To divert or not to divert that is the question....

     On paper this looked like a great 2 day trip.  First day was one leg from Newark (EWR) to San Diego (SAN).   -spend the night-  The second day was was very busy.  We were to fly from (SAN) to Houston (IAH) to Cleveland (CLE) to Newark (EWR).  We arrived in SAN a little late because of the strong headwinds courtesy of mother nature.  However, I got in with just enough time to take the hotels beach cruiser to Trader Joe's  to stock up on some fruit and get a deli sandwich for dinner.  I got back just after sunset, returned the bike, ate, and went to bed. 

      It was an early get-up and the agreed upon van to the airport was 7 a.m.  I arrived in the lobby @ 7 to find no other crew members.  (This was odd because I had heard  the captains door close not more that 5 minutes before I left my room).  -Fast forward to the curb at the hotel-  Still by my self, the hotel van shows up  just after 7 a.m. fully loaded with my crew already on board. Turns out they left early and without me.  Someone finally realized I wasn't onboard and they circled back and got me.  : O  First time in 13 years I've been left behind.  Oh well. 

     Day two went well until the last leg from CLE to EWR.  The flight was scheduled to be :58 takeoff to touchdown.  The captain went for the paperwork and I went for coffee.  I got to the gate first and the gate agent told me we were on an ATC delay to EWR.  Hmmm...... I thought it must be due to volume because there was NO weather between Cleveland and Newark and the weather @ Newark was as close to perfect as possible.  However, having done this for 13 years, Newark never needed an excuse to hold aircraft.  (Come to find out this particular flight is one of our most consistently late flights).  We uplifted 14,300 pounds of gas for the quick flight to EWR.  More than enough for the :58 trip AND with extra gas to get us to an alternate airport should  we be unable (insert - delay) to make it to Newark..hint...hint.  ATC allowed us to park our airplane, with the engines shut down, on a taxiway close to the runway to wait out our EDCT (expect departure clearance time).  Our departure time kept getting rolled until finally we were allowed to takeoff (1 1/2 hours late)  After takeoff we got handed off to the departure controller who immediately started giving us vectors off course because they were already holding for Newark.  Uh oh.   Finally on course and at our cruise altitude of 33,000'  we started calculating our fuel situation.  The chatter on the radio was not reassuring.  They were holding for EWR!  We received our holding instruction at 33,000' and an EFC (expect further clearance time) of :50 from now.  This was not good at all.  We calculated a holding time of 1 hour before we would have to abandon EWR and head to our alternate airport of PHL (Philly) to pick up some gas before heading on to EWR.  We brought our dispatcher in our plight and he switched our alternate airport to a closer one, thus allowing us to stretch our holding fuel another 6 minutes.  While holding and burning our gas, we were doing some serious mental gymnastics, (figuring our fuel supply and options), when ATC released us from the hold.  All well and good until the very next controller gave us another hold.  This was further decreasing our fuel supply because ATC was also descending us.  (jet engines burn WAY more gas at lower altitudes) We asked ATC why the extensive delays and they just replied that Newark never needs a reason....just because.  (to their credit, Newarks frequency 120.15 during rush hour is the busiest frequency in the world).  Now we're in a pinch.  We entered the hold and agreed we had one turn in holding before we had to go to our alternate for gas.  It was my leg to fly.  I had all the approach plates and charts for Stewart,NY our alternate, all ready.  We informed ATC that if on our inbound turn, he was unable to clear us to EWR, that we'd need to divert to Stewart. The constant prodding must have worked because they put us in front and allowed us to by-pass two aircraft ahead of us.  We landed in EWR late, but in EWR none the less.  A long day made even longer, with no apparent reason for the delay.  Now I have one day off then off to San Jose, Costa Rica for a very long day trip.  (note to self:  very inexpensive coffee at duty free!!! COFFEE!!!)

     

