Plane Answers: Cockpit jumpseat etiquette and inefficient arrivals

by Kent Wien on

Welcome to Gadling’s feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

David asks:

Hi Kent,

While riding in the jump seat do you ever double check what the PIC and SIC are doing? Have you ever seen something that you would have done differently and pointed it out? I know the cockpit is supposed to be sterile below 10,000 ft but have you ever said something or pointed out a checklist item that might have been overlooked?

When we have jumpseaters we almost always mention to them that if they see anything out of the ordinary, speak up. You’d be surprised at the things you can see sitting further away from the instrument panel. An extra set of eyes are always welcome.

Most of these items aren’t safety related, so I’ll usually stay quiet unless something could pose a problem later. But I wouldn’t hesitate to say something even below 10,000 feet (the sterile period) and I’d hope another jumpseater would feel the same way when sitting behind me.

Anthony asks:

Hi Kent,

I enjoy your blog and try to visit regularly. I have a question about standard arrival procedures (STARs?). They seem to add quite a bit of time to the flight as you go all over the place before finally lining up and landing. I have been told that in the early days of jets, pilots would simply throttle back the engines and descend at a fairly high rate with the engines at idle giving a faster trip.

Given that you often hear of a departure being delayed because of flow control (it even happens on trans-continental flights here in Australia), why can’t the flow control be more precisely devised for quicker arrivals like the old days?

Is this what is being planned with the trials by Air New Zealand, Qantas and United flying from the South Pacific into California?
Hi Anthony,

We often wonder about the reasons for the extended vectors around populated areas at major airports.

They tell us that in order to sequence a number of flights into an airport with multiple runways, it’s becoming necessary to have ‘corner posts’ or other waypoints around the airport that allow for the proper alignment and spacing at an airport.

We still fly to many airports with very little traffic. When flying into Shannon, Ireland or some of the Caribbean airports, we’re often able to descend at the most efficient angle (which, like you described, is done with an idle descent at the latest possible point) resulting in significant fuel savings.

Flying into the New York airports or any other high density terminal areas usually requires an airplane to descend earlier while being ‘vectored’ by ATC to get around departing aircraft from other airports. Prior to that, aircraft are sequenced well in advance to avoid a saturation of arrivals at the same moment.

I’d love to understand more about it, but as pilots, we don’t always have the big picture as it relates to multiple airports with multiple departures and arrivals.

In the U.S. there’s a lot of talk about an ATC program called “NextGen” which promises to allow for more efficient flight plans. Let’s hope so.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for next Monday’s Plane Answers. Check out his other blog, Cockpit Chronicles and travel along with him at work.

Jet circles Zamboanga airport waiting for missing air traffic controllers

by Scott Carmichael on

Unlike our very own Kent Wien, I never trained to be a pilot, but even without those years of training, I can’t imagine it is very comforting to get close to your destination airport and find an unstaffed air traffic control tower.

This is exactly what happened when a jet carrying 156 passengers arrived in the airspace of Zamboanga airport in the Philippines, after a flight from the nation’s capital.

Instead of hearing the familiar commands from the tower telling them they were cleared to land, the Philippine Airlines flight crew heard nothing. It took 30 minutes of circling around the airport for someone to finally make their way to the tower and permit the jet to land.

Of the 5 controllers who were supposed to be on duty that morning, 2 were missing, 2 were late and one was on an approved day off, but their approval note did not make it to the airport administrator. Talk about a total breakdown of communications.

The excuse the remaining 4 controllers presented was that public transport was hard to find the day after Christmas, but officials say the controllers may still have been a little too much in “party mode”. I’m sure that is comforting to hear if you were in the air around Zamboanga that morning.

The newspaper article claims the controllers were fired, but Philippine officials merely say the 5 are currently suspended pending an investigation.

(Via: Sydney Morning Herald)

Other tales from the skies
Amazing and insane stories from a real-life flight attendant and co-pilot

North America to (slowly) update Air Traffic Control

by Grant Martin on

The long and hard fought battle for landing slots rages on in New York and London, where airlines like Virgin Atlantic and British Airways squabble over who gets how many slots and when they’re allowed to leave and depart from their airports.

