The gut-churning trials and tribulations of making the grade with an airline.

[Barb-SAN]

Ask the Pilot, by Patrick Smith:
http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2008/09/05/askthepilot289/index.html

Anything to add, Capt. Hutch, about recurrent training and simulator sessions? :)

[Captain Hutch]

Anything to add? Actually, no. This writeup is a pretty good picture of a ride or two in the "box". In fact, I have one myself coming up in less than 2 weeks, and reading the article began to make my stomach churn a little bit! It's something you never seem to get used to. I always wondered why other professions didn't have this same thing. Say, for instance, a surgeon. Shouldn't he get a full fledged emergencey driven operation once or twice a year, you know, blood vessels breaking unexpectedly, anesthetic wearing off prematurely, patient's heart stopping, getting handed the wrong instrument, finding unexpected problems while digging around in there, slipping with the scalpel and making an errant cut, diagnosing a problem wrong and seeing how long it takes to extract oneself?

Hutch :shocked:

[scottr0829]

I liked the article Barb, thanks for posting.

I knew previously that the situations in simulators are usually close to worst case scenarios. I would have liked to see what other situations he faced on the last two days.

Capt. Hutch, what are your toughest situations in the simulator? What are your 'favorite'?

I found the last line of the article a little interesting because, although it's rare, it did happen in London a little while ago:


Some maneuvers are both fun and enlightening. I remember the time a particularly bold instructor gave us a simultaneous failure of both engines. In the real world, such emergencies are so rare that there is little formal training for them. But there we were, a 100-ton glider at 33,000 feet over Long Island Sound. "What are you going to do?" mused the instructor with a cackle.
"Land," answered the captain.
And we did, albeit just barely, brushing the approach lights at the foot of runway 31R at Kennedy.

[Barb-SAN]

Anything to add? Actually, no. This writeup is a pretty good picture of a ride or two in the "box". In fact, I have one myself coming up in less than 2 weeks, and reading the article began to make my stomach churn a little bit! It's something you never seem to get used to.





Well, good luck! What sort of "emergencies" have you had to handle during your sim sessions? I'm so glad that you all have the sims to practice your "engine outs", etc., and don't have to do it during regular passenger flights. ;)
I always wondered why other professions didn't have this same thing. Say, for instance, a surgeon. Shouldn't he get a full fledged emergency driven operation once or twice a year, you know, blood vessels breaking unexpectedly, anesthetic wearing off prematurely, patient's heart stopping, getting handed the wrong instrument, finding unexpected problems while digging around in there, slipping with the scalpel and making an errant cut, diagnosing a problem wrong and seeing how long it takes to extract oneself?
Hmmm...interesting thought. I know there are lots of continuing education programs in the medical field. But I'm not aware of anything like what you pilots have to do...handling simulated emergencies while being graded by an examiner every year. Seems that there would need to be a "simulator" of some sort,
so, just out of curiosity...;)...I googled it.

Turns out there has been a human simulator developed (check out the little video too, "the making of iStan and product brochure"). It's quite an amazing product.
http://www.meti.com/products_ps_istan.htm?gclid=COqn9Mjg6ZUCFRs-awod9zAqfg "At long last, here is the essential human element in patient simulation — the mannequin that moves, breathes, lives and dies so realistically and compellingly that medical education will never be the same. Developed with the United States Army, iStan is durable enough for combat and built for life".

[tusphotog]

I always wondered why other professions didn't have this same thing. Say, for instance, a surgeon. Shouldn't he get a full fledged emergencey driven operation once or twice a year, you know, blood vessels breaking unexpectedly, anesthetic wearing off prematurely, patient's heart stopping, getting handed the wrong instrument, finding unexpected problems while digging around in there, slipping with the scalpel and making an errant cut, diagnosing a problem wrong and seeing how long it takes to extract oneself?

There is a simulator. It's called Operation. Hasbro makes it and it costs $15.00 at Amazon.com. If you slip, you get zapped. :D

[MathFox]

I always wondered why other professions didn't have this same thing. Say, for instance, a surgeon. Shouldn't he get a full fledged emergencey driven operation once or twice a year, you know, blood vessels breaking unexpectedly, anesthetic wearing off prematurely, patient's heart stopping, getting handed the wrong instrument, finding unexpected problems while digging around in there, slipping with the scalpel and making an errant cut, diagnosing a problem wrong and seeing how long it takes to extract oneself?

There are two big differences between surgeons and pilots:

A practising surgeon sees several complications per year, a practising pilot is (un)lucky if he sees an in-flight engine failure in his career.
Surgeons are cut some slack, a small fraction op patients is allowed to die. Pilots are expected to make safe landings, all of the time.And there are some aspects of how safety and quality are managed in the medical profession that allows doctors to slack... if it doesn't become too obvious.

[Barb-SAN]

There is a simulator. It's called Operation. Hasbro makes it and it costs $15.00 at Amazon.com. If you slip, you get zapped. :D Heh heh... a childhood favorite, eh? Operation (http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-4545-Operation/dp/B00000DMFM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1221927025&sr=8-1)