Passenger(s) Count!

Recently us pilots have become more and more concerned about the lack of accurate "passenger counts" A passenger count is a sheet the gate agent sends to the pilots saying how many people checked in for the flight, and that number should match how many people on board. It is sad, but more often than not the count is wrong. How can they get this wrong? I mean are people sneaking onto the planes? Are they getting on wrong planes? Worst of all the gate agents rarely care to find out what causes the error as they are in a hurry not to delay the aircraft.

We are just concerned as this may be a security issue. I am sure that the FAA, or the Tombstone agency(as we call it, cause they don't do anything unless people die) will start to enforce this more stricktly when something bad happens.

That being said 99% of the Captains do an outstanding job making sure the job is done right and accuratly. Unfortunatly this isn't their job, but if we didn't do anything that isn't our job, no planes would ever takeoff anywhere. I just give credit to the great pilots who work so hard to make this poorly managed industry run.

Freezing Rain

Well, I lost some flying (and pay) by not being able to get out of Providence on time this morning. So, if you passangers ever wonder if we hate delays, double yes cause they can cost us our paycheck. That being said it was just really bad weather.

If you ever wondered what is probably the worst type of weather to fly in, well its freezing rain. I mean aside from a hurricane, tornado, blizzard, or a thunderstorm right over an airport. (as you couldn't fly in these) Freezing rain is pretty bad. It can prevent you from flying if bad enough. Its liquid rain, and as it hits the cold metal of the airplane, it almost instantly turns to ice. Ice is very bad.

So, if you wake up in the morning to go to the airport and the roads are all iced up and there is freezing rain out. Bring your patience cap and be kind to the flight crew as they could very well be losing money due to the weather.

Windshield Wipers Can Ruin Your Day

I started my day by flying from Washington DC to Providence RI. When we got to 28,000 ft. all of a sudden my windshield wiper started moving on its own. My Captain said, "What the heck?" and I responded quickly with a "I didn't touch ANYTHING!" Well, 280kts isn't the ideal speed to operate your windshield wipers. We slowed to 170kts (recommended speed) then landed in Providence.

When we got on the ground it took us a while to get things settled out. Maintenance wanted us to fly it, but the Captain was alert enough to know the rules better and know we could do what they wanted us to. So, after calling the big bosses the Captain was proven to be correct and we needed the wiper to be fixed in order to land or takeoff at any airport with rain. Problem is it would be raining in D.C. all day.

So, to the hotel we went as we left the disappointed passangers behind. I felt bad, but we did the right thing and stuck with safety over profit. It is safe to say the good guys won this one even though the passangers were not getting to where they wanted to go. I was happy, because the good guys don't always win.

This is how your day can be ruined by something as simple as windshield wipers.

Lost Carry Ons

Today I was riding in the back to get into position to work (deadheading). A passenger didn't get their carry on back at the jetbridge.

Well, I ran down to the ramp and caught the bag cart just before it left. No bag had a "carry on" tag so I couldn't take any of them up to the passenger. So, I made sure that all of them had destination tags so that if here bag was on there then it was going to get to her destination. I came back up to explain how the tag must have fallen off, and TSA won't let us bring it into an unsecure area(the terminal).

I was pleasently supprised by her understanding. Maybe people are getting used to this system as much as we are. Hopefully she does get her bag and it isn't lost somewhere.

I sure wish TSA rules were different and made more sense, but then again that is a whole other post in itself.

Welcome to my first post.

I just first wanted to thank you for visiting my blog. I am a little late in this area I know, but I thought this would be fun, even if no one read it. I will try to keep my post short, sweet and to the point. I hate reading big long posts. I hope that if the people that read this get anything at all out of it, they will get a little insite into the everyday work life of a pilot. I feel the public has a huge mispreception of our lives. Please, comment as much as you can. I would love feedback. Again, welcome and thank you for reading.