Landing and departure slots are tightly controlled at these airports, and the already high volume at New York is the cause of over 70% of delays in the United States. So it’s obviously a sore topic with consumers, politicians and carriers. Passengers and airlines want more departures, but the current infrastructure can’t handle it, resulting in the delays.

To exacerbate the problem, earlier this year, congress pushed through legislation capping the maximum number of departures from the New York airports, effectively requiring any airline that wanted extra permission to leave during peak periods to pay extra. Naturally, the airlines are up in arms, saying that they’re just reacting to passenger demand.

How does one thus fix the volume problem? Airlines and analysts alike agree that the solution is in a better air traffic control system. The current technology used only allows for simple control of surrounding aircraft — but advancing this technology would allow for better stacking and management of traffic. Problem is, all of the aircraft in the skies currently work on the antiquated system — so you can’t just switch everything over.

Slowly, however, we’re starting to make progress, starting with the lower volume system in Canada. Next year, small sections of the country will implement a new system called Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast, or ADS-B, and if that’s successful the model will spread all over North America.

Don’t plan on the volume increasing at JFK any time soon though. With all of the equipment in the skies and in airports across the US, some predict that it could take another decade before everything is up to snuff.

Cockpit Chronicles: Paris with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew

by Kent Wien on

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent’s trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

As I mentioned in the last post, I was given this two-day CCS trip instead of a three-day Paris. While I enjoyed the extra day off, it was hard to give up a Paris layover. Not much happened during the flight down and the deadhead home from Miami was uneventful. So we’ll skip ahead to the next Paris trip.

Fortunately I’ve managed to hold an entire line of Paris trips for June, so I’ll be trying to catch up on all the great recommendations for things to do in the city of light.

Since I was the relief pilot for this 6 P.M. departure, it was up to me to do the exterior preflight. The rain was starting to come down in sheets, just in time for my venture outside to look over the airplane.

At least the wet ramp made for a few nice photos…

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We taxied out on time, only to discover a lineup of fifteen airplanes in front of us waiting to takeoff from runway 33L in Boston. It was easy to see the cause. A large dark line of clouds and rain north of the airport was disrupting the normal departure paths of the jets, which meant that ATC had to work with the pilots to get headings that would keep them far away from the storm.

We listened as pilots asked for a different heading after they lined up on the runway and saw the green and yellow blobs that depicted the heavy showers and convective activity on their radar. Finally it was our turn to enter into position and hold on the runway. ATC gave us a left turn to a 250 degree heading, toward the city of Boston. This heading might have worked a few minutes earlier, but the weather looked to us to be far better to the northeast. Some ATC facilities are getting more advanced weather radar capabilities, but it’s always up to the pilot to decide if they’re comfortable with what’s in front of them. Captain Al asked for a turn to 020 degrees instead. ATC took a minute to check with the departure controllers to see if this would work for them.

With our brakes parked, I was able to take a picture of the weather ahead from my view in the observer’s seat, and also the view of the radar on the map display.

Our 020 degree heading was approved and the climb out was perfectly smooth. We passed along the ride report–an indication to the controller to let the airplanes behind us know that this direction may be their best choice.

Since we had a relief pilot aboard, we each had an hour and fifty minutes for our break in one of the new business class seats. I think all three of us managed to sleep during our breaks, a rarity for me. Usually the relief pilot gets the first break, which is during the meal service when the lights are turned all the way up as bright as a tanning bed.

Forty-five minutes before landing, all three of us were back in the cockpit. Jim, the co-pilot, pointed out the beaches of Normandy. Since it was the Friday before Memorial Day in the U.S., I thought it was a pretty good time to finally catch a glimpse of this part of the world, where WWII came to a close. Unfortunately, with the sun coming up in our eyes, the view wasn’t ideal. But I’ll keep an eye out next time for this historic area since I’ll have an idea what to look for.

Approach control told us to expect the north runway, 9 Left, which meant a good mile more to taxi to our gate. Al turned to Jim and said, let’s ask for 8 Right. Now, this is completely normal in Miami, Chicago or even Dallas. But for some reason, in Paris we just never seem to get a different runway from what they have in mind for us, no matter how nice we say Bonjour when we contact them. So we’ve long since given up asking for a change in runways. Captain Al doesn’t normally fly Paris trips as he’s always preferred the Caribbean. But he’s not shy. And sure enough, his request was met with a “roger, expect runway zero eight right.” Amazing. I’m glad Al has opened my eyes to this whole ‘ask and they just might say yes technique.’

