Pilot Tells Truth, Passengers Stunned

Headline on the Web site of Britain’s Daily Mail:

‘This is your captain. Sorry… but I’m not qualified to land the plane,’ Flybe pilot tells stunned passengers.

Turns out the captain was new to the type of aircraft he was flying and was not yet certified to land in heavy fog. And there was heavy fog on the ground in Paris.

Simon Gill, an aviation consultant, told the Mail: “His only mistake was announcing his lack of qualification. If he had just said it was not safe to land because of adverse weather conditions, nobody would have minded.”

There’s a little insight into how things usually work on both sides of the Atlantic. Crews spin and bend the truth, giving passengers the most palatable explanation they can devise. They do it because passengers won’t accept a reasonable explanation – or because there isn’t one.

Greyhound Markets Priority Seating

In many places around the globe a bus ticket comes with a seat assignment — just like on an airplane. So why was I surprised that Greyhound has been selling early boarding passes at some stations?

Read the rest of this entry »