Flight Canceled After Pilot's Outburst

[circpro]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Feature_Stories/Foul_Mouthed_Pilot.html

Flight Canceled After Pilot's Outburst

ROMULUS, Mich. — A Northwest Airlines flight was canceled because the pilot was yelling obscenities during a cell phone conversation while people were boarding, and cursed one passenger, a federal official said Saturday.

The pilot of the Las Vegas-to-Detroit flight was apparently in a heated cell phone conversation in the cockpit, then went into a lavatory, locked the door and continued the conversation, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said Saturday.

"Passengers who were boarding the aircraft could hear his end of it," Gregor said.

Las Vegas police were sent Friday to McCarran International Airport to investigate, Gregor said. Authorities were told that the pilot cursed one passenger who confronted him, Gregor said.

There were 180 passengers and five crew on the flight to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Northwest Airlines Corp. said in a statement.

The name of the captain, who Gregor described as a veteran pilot, wasn't released.

Gregor said Northwest removed the pilot from the aircraft and returned him to his home base in Detroit for an investigation. He said it was up to Northwest to determine what would happen to the pilot.

Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest issued an apology to passengers and said the incident was under review.

Passengers were accommodated on other flights to their destinations, the airline said. They also were given meals and hotels during any additional time in Las Vegas.

The FAA plans to follow up with Northwest about the outburst, Gregor said.

[bethm1b]

If he were a passenger, he'd have been arrested.

[JSHAW]

If he were a passenger, he'd have been arrested.

In this case he'll probably be fired.

The airline had to spend some cash to help some of the passengers that may have been delayed due to the pilot's actions.

Even though the pilot could have handled himself in a more professional manner it's nice to see someone these days letting off some steam and showing some human emotions when they're pissed off. Too many times these days people are more than willing to just bend over and take it. This guy clearly wasn't having any of that and let it be known, both on his phone and to the passengers calling him out on his verbal tirade. NICE!

[rustytrombone1]

Phone sex gone wrong

[WhiteHonkyDevil]

Even though the pilot could have handled himself in a more professional manner it's nice to see someone these days letting off some steam and showing some human emotions when they're pissed off. Too many times these days people are more than willing to just bend over and take it. This guy clearly wasn't having any of that and let it be known, both on his phone and to the passengers calling him out on his verbal tirade. NICE!

Do you think if this happens more frequently, companies would just let it go, rather than worrying about offending the delicate sensibilities of the customer? Seriously...the guy was arguing on the phone...who has NEVER done that in their life? Furthermore, who hasn't been confronted while in an argument and told the interloper "stay the fuck out of this"?

[jules]

Do you think if this happens more frequently, companies would just let it go, rather than worrying about offending the delicate sensibilities of the customer? Seriously...the guy was arguing on the phone...who has NEVER done that in their life? Furthermore, who hasn't been confronted while in an argument and told the interloper "stay the fuck out of this"?
i agree with you 100% and this isnt out of the normal, but the whole situation only is what it is now because of the tension that will always be associated with peoples feelings about flying because of 9-11. i know it seems like a reach, but imo its a part of the problem.
i also think a small contributing factor could have been people looking to get comped in some way.

[LastDeadMouse]

Flying from Romulus to Las Vegas is a long flight, so it's no surprise the captain was stressed out. They released a photo of him:

http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/thumb/d/d8/RomulanCaptain.jpg/180px-RomulanCaptain.jpg

[GonzoRadio]

Do you think if this happens more frequently, companies would just let it go, rather than worrying about offending the delicate sensibilities of the customer? Seriously...the guy was arguing on the phone...who has NEVER done that in their life? Furthermore, who hasn't been confronted while in an argument and told the interloper "stay the fuck out of this"?
I'd rather have my pilot blow off some steam before the flight then having him decide to "end it all" somewhere in the middle of the atlantic.

The guy is human, and he needed to get shit off of his chest. Whoever confronted him is a cunt, pure and simple.

[weakside]

Can't agree with you guys on this one:

1. We all have bad days, but you have to be a professional at your job, period. He was on a cell phone having a personal conversation, which I ‘m pretty sure the airline frowns on in the first place. Add in the fact it was a loud, obscenity ridden one and then your really are pushing it. Then, just for good measure, he cussed out a customer. Yeah, you pretty much need to be disciplined at that point.

2. Maybe its just me because I hate to fly but I would prefer my pilot being in the cockpit doing their pre-flight checks rather that cussing someone out on the phone while locked in the bathroom. That behavior does not exactly fill me with confidence that their focus is going to be on their job, one in which makes them responsible for the lives of others.

Anyway, I doubt he will be fired. He will probably just get a write-up placed in his file.

[GonzoRadio]

Can't agree with you guys on this one:

1. We all have bad days, but you have to be a professional at your job, period. He was on a cell phone having a personal conversation, which I ‘m pretty sure the airline frowns on in the first place. Add in the fact it was a loud, obscenity ridden one and then your really are pushing it. Then, just for good measure, he cussed out a customer. Yeah, you pretty much need to be disciplined at that point.

2. Maybe its just me because I hate to fly but I would prefer my pilot being in the cockpit doing their pre-flight checks rather that cussing someone out on the phone while locked in the bathroom. That behavior does not exactly fill me with confidence that their focus is going to be on their job, one in which makes them responsible for the lives of others.

Anyway, I doubt he will be fired. He will probably just get a write-up placed in his file.

I agree that he shouldn't have cursed out the customer (well, he should have, on principal, but not when representing the company he works for). I also think he will be fired; not so much because of what happened, but because what happened made the press.

Now I agree that pilots, as well as all professionals should try to maintain their cool. Also note that pilots tend to be very good at the "keeping cool" department..... most commercial pilots, from my understanding are former military pilots, and ALL pilots are trained to deal with disaster scenarios. Whatever this guy was yelling about HAD to come out (I'm thinking it was probably marital issues or something)...I'd much rather have him let loose on the phone before the flight than midflight. In an ideal world the guy would have been able to go up to his managers and tell them he wasn't up to flying because of personal issues. But with the shoestring budget airlines seem to run on these days, I doubt if they keep trained pilots for all aircraft on deck in case someone can't fly. That would mean the flight gets canceled and it hands up costing the company a boat load of money (not that this situation didn't cause the same thing, but I don't think anyone would have predicted this from happening).

[HummerTuesdays]

I wonder which company's customer service he was talking to.