I’ve heard stories of the bus ride into Paris taking as much as two and even three hours during the weekday morning traffic. I’ve mostly had weekend trips to Paris, so I haven’t had a chance to see this gridlock very often. This time we were lucky to have just an hour and forty minute ride into the city via our full-sized bus. I usually plug in my iPhone and listen to the latest This American Life podcast.

While waiting in the lobby for our room keys, everyone discussed their plans for the day. After the requisite four-hour nap, I would meet up with Captain Al and Lisa, one of the flight attendants who gave me a cake for my birthday over the Atlantic in January. I’ve always enjoyed flying with Lisa, but hadn’t had a chance to visit with her much on our previous trips.

The eight other flight attendants and the co-pilot scattered to do their own things. Shopping, museums and working out were in their plans.

The three of us met up in the hotel’s crew lounge before going down the street to the Monoprix grocery store. We picked up some baguette, cheese, wine and salami before walking to the Tuileries Garden next to the Louvre to have a picnic. Fortunately, Lisa’s a bit of a wine expert, so we had her pick out a bottle.

Lisa at the Monoprix, or as I like to call it, “Mono-Lisa.”

This picnic routine has become a favorite with crews for lunch. While technically it’s forbidden to have an open bottle of alcohol in a public park, the police seem more concerned with people who are clearly drunk. As this article on Picnicking in Paris mentions, as long as you’re discreet, you’ll be treated discreetly by the police, who have been known to say, “Please hide the wine bottle,” followed by a polite “bon appetit” as they move on.

We sat down in the Tuileries Gardens, which is right next to the Louvre.

This spot gave us a clear view of the museum where we could take in the sights and visit for a while. While we spread camembert over a baguette, I found out that Lisa is an English Literature and creative writing teacher at a Rhode Island college. She grabbed a magazine and wrote out two lines that showed how punctuat
ion can change everything:

I’d argue that in addition to the punctuation, the picture to the right of the quote added to the impact.

After finishing an entire baguette, half the cheese and a bit of wine, we packed up to continue our walk. We passed this spider, which was formerly on display in London and now resides in Paris. It’s 30 feet high and it was built in 2005 for a staggering $3.2 million.

We approached a wall at the edge of the Tuileries garden that had some round air vents cut out. For some reason, curious Al decided he needed to look into one of these holes.

“Check this out!” He yelled at us. “It looks like a sun dial.”

Now I was trying to figure what a sun dial would be doing in a sewer grate. Isn’t it a little dark down there for a sun dial? But sure enough, there was the face of a clock or perhaps a sun dial on the floor of this long storage room.

“It looks like where the Louvre stores their artifacts!” Lisa gasped.

We looked into most of the holes in the wall and found them packed with stuff. Mostly clay pots, the sun dial and maybe some of the equipment that originally came with the palace that is now the Louvre. We were all surprised that this stuff was slightly exposed to the elements.

Lisa said, “We’re just like the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew!” We agreed I’d have to be Parker Stevenson while Al took the Shawn Cassidy role. But I really think Al’s more like Sean Connery.

Upon researching further, it may be parts recovered from the Tuileries Palace that burned down in 1871. The Louvre is now a u-shaped palace, but at one time the open end was actually the Tuileries Palace. It’s been proposed that the building be rebuilt someday for an estimated $400 million. As we walked out of the Tuileries, we noticed a gate blocking the entrance to the area where we made our discovery. Maybe we weren’t meant to be back there.

We decided to stroll through the Louvre and maybe take a few pictures. A couple stopped us and asked if we’d take their picture. They were from St. Petersburg, Florida and they looked like models. Of course I couldn’t pass up the chance to take a few good pictures for them. I’d like to apologize to them if I ran their batteries dead trying to get just the right shot.

We then went down to Pont Neuf to jump on a boat tour of the Seine. It’s only 11 Euros for an hour trip and we still had some of our picnic to eat. We weren’t leaving until the next afternoon, so we enjoyed another romantic plastic cup of wine. Our tour guide informed us that she wasn’t yet certified, and she hoped we didn’t mind. She did a great job and sat right front of us while explaining the history of Paris.

The lighting was perfect and I took advantage of it to snap pictures of the oldest bridge in town, Pont Neuf.

