Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

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1/2pV2aCL
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Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by 1/2pV2aCL »

Oopsie!

DATE:26/02/08
SOURCE:Flightglobal.com
VIDEO: Cathay Pacific 777 low-level flypast: Watch the withdrawn video
By Michael Targett

A video has emerged of the Cathay Pacific Airways Boeing 777-300ER which carried out an unauthorised low-level flypast in Seattle during its delivery flight last month.

The incident took place on 30 January at Everett Airport immediately after Cathay took delivery of the new 777-300ER. After takeoff for Hong Kong the captain – chief 777 pilot Ian Wilkinson - returned the aircraft to the airfield and made a low-level flypast with the landing gear up.

Mr Wilkinson was subsequently fired for carrying out the unauthorised low-level flypast.


On board were around 50 or 60 people, according to another industry source, including Cathay chairman Christopher Pratt.

Cathay confirms that “the pilot in command of the flight concerned had been dismissed as he had not sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by. A second pilot involved has also been subject to disciplinary proceedings. Both disciplinary actions are subject to an appeals process”.

The airline adds that “Cathay Pacific has a well established approval process for fly-bys and a number had been conducted in the past as display flights at air shows with proper approval in place.

“The approval process was not followed in this case, resulting in disciplinary actions. Following the incident, Cathay Pacific has issued a notice to all cockpit crew reminding them of the company’s policy for conducting fly-bys.”

Cathay says it is still conducting an internal investigation into the incident, “including the collection of flight data, and interviews with the crew involved”.

It also says it has “taken the initiative to inform the Civil Aviation Department of the case and a report will be submitted to the department once the investigation is complete”.

The first officer was not dismissed as he reportedly did not know permission had not been obtained for the manoeuvre but he has been removed from training duties for six months.

Video link: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... video.html

So, should he have been fired?
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SplitS
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by SplitS »

Explain that one to the wife... :roll:
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Rudy
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Rudy »

My boss would fire me. I'm suprised that someone in that position would do something like that. Especially somewhere as uptight as Cathay. I do feel bad for him though.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Hedley »

Could someone please create some more
threads on this topic? I don't think we
have enough yet:

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 54&t=40196
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 49&t=40178
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 54&t=40221

There are probably more, with really obvious titles
like "Oh, Boy!" and "Where Are My 33 RPM records?"
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Blakey »

This one is different though. Now he's the "777 CHIEF PILOT".:D
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ehbuddy
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by ehbuddy »

The fly by was a tad low. I would guess if the fly by was at 1000' he probably would have not been fired.

It appears the F/O was guilty by association and a 6 month suspension is unwarranted.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Dust Devil »

ehbuddy wrote:The fly by was a tad low. I would guess if the fly by was at 1000' he probably would have not been fired.

It appears the F/O was guilty by association and a 6 month suspension is unwarranted.
Perhaps all the details aren't known. Maybe the cojo was heard yelling something along the lines of "Yahoooo! Giver hell!!!!!!!!!!!" As opposed to "ummmm sir I don't think this is the best plan you have ever dreamed up"

Don't know, Just sayin
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by prop2jet »

I think the decision to fire is probably more a result of the fact that the flyby appears to have been conducted at a very low altitude with 60 people on board, most of whom were likely brass... Not the smartest thing to have done. I would not feel overly bad for him... I am sure he has lots of money stashed away...
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lostinthebattle
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by lostinthebattle »

Good to see that not all CP's are politically correct pussy's. :twisted:
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by TG »

http://blog.seattle-deliveries.com/2008 ... 7371159688
Anonymous said...

I am a CX pilot and can tell you all right now that myself and none of the other CX pilots are sorry to see Wilko go. He was a total prick and anyone would think he owned CX the way he used to carry on.

We have been trying to find a reason to get rid of him for a long time and the youtube video was too good an opportunity to pass up....
aaaahahahahahahaha.... :smt008

If true of course! :mrgreen:
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by NorthSky »

A senior driver with lots of money stashed away?? Possible, if he's not into toys and ex-wives.....
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Hedley »

So this guy got canned for the unforgivable sin of flying
straight and level.

