Laser beam hits WestJet pilot in the eye on Calgary takeoff

[tailgunner]

Ifs and buts are like candy and nuts......
I am glad this had a positive outcome, but.... to me, and I repeat, I was not there, the most conservative and prudent outcome was a return to YYC. An early return provides the legal basis for covering any liabilites, plus immediate medical help/exams for the FO and anyone else affected.
My owner comment may have been a bit offside, but when profit margins/profit sharing and such are a big part of renumeration, one wonders if maybe it does affect decision making. I am sure that we all at one point in our career have carried on, or completed flights because the month was a little slow, or the company seems to really need the cash.....It can be an influence.

[Huge Hammer]

Rebel

You are saying it was a screw up when it was not.

You have a past history of your ass being handed to you when you have jumped on any nugget to slam WS.

The point you are making is wrong. i am sure that you are concerned enough about this saftey issue that you are rushing to report it.

I am not trying to deflect anything. I am suprised that you can see it is a personal attack beacause I am sure your gaze is usually fixed on your colon.

[Huge Hammer]

My owner comment may have been a bit offside, but when profit margins/profit sharing and such are a big part of renumeration, one wonders if maybe it does affect decision making. I am sure that we all at one point in our career have carried on, or completed flights because the month was a little slow, or the company seems to really need the cash.....It can be an influence

Wonder all you want. This line of BS gets floated all the time.

Just so there is no confusion.

Safety first. Core value.

I fear for any company that has crews thinking profit over sfaety.

[Huge Hammer]

Ah Huge Hammer,

Well your little cartoon of a baby falling down some stairs is pretty classy too.

Here's another classy image for ya.

[Tim Tam]

Ummm, I work for WS, and I kinda agree with Rebel (ducks for cover..)

IF he/she said they were fit to carry on, then why the check-up at the other end? As a precaution? Too late, damage (if any) done.

IF he/she had any inclination that there had been any side effects from the laser, then land. End of story. Do not worry about the pax at that point, we will find another pilot. I have seen guys come to work sick because they are worried about calling in sick, just in case there is no one available to come in. Not your problem. Sick is sick. Same with this case. You are either ok, or not.

[tailgunner]

Huge Hammer,
Safety first. Core value.
How was safety enhanced by continuing to YLW????
The FO's eyes have just been exposed to a laser? ......
Safety first makes a great poster in the flight planning room, perhaps it looks nice silk- screened on to a t- shirt, however, what really matters if it is demonstrated in day to day operations.

[Rebel]

Ummm, I work for WS, and I kinda agree with Rebel (ducks for cover..)

IF he/she said they were fit to carry on, then why the check-up at the other end? As a precaution? Too late, damage (if any) done.

IF he/she had any inclination that there had been any side effects from the laser, then land. End of story. Do not worry about the pax at that point, we will find another pilot. I have seen guys come to work sick because they are worried about calling in sick, just in case there is no one available to come in. Not your problem. Sick is sick. Same with this case. You are either ok, or not.

Yep you got it right; no company wants the expense of defending their employee’s actions in a court case or the resulting expensive bad publicity. The days of the cowboy flying are long over it’s a business now. Oh and you don't have to duck if your're telling it how it is.

[C-MNOP]

When mistakes are made they should be a learning tool. This is not the first time that there has been a problem onboard and the flight has continued to the destination instead of landing when they should have. That makes it a policy and not an exception. The flying public might not be aware that you can land somewhere other then the planned destination, but as pilots we do, and should.

[Rebel]

Right on..

[Phileas Fogg]

hey Huge (probably small) Hammer,

Thanks i;'ve only seen that poster a million times...try something original.

Quit nerding up this forum.


blah blah blah.....

[ToFlyIsDivine]

where did this laser come from? it must have to be a fairly strong laser to be able to reach an aircraft, not only that there shouldn't be any buildings at the end of the runways.....so where o where

[Four1oh]

Thanks rebel for your input, I think it's now safe to say:

[Troubleshot]

where did this laser come from? it must have to be a fairly strong laser to be able to reach an aircraft, not only that there shouldn't be any buildings at the end of the runways.....so where o where

The Port O' Call...lord knows there were enough aircraft flying past that when was hung over during training. OR MAYBE the Mactavish building itself...hmmmm, in house sabotage.

[CanadaEH]

Wow this issue got blown out of proportion.

