Bickering pilots cause Alaska Airlines flight to return to gate

Originally published at: Bickering pilots cause Alaska Airlines flight to return to gate | Boing Boing

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and probably because of the pilot shortage, he will get a slap on the wrist. screw the passengers, screw the schedule, my feelings are bruised and i can’t work. unbelievable.

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Without knowing the details of what happened in the cockpit, I would say that this could have been an incredibly professional response which potentially avoided some major consequences during the flight. Of course people are upset and inconvenienced but maybe that person had everyone’s best interest in mind. Here in BC, if you consider something about your job to be unsafe then it’s your right to refuse to perform that task… although that does obviously get abused sometimes.

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I was wondering about that, too. If the dispute was around some issue of safety, this may have been an appropriate action.

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Came here to say the same thing. Sure, I know it’s incredibly disappointing and frustrating for customers, but this is actually a very mature and professional choice to make. I don’t know WHAT the disagreement was, but it says a lot they realized the issue, decided it would be too problematic for the flight to keep working together, and put safety first.

Kudos to those guys.

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Initially delayed due to weather. Probably not a bad thing.

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No I’m intrigued about the argument. Was one of them a QANON MAGAT, and the other one a normie?

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(bumps intercom button)

“Tastes great!”

“Less filling!”

“Tastes great!”

“Less filling!”

“Tastes greeeeaaaaat!”

“Less fiiiiiilliiiiiing!”

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Tower : Flight two-zero niner, you’re cleared for take-off.
Capt. Clarence Oveur : Roger.
Roger Murdock : Huh?
Tower : L.A. departure frequency one two three point niner.
Capt. Clarence Oveur : Roger.
Roger Murdock : Huh?
Victor Basta : Request vector, over.
Capt. Clarence Oveur : Huh?
Tower : Flight two-zero niner, cleared for vector three-two-four.
Roger Murdock : We have clearance, Clarence.
Capt. Clarence Oveur : Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?
Tower : Tower Radio, clearance, over.
Oveur : That’s ‘Clarence Oveur’, over.
Tower : Roger.
Roger Murdock : Huh?
Tower : Roger, over.
Roger Murdock : What?
Capt. Oveur : Huh?
Victor Basta : Who?

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This sucks, but happy the pilots had the guts to stop the flight.

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Was waiting on a train at Melbourne’s central Flinders St Station during a brutal heatwave when delays were happening because the metal tracks were buckling. Over the intercom we heard the train driver “I’m not paid enough for this bull shit” CLICK… and we watched our angry host march off down the platform!

Fair enough.

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John Krasinski Yes GIF by The Animal Crackers Movie

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My hunch:

“I smell alcohol, you need to get cleared first.”
“Nah, I’m cool.”

Would that be a “we can’t get along?” Yeah, maybe. Saying more would disparage the other crew member and the Company–they don’t like that.

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We can’t just blame this on the pilot. What if it was the First Officer who was a danger to the flight?
Certainly, one of them is to blame. We just cannot know which it is.

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That’s a new one.

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Here in BC it’s a Worksafe requirement to refuse to perform a task if you consider it to be unsafe. I refused a few times when I was on the tools. Now that I’m no longer immortal (as I apparently was in my youth), I more easily say no to what I consider hazardous.

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I guess the captain declared “it’s my way or the highway”. The gauntlet was accepted.

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Most likely, but that depends on the nature of the argument. Could be that they’re both to blame.

“…and I say that the problem with this country is too many (insert racist slur here)!”
“What are you, nuts? Clearly it’s too many (different, worse racist slur) strutting around everywhere. Someone needs to put them in their place.”
“Not until we take care of the (slur)s first, idiot!”
“Clearly we’re not going to see eye to eye, you (slur)-loving SOB!”

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