One cannot help but wonder what would have happened
if he had come in low and fast, and pitched up and banked,
and performed a beautiful, postive G roll, exiting again at
the surface.

What on earth would have been his punishment for such
a ghastly and unforgivable deed? Would he have been shot?
Drawn and quartered? Tarred and feathered? Ridden out of
town on a rail? Had his pee-pee slapped with a leather
whip by Rosanne Barr dressed up as a dominatrix?

How embarrassing to get canned for something so minor.
He paid the price, with 20/20 hindsight, perhaps he should
have done something noteworthy instead.

I am reminded of guys who travel to Arab countries
and get jailed 10 years for drinking beer in public :roll:

"You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant"
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by ch135146 »

At least, being a Boeing, it didn't self-destruct into the trees at the departure end.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by ehbuddy »

Dust Devil wrote:
ehbuddy wrote:The fly by was a tad low. I would guess if the fly by was at 1000' he probably would have not been fired.

It appears the F/O was guilty by association and a 6 month suspension is unwarranted.
Perhaps all the details aren't known. Maybe the cojo was heard yelling something along the lines of "Yahoooo! Giver hell!!!!!!!!!!!" As opposed to "ummmm sir I don't think this is the best plan you have ever dreamed up"

Don't know, Just sayin

Yes, you are correct Dust Devil.........It all depends on how much 'into the loop' the co-pilot actually was.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Justwannafly »

Maybe he was sick of living in Asia & want'd to leave the Company in a memorable way ;)..........
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by North of You »

Here’s the link to the video.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=00a_1204000744

I’m all for “given her”, but pick your spots! This one made me wince…..
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by mantogasrsrwy »

At least, being a Boeing, it didn't self-destruct into the trees at the departure end.
wow that is deep
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bob sacamano
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by bob sacamano »

I pulled something similar at my first gig, and my fellow co-worker just left the file on the desktop in the office, not the brightest guy (ugly too! :wink: )

The owner saw the movie a couple of days later, but we had a laugh about it.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by hairdo »

wow, that was probably the worst flyby ever. He could have at least done it at speed or something more interesting.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Krashman »

It starts from the top down...

thinking like brass probably would... pilots look to the cp for direction and a standard. So if the cp shows the standard as 'if I do a fly by I get a slap on the wrist' then everyone may expect the same sort of punishment as a result of an intentional non-standard manouver.

I think thats its very unfortunate for him but he needed to be made example of.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by TyrellCorp »

Wow! Pretty harsh for the guy. I admit it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but sounds like they had it in for him. Some disciplinary action was in order if he went against company policy, but firing the guy seems extreme. Maybe it's just as simple as him not wielding his fork in the proper manner. :lol: See Cathay thread in General Airline Comments section if you are thinking to your self, "what fork?"
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Rubberbiscuit »

I love low and over stuff, but that was VERY low. If he had an engine failure (yes I know the odds are microscopical..although it did have brand new engines of course) he would have been up shit creek without a paddle! A smokin hole in the ground.
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by ch135146 »

mantogasrsrwy wrote:
At least, being a Boeing, it didn't self-destruct into the trees at the departure end.
wow that is deep
I thought my first attempt at a troll would've generated more responses. Well, I got yours...
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by J31 »

Rubberbiscuit wrote:I love low and over stuff, but that was VERY low. If he had an engine failure (yes I know the odds are microscopical..although it did have brand new engines of course) he would have been up @#$! creek without a paddle! A smokin hole in the ground.
I really don’t think it would have been catastrophic with an engine failure. More like “Engine failure………OK……..go-around thrust call 1000 ft.” “1000 ft, flaps up, set max continues thrust, Engine failure and shutdown checklist” :wink: .
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Re: Cathay 777 chief pilot fired after fly-by

Post by Main Gear »

28 feet is pretty darn close, but cat reflexes could pull off an engine failure. :wink:
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