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.