal.
YOU DO IT ASSHOLE!
When YOU have flown combat aircraft and commercial aircraft please come back and let us know.
 
Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress?

Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Every 6 months she goes to recurrent training where she practices emergency procedure harder than this. Skill wise, these two emergencies, shouldn't be hard for any current and qualified pilot.

Performing an emergency descent after a decompression is pretty straight forward. It's just a matter of putting on your oxygen mask and making a rapid descent. Things could get complicated if the aircraft suffered structural damage. I'm sure that was on her mind.

At training she practices engine failure at the worst possible time, at V1 or takeoff decision speed and demonstrates competency. Compared to a V1 cut, losing an engine at altitude is far less challenging.

Hope that helps.
 
You hadn’t had a cabin breach.
Southwest pilot, a former Navy fighter pilot, praised for her 'nerves of steel' during emergency

A mini-controversy has erupted over whether this bus driver is to be referred to as a "pilot" or a "woman pilot" or a "hero" or a "combat veteran feminist hero icon."

First: Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress? They do simulations like this regularly in training, so actually flying the twin-engine plane with one engine is something that every commercial pilot is trained to do. But very few pilots have ever had to fly a twin-engine commercial jet with one engine blown away. Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Second: She is being lauded for "not losing her cool." Really? She is a commercial pilot and a 50-year-old adult. Would the normal result have been to have the pilot running up and down the aisle's screaming, "The plane is going to CRASH!"? She didn't lose her cool. So what?

Third: She is being lauded as a "hero." I don't think so. A "hero" is someone who voluntarily places herself at risk, for the benefit of others. This was not voluntary, and she was flying the plane to save HERSELF, as well as everyone else on the plane. I don't think that is very heroic; just self-preservation.

The comparisons with "Sully" Sullivan landing his plane in a river are unavoidable, but I think, on balance, Sully's flying feat deserves a little more credit. Nobody trains to land a plane on water, safely, without loss of life.

In summary: No big deal.
She did a good job. I don’t know if I would consider it spectacular flying.......just doing what she was trained to do

I was on a flight one time and one engine caught fire due to a bird strike. We flew around for a while and landed with just the one engine.

It never even made the news

No, but I’m not that sure how that affects the avionics of the aircraft
Makes things harder on the passengers but does it make the aircraft harder to fly?

Anyone who qualifies on a multi engine aircraft has to practice flying with just one engine. She did well in safely landing the aircraft

I’m just not sure it was spectacular
 
She had to deal with decompression at 32,000 feet, a 42 degree roll, loss of engine and damage to plane unknown, had to get their oxygen on as hypoxia can happen rapidly and unawares, and get the plane down safely to 10,000 feet. The loss of engine and damage to the aircraft caused major vibrations, and if the response is off by the pilot, can cause the aircraft to break up midair. The maneuverability of the plane was effected enough they had to fly at flaps 5, rather than flaps 30 or 40, which is normal. They had to land at 165 knots rather than the usual 135.
Now, personally, I am done with this. She and her co-pilot did an exceptional job. And they are heroes to the passengers and their friends and families.
You hadn’t had a cabin breach.
Southwest pilot, a former Navy fighter pilot, praised for her 'nerves of steel' during emergency

A mini-controversy has erupted over whether this bus driver is to be referred to as a "pilot" or a "woman pilot" or a "hero" or a "combat veteran feminist hero icon."

First: Was this any Big Deal, from the standpoint of a commercial pilot flying a plane in distress? They do simulations like this regularly in training, so actually flying the twin-engine plane with one engine is something that every commercial pilot is trained to do. But very few pilots have ever had to fly a twin-engine commercial jet with one engine blown away. Was this a great bit of flying, or something that any competent, experienced commercial pilot should be expected to do, when called upon to do it? I don't know.

Second: She is being lauded for "not losing her cool." Really? She is a commercial pilot and a 50-year-old adult. Would the normal result have been to have the pilot running up and down the aisle's screaming, "The plane is going to CRASH!"? She didn't lose her cool. So what?

Third: She is being lauded as a "hero." I don't think so. A "hero" is someone who voluntarily places herself at risk, for the benefit of others. This was not voluntary, and she was flying the plane to save HERSELF, as well as everyone else on the plane. I don't think that is very heroic; just self-preservation.

The comparisons with "Sully" Sullivan landing his plane in a river are unavoidable, but I think, on balance, Sully's flying feat deserves a little more credit. Nobody trains to land a plane on water, safely, without loss of life.

In summary: No big deal.
She did a good job. I don’t know if I would consider it spectacular flying.......just doing what she was trained to do

I was on a flight one time and one engine caught fire due to a bird strike. We flew around for a while and landed with just the one engine.

It never even made the news

No, but I’m not that sure how that affects the avionics of the aircraft
Makes things harder on the passengers but does it make the aircraft harder to fly?

Anyone who qualifies on a multi engine aircraft has to practice flying with just one engine. She did well in safely landing the aircraft

I’m just not sure it was spectacular
 
And no it isn't an 'easy' task to land an airliner with one engine.

With her level of experience and training, not hard.

One engine out, one less engine to help you brake with coming in at 190kts.

KPHL has two very long runways. Plenty of room to slow down. Far more than enough.
iu


She put her experience and training to good use. I don't know her but I doubt someone with her experience would have been challenged by this. She and her crew preformed well. As expected.
 
The obvious answer to the thread question: YES.

I am sure that the passengers are grateful that Captain Shults had the cool head necessary to bring them to a safe landing.

Like many other Americans, however, I chuckled when I saw the lavish praise given her in the media.

We all know that it is currently politically correct to put women in a good light as much as possible.

I was curious about the other pilot, so I did some googling and discovered his name: First Officer Darren Ellisor. I also found an article in which

"Sully" pays due respect to Captain Shults but also says that the action of the First Officer was "crucial" in the matter.

So let's pay honor to two heroes.
 
not that big of a deal--I'm not impressed
..landing a plane in a RIVER and everyone surviving is a big deal
..these planes are made to run on one engine...computer controlled
..they can fly themselves
..they give automatic warnings for various problems--even if the plane is stalling--needs power--etc
let me re-post this:
..these planes below were not fly by wire--it takes human strength to fly them--and with the huge HOLES/control surfaces missing--it took even more strength
..they did not have the heating systems of today
..with these LARGE holes/pieces blown out--it was freezing
..no GPS
..the Southwest plane had ALL the control surfaces intact
17 Images of Damaged B-17 Bombers That Miraculously Made It Home - Page 2 of 2
more!! pictures in the link--and these are just B17s--not all the blown apart ones that made it home

B-17_Damage_Cologne.jpg

eeebe3963b7baaec9dd049b4c39e21e2-512x640.jpg

64ae02471324514f9a60e9ae9e1e375b-1-640x428.jpg

belly landing after colliding with a fighter!
d7c0ad163d5a0088290204f1699a11c2-640x419.jpg
 
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