Qatar Airways pilot dies in flight

"In an interview with Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine, Mr O’Leary, who has previously suggested that planes could fly with “standing-only” areas for passengers, said: “Why does every plane have two pilots? When asked what would happen if the single pilot fell ill while flying a plane, he said: “If the pilot has an emergency, he rings the bell, he calls her [an air stewardess] in. She could take over.” (The Daily Telegraph 14th Sept)


Given today's culture of doing more for less, I wonder if this will catch on?

As usual, Mr. O'Leary goes for the soundbite without checking his facts.


Despite all the automation, flying a modern airliner is a complex thing that requires years of training coupled with regular refresher training.

Bruce, I have a lot of respect for bus drivers, especially in HK, but I sincerely hope you don't fly for the same airline as me...


As for O'Leary playing the media attention craving idiot who knows better than everybody else (he's very good at that), well it's just that, free publicity for him...


F/As are called in the cockpit in the event of a pilot being incapacitated only to do very menial tasks like reading a checklist and ensuring there will always be someone in the cockpit if something happens to the other pilot. No disrespect against them either as they do a very hard and strenuous job, but carrrying out an approach and landing is the single most technical aspect of flying an aircraft, even - specifically - when the landing is automatic. The amount of training required to carry that out within tolerated safety levels, even on a contigency basis, would be almost equal to training a pilot. Despite working for the same industry, in the same aircraft, the fields of expertise of pilots and cabin attendants are wildly different.


Oh, and did I mention that O'Leary is an idiot?

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