[yycflyguy]

Damn ALF is hung!

where did this laser come from? it must have to be a fairly strong laser to be able to reach an aircraft, not only that there shouldn't be any buildings at the end of the runways.....so where o where

Where did it come from? Sharks, sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their frickin heads.

[WJ700]

If this was in the fact the Director of Flight Technical that is an absolute ‘thread-ender’ for me. I can probably take credit for being his First Officer for no less than 400 hours. That was 12 years ago at a previous company and even then, If there is anyone I think of having to answer to when I’m making a safety decision it is he. He’s a black and white thinker and doesn’t take any chances. He’s never going to question you taking the safest course of action because that is what he would do in any circumstance. If you’re going to take a chance, he’ll still be there for you, but don’t expect it to be a short conversation ...oh and he’ll win. A couple of years ago I had to turn down a red-eye extension by crewsked from being too tired (newborn at home). I was on everyone's shit-list until it got to him where he backed me 100%. He told the people involved that if we're going to safely fly redeye's, that we're going to do it right. That was the day they started avoiding use of the redeye in to YYZ for extra sections or IROPS. Personally I was nervous when he first took the position that he did at WestJet for fear of him being too hard-assed but it turns out I'm very wrong and he's doing the exact job he was meant to do in life; I also expect to see him promote much further from his natural managerial skills. If the FO involved here went to be checked out on the other end, it was just overkill, and I'm now sure it was on insistance of the Captain.
Sorry Rebel, but you’ve lost any creditability many times in the past when commenting on WestJet and being very wrong there too. You're shooting your mouth off here about one of WestJet's safest pilots (if I had to pick on because they're all safe). I can appreciate the news articles you post but the constant vitrol towards us makes it obvious you should limit your input to avoid suffering such 'foot-in-mouth' disease.

[Rebel]

WJ700

Ahh perhaps you shouldn’t shoot off your mouth and re-read the article, which I did not post. All you are offering is your speculation instead of the newspaper quotes of what actually happened. If this incident went down as reported then you have a safety problem of pushing the envelope. You have claimed in the past to be a WJ safety officer, which from your interpretation of this and other events I highly doubt. Your little story although cute simply doesn’t cut it with me. Perhaps you should read the post by C-MNOP that I have posted for your consideration. On second thought re-read the whole thread to bring yourself up to speed before commenting. The thread contains some good posts by others, hopefully WJ employees, concerned with safety..

“When mistakes are made they should be a learning tool. This is not the first time that there has been a problem onboard and the flight has continued to the destination instead of landing when they should have. That makes it a policy and not an exception. The flying public might not be aware that you can land somewhere other then the planned destination, but as pilots we do, and should”

I especially like the comment “That makes it a policy and not an exception” so you see others simply do not agree with your view. Frankly I don’t care what carrier is pushing the envelope if its not the safest avenue then they shouldn’t be doing it. I suspect the BOD’s of any company that gets wind of what could be considered unsafe practices will terminate the guilty parties as they should. The potential lawsuits simply don’t make pushing the envelope worthwhile.

That’s it for me on this thread as my intent was to make this incident a learning tool and not endure the boorish comments of the inexperienced WJ crowd. WJ is my competitor and if their practices cause them to have an accident so be it. Oh and Thanks to the WJ crowd that actually posted comments that made sense. It takes balls to stand up for whats right..

[ahramin]

newspaper quotes of what actually happened.

Nuff said.

[CanadaEH]

That’s it for me on this thread as my intent was to make this incident a learning tool and not endure the boorish comments of the inexperienced WJ crowd. WJ is my competitor and if their practices cause them to have an accident so be it. Oh and Thanks to the WJ crowd that actually posted comments that made sense. It takes balls to stand up for whats right..

Your intent is and always has been to discredit Westjet and its employees. You've been full of shit for years.

[Biff]

Someone was potentially lasered in the eye, meaning that person would potentially have damage to his eye. From what I understand the damage is now done and shouldn't get worse. Should he have his eyes checked? Absolutely. Should they be checked in 50 minutes(landing back in Calgary and driving to an optometrist) or 1 hour and 20 minutes(continuing on to Kelowna)? I don't think it really matters much. Once you've being lasered the damage is done, without further exposure there should be no further deterioration so waiting an extra 30 to 40 minutes should not be an issue.

Now the safety issue is being brought up. I really don't get the concern over continuing. A landing will have to be made with a potentially compromised pair of eyes, does it really matter if that landing is made in 20 min or 40 min? I don't think so, in fact it could be argued that the crew member should be better able to accertain his impairment with a few more minutes of flying.