Jet Blue and a very unfortunate Captain

Hi folks,

It's been awhile. It seems after writing that article for USAToday I got a serious case of writer's block. Kept trying, though. "It was a dark and stormy night" I would write. "No, that won't work. Been done" Into the trash bin it would go and I would sit in front of the computer, shoulders slumped, eyes looking down in a kind of self loathing for what seemed hours trying write a story where I remained ever the hero. "Damn" I thought, "this is hard."

But I am back now and in fine fettle. I thought you folks might like a little perspective on the pilot that had so much trouble on that JetBlue flight last week. Here is my take on it.

First the "charges" levied by some schmuck in the federal prosecuters office. There is absloutely no way that this gent should be charged with anything. He is sick. Something snapped that day and he lost control of his thoughts to the point that the First Officer had to lock him out of the flight deck. The operative word here is sick. He will most likely be psycologically evaluated, given a lot of time off to recover and be back in the cockpit in a few months. I know that may sound a little scary but, in my humble opinion, he did nothing wrong. At least nothing that could not be explained medically. If he is deemed psychologically fit he will most likely return to flying in some capacity. If not, I am sad to say, he may have come to the end of his flying career. But it won't be a punitive dismissal. It will most likely be a medical retirement.

Now, for the First Officer (read copilot). Let me start by saying in the cockpit of a airliner on any given flight there is an air of seriousness and friendliness as two people who have met for the first time go about the business of preparing a flight for departure. The Captain may ask, casually, when a first officer was hired. This helps him get a picture of experience. It also creates what may be a common bond between the two pilots that they can talk about later i.e. what is your backround and what planes did you fly. All of this provides information to the Captain about the skills and experience of the First Officer.

Next: The First Officer and what it takes to lock the Captain out of a cockpit. Hint: Guts!

(Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that this entire story is based on news reports, which we all know can be dubious at best, my experience of almost 40 years as an aircrewman and a healthy dose of speculation. I cannot attest to any of the actual circumstances. I was not there.)

When we left off the Captain on the JetBlue flight had left the cockpit. On this flight, this is where the copilot must act on his belief that the Captain is acting in an irrational manner. The First Officer knows that the decision he is about to make, were it made on a ship on the high seas, would be tantamount to mutiny. Let me explain.

The flight crew structure is very similar to that of a seagoing vessel. The Captain is the first in command and the First Officer or copilot is the second in command. In the flight atendant group there is a lead FA that all others report to. In this structure, unless a Captain is commanding something unsafe, he or she is the boss. That is it. There is no one else with power or responsibilty that exceeds the Captain. This structure is strong and it works. It always starts with the Captain.

This preestablished hierarchy is ingrained in every crewmember from the very minute they start flying for an airline. The Captain is boss and to make any effort to usurp that authority can easliy lead to loss of pay or loss of job. Again, all of this is true unless the Captain is acting in a manner that is unsafe or unwarranted. Then the dynamic shifts.

The First Officer on this flight, apparently, had been listening to and watching the Captain for about 3 hours. Most likely, as a result of the radical and confused words by the Captain, the First Officer had already made up his mind about his course of action. He was now waiting for the Captain to leave the cockpit to use the restroom. As the door to the cockpit closed the First Officer probably locked the door immediately, which can be done from either seat in the cockpit simply by throwing a swtich. He most likely would have called ATC to declare an emergency and asked for vectors (direction) to the closeset airport, turning the aircraft in that direction with great dispatch. There is much to do in a case where an airliner changes it's destination so he had his hands full. At this point he is committed to keeping the Captain out of the cockpit and getting the plane down in the safest, most expeditious manner. Most likely his thoughts, aside from preparing the flight for descent and landing, are "God, let me be right!" There was a lot riding on it.

In the cabin of the aircraft, the lead flight attendant, may or not know what is going on. If the Captain was still in the bathroom, the First Officer would have called her to tell her what had transpired. He would have to make this quick with solid details so she could react accordingly. One thing she would know for certain, the First Officer was now in charge of this flight.

As the Captain exited the the restroom, whatever his thoughts were, he would most probably not be aware that the First Officer had locked him out or that the Lead F/A was going to assist the First Officer in keeping him out. As soon as he contacted the First Officer by interphone to tell him he was on his way back to the cockpit he would know he is locked out. Someone else has takien control of his aircraft. Allegedly he was already in an agitated state so the action by the First Officer most likely added fuel to the fire. It has been written that he pounded on the door of the flight deck and walked up and down the aisle of the aircraft speaking incoherently. At some point he became so disruptive that he had to be subdued by passengers. This would most probably been at the behest of the Lead F/A.

All of this would have been very upsetting to the passengers. That is a huge understatement. After they subdued the Captain I suspect the passengers directly involved sat back in their seats, hands shaking, voices quivering wondering what in the hell just happened. The First Officer was now the Captain and the Captain was in a seat in first class, most likely subdued by the plastic handcuffs carried on all airliners. At this point the thoughts of the passengers most certainly turned to "Can the guy who is now in charge really fly this thing alone?" That question would soon be answered.

Final chapter: The First Officer, the "other pilot" and the landing.

Last chapter.

The First Officer most likely would have his hands full at this point. Descending an aircraft to a predetermined altitude while inserting all of the necessary information into the computer would be tough enough with two pilots. But this guy has to talk with ATC for clearances, set altimeters to the proper barometric setting, complete the descent, approach and landing checklists and land the aircraft. He needed help.

Somewhere in the middle of all this a pilot who happened to be in the cabin, simply riding on a pass probably volunteered to help the First Officer. I believe the pilot worked for JetBlue, a saving grace because he would be most helpful to the First Officer if he new the JetBlue procedures. After a lot of scrutinizing of identification by the lead F/A the extra pilot would be allowed in the cockpit. He would probably sit in the Captain's seat, leaving the original First Officer in the right seat where he would be most comfortable flying. If the extra pilot was JetBlue employee he would pick up the routing fairly quickly and start to assist the original First Officer.

In the cabin the lead F/A would be preparing the passengers for landing. There would most likely be an edge to the way she went about business. None of the usual banter. All business. There