We also saw an Amphibious car called the Amphicar parked on the back of someone’s river boat.

After deciding that the river boat was well worth the 11 Euros, we walked to the Latin Quarter to find something to eat. Sharlee, a commenter on the last Paris trip, mentioned that the creperie at 27 Rue Andre des Arts was where she had the best crepes ever. Since that’s one of my favorite streets in Paris, I was almost sure I had eaten there. It turns out I hadn’t, so we all waited about a thirty minutes to get a seat.

After our light picnic in the late afternoon, a creperie was just what we needed, since we weren’t looking for a very large meal. The dinner crepes or gallete as they’re called, were perfectly cooked and we all enjoyed the nautical theme of the restaurant. A cat made a surprise visit to say hello after we finished our ham and cheese galletes. It moved on quickly to see if the people next to us had anything better that they were willing to give up.

Without Al on this trip, I wouldn’t have seen how surprisingly flexible the French controllers are nor would we have discovered the Louve’s secret storage area. I guess it pays to be inquisitive. I’m glad to have experienced these two Paris trips with Al and to learn more about Lisa’s second job as an English professor.

Here’s a gallery of many more pictures from this Paris trip:

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Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent’s trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

Plane Answers: Is “Free Flight” the answer to ATC delays?

by Kent Wien on

Welcome to Gadling’s feature, Plane Answers, where our resident airline pilot, Kent Wien, answers your questions about everything from takeoff to touchdown and beyond. Have a question of your own? Ask away!

Kent:

I know a lot has been written lately about airport delays, I have also read something about “Free Flying.” With TCAS is ATC obsolete? Should ATC be more focused on ground operations, to get planes in the air? I know from most recent articles the ATC system is operating on antiquated systems and in need of a massive overhaul. I am interested to hear your opinion, is “Free Flying” in our future?

-Justin

Thanks Justin,

We’re not able to navigate or adjust our spacing using our Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This device, which is almost like a radar screen showing the other traffic within 40 miles of our airplane, is solely to keep us from running into someone. Think of it as a backup to the Air Traffic Control system. And just like passengers aren’t generally interested in pilotless airplanes, pilots may not be interested in a world without controllers directing traffic and keeping us safe.

The ability for airplanes to fly directly to a destination is one thing that would shorten travel times, but it’s important to put the benefit in perspective. The FAA is hoping to develop a system that would allow for a direct routing versus today’s system of waypoints and VOR’s that define a more jagged path, but it will only save a few minutes of flight time.

The FAA is even more interested in the ability to space flights closer when near the airport using a new technology called NextGen. Why are they so excited about this?

Because it’s low hanging fruit.

Even at $20 billion, it just might offer the best answer to the capacity problem. Using computers and GPS, we can have more direct flights and airplanes can take care of their own spacing as they approach the airport. Take a look at this video on “NextGen” by David Pogue for CBS News that explains what the FAA is trying to do (after the jump):

While they make the small airplane owners look like the bad guys in this story, it’s hard to see any reason to force Cessna 182 pilots to pay $6,000 for a box that will help ATC control traffic around a hub like DFW or ORD, an area that most general aviation (Cessna) pilots avoid anyway.

Unless we start doing formation takeoff and landings on ultra-wide runways out of JFK and other saturated airports-a highly unlikely scenario-we’re not going to see delays improve without capacity reductions or huge investments in new infrastructure. So the next step is to improve the infrastructure at airports by adding gates, revising taxiways and adding more runways. The trouble is, people living near these airports equate that to more traffic and subsequently, noise. And it’s yet another cost.

At airports with most frequent delays, airlines need to ‘bump-up’ the size of airplanes. A 19-seat Beech 1900 takes up nearly the same airspace that a 747 does. It might take the government to step in and mandate a minimum size of aircraft at these ultra-saturated airports, but this could be an effective way to fix the problem. The smaller airplanes might begin flying more point-to-point trips from lesser used airports in the same way Southwest does now.

We’re going to get some short term relief from the airlines that are cutting back later this year for economic reasons. But that’s no reason to sit back and wait until we’re near gridlock once again to fix the problem.

Thanks for the great question, Justin.

Do you have a question about something related to the pointy end of an airplane? Ask Kent and maybe he’ll use it for next Friday’s Plane Answers feature.