My 2 days in the BOX

The time of year I look forward to and dread all at the same time.  (just ask my wife)  Every year all airline pilots have to visit the simulator specific to the airplane they fly for recurrent training.  It's a two day training event.  Each day consists of a 2 hour brief-4 hours in the simulator-followed by a 2 hour debrief.  Day 1, we refer to as our Maneuvers Validation.  Every Maneuvers Validation requires us to do the things that we don't often get to perform throughout the rest of the year.  (low visibility takeoffs/landings, engine failures, system malfunctions, windshear, and CFIT-controlled flight into terrain)  Day 2 is our LOE or Line Operation Experience.  LOE is a real time flight with a system malfunction in which the crew is graded based on performance,execution,and success.  It all starts in the 'school house'.  Our training facility in Houston.  I load up on my usual gallon or so of coffee and wait to meet my sim partner and instructor.  After exchanging the usual introductions it was off to one of the briefing rooms for a thorough breakdown of the next four hours in the sim.  Once the brief is over, I gather my thoughts and organize my paperwork and its off to the sim.  (the simulators look like giant white-windowless boxes siting two stories in the air)  As you approach the simulators there is a distinct sterile/electrical smell and I always stop to marvel at these complex machines sitting atop huge hydraulic struts.   You cross a  small gangway and before you know it the door shuts behind you and you realize business is close at hand.  The inside is identical to the aircraft except for the instructors console that sits directly behind the captains seat.  The instructor has the ability to fail any AND all systems with one keystroke.  We all take our respective seats and begin our four hour tour.  We pushed and pulled our way through all the maneuvers, silenced the warning horns, and safely returned the simulator to the ground 10 times.   We finished Day 1  securing the aircraft(sim) at the gate and completing the parking checklist.  I gathered myself and we exited the 'box'.  We were greeted by the next victims, I mean next crew, with wry smiles.  You forget how fatigued you become and how haggered you look when its all over.   We head off for our de-brief and review in depth our performance. Once complete,  I head to the hotel for some last minute review of the aircraft systems, limitations, and memory items, and then off to bed for some well earned sleep.  Day 2 begins like Day 1, not too early, a quick bite at the hotel, and then off to the school house.  We all convene in another briefing room to start the process all over again.  Day 2 is a bit more official.  The instructor reviews our license and medical certificates, and then we're right into an oral questioning of the aircraft systems and related limitations.  It's a quick two hours and back in the box we go.  The LOE is a real time flight with NO assistance from the instructor.  Today the instructor is  'wearing' his examiner hat.  Today is a pass/fail event, and with it comes a heightened awareness of the need to do it right.  The two leg event goes well, however we still have to perform our windshear and CFIT maneuvers.  My partner got the windshear during takeoff and I got the windshear during landing.  Lastly is our CFIT (controlled flight into terrain) training.  The instructor positions us in mountainous or rapidly rising terrain and its up to us to respond to our warning systems and maneuver the aircraft to a safe altitude, clear of terrain.  We finished, finally, and then off to a de-brief room we go.  We knew we'd done well, but still no indication from the instructor as to our status.  We sat down, were asked to closed the door, and the instructor then with a smile informed us we had passed.  (they always think that's funny, but I have yet to find the humor) I got the instructors blessing and ran out of the school house to catch my flight back to Newark to hopefully be home that night by 2am.  Training, for most, is usually meet with some excitement and equal amount trepidation.  By profession we're performance based and task oriented.  I'd enjoy training more if there wasn't so much riding on the line every time I enter the box.  In saying that, I guess I'll never fully look forward to recurrent training, but have to accept it as part of my continued training.

.....so there I was.....

".....so there I was...." harks back to the days of WWII fighter pilots.  Pictures made famous depicting youthful 20 somethings using hand gestures to reinact there battles in the skies over Germany and how they bested their foe, on that day, at that moment.  My battle begins with my trip to LAX.  It started like all my other trips this month...EARLY.  And when I say early, I mean early.  3:15am wake up, early!  It was a quick trip to the airport.  I finally made time for a coffee, then strapped in for what was to be a 5:35 min. flight to LAX.  We pushed back on time and decided to start both engines for our taxi to the runway.  (under most conditions we only start 1 engine to save gas).  We get number 2 started (right engine) and then start number 1 (the left).  The left engine decided not to start.  It started spooling up normally, but when we introduced the fuel, there was no "light off".  We aborted the start and referenced our checklist. We tackled our "non-normal engine start checklist" and after a quick talk with maintenance we opted for another try.  This time it started normally and off we went.  The flight out was smooth and relatively quick considering the position and strength of the jetstream.   We would be tested one more time this trip.  At the end.  I flew the leg from LAX-EWR.  It was quick and smooth considering the winter storm stretching from Denver to Cleveland.  We were well above the weather at 39,000 feet, and although it was raining in Newark there was no snow in the immediate forecast.  In our decent we received a message  from dispatch indicating a wide-spread area of potentially severe turbulence below 6000' .  We informed  the flight attendants and asked them to be seated for the rest of the flight.  I've seen these reports before but nothing close to severe turbulence was ever encountered.  "So there I was......level at 6000' being vectored for our approach to runway 4 right at Newark.  ATC said the ride down to 2000' would be a little rough.  That's when  anything that wasn't secured in the cockpit started to float.  Not like being in outer space floating, but like being in a violently shaking snowglobe floating.  The auto-pilot was on and in a matter of seconds the airplane abruptly started to pitch and roll around all three axis.  The auto-pilot kicked off and it was my battle to settle with mother nature.  You must ensure smooth control inputs while trying to correct for deviations related to turbulence so you don't over-stress the aircraft.  I could not maintain our altitude and held the airplane at a constant pitch (up/down) attitude while accepting the deviations.  We had altitude deviations in excess of +/- 400 feet and airspeed fluctuations  +/- 35 knots.  This would be tolerable, although not enjoyable, if not for the extreme shaking and shuttering that came along with the fluctuations.  We had such bad eyeball bounce (inability to focus on the instruments due to the shaking) that it took both of us to coordinate altitude and heading inputs. Everything was deliberate and coordinated with regard to aircraft control.  The turbulence mellowed as we turned  toward the airport and the rest of the trip down the final approach was bumping but doable.  The landing was firm, but rewarding.  I'm proud to not have many instances that start with "so there I was....." but I  have this one with my battle over NJ with mother nature.  

What a difference two feet makes.

So Sunday I headed to St. Thomas.   A chance to leave behind the biting cold of the north east and enjoy some warm tropical sun (if only for an hour).   The day started like every other.  A check of the paperwork, follow up on the weather, and meet the crew.  Oh yeah, the crew, all 3 of us.  I forgot I was the International Relief Officer (IRO for short).   See, the FAA requires one extra pilot on trips  scheduled for more than 8 hours of flying and less than 12 hours.  Our St. Thomas trip was a turn (one leg down-get gas-one leg home) scheduled for 8:38 minutes.  I usually don't fly the IRO position. If I have to be on an airplane I want to be the one flying it.  The IRO does all the grunt work as well (like the preflight walk-around inspections in Siberia when the wind is blowing and it's -28* F). The IRO also needs to sit in the cockpit jumpseat for all operations from pushback, taxi, takeoff, and climb as well as decent and landing.  Sitting in the jumpseat is like sitting on slab of granite and using a blanket for padding.  The good news was once we leveled off at our cruise altitude, which today was 35,000', I got to settle into my first class seat and watch a movie.  That is until one of the guys up front needed to use the lav or they themselves needed a break.  Which unfortunately for me was often.  I haven't been in the jumpseat for a long time, but I'm always amazed when I am.  Sitting 2 feet behind the people doing all the heavy lifting provides such a unique perspective to our job as aviators.  That 2 feet instantly allows one to recognize and catch errors, see outside traffic first, and seemingly allows you know what each pilot is going to do before they do it!  (I guess thats why our instructor pilots always sit there to give us line checks and standardization rides, instead of sitting in first class).  The trip was uneventful and everyone did a great job.  We arrived early and basked in the sun, albeit for 35 minutes before heading home to sub-freezing temps and a vicious wind.  Sitting in the jumpseat offers up a rare view to our work as pilots, but there's still no better seat in the house than the 2 up front.  LAX is next.  K 

SFO recap

Uneventful trip to SFO on tues/wed.  Don't get me wrong -I do like it that way.  We did take a more northerly route over southern Canada to stay out of the jetstream and related turbulence.  We also  shot an approach into SFO because the weather was overcast at 600'.  This slowed the arrival rate into the airport and caused some delay vectoring for proper spacing.  When weather is at least 5 miles and 3000' ceilings it allows for visual approaches to be conducted and reduces spacing between aircraft  (usually from 5 miles to 3 miles) almost  doubling the number of airplanes ATC can accept.  It was a very nice touchdown, but it was immediately replaced by all sorts of bumps and shuddering. (SFO runway 28 right is very uneven and full of dips-so no matter how good the landing it's always negated).  Layover was great.  Nice weather and we stayed downtown so what's not to like.  The return leg was mine to fly and a standard departure.  We took off on runway 1 R  which departs over the water (bay) towards Oakland.  This does require a minimum climb gradient( six mile radius around SFO) above 3000'  so you don't go blasting through Oaklands airspace.  When heavy, which is almost always out of SFO, you usually make it by a couple hundred feet.  We made good time to Newark and although the weather was clear and winds under 10 knots, we were vectored all over NJ  before we landed.  Headed to St. Thomas on Sunday so we'll see what fun that offers up.......

-92 F very cold!

South of Salt Lake City we encountered an outside air temperature of -92 F.  Coldest I've seen yet.  We were fairly light and climbed to an altitude of 40,000.  Fortunately we were close to our top of descent (within an hour) because the fuel temperature was quickly dropping.  We started our letdown into SFO early because of turbulence and the fuel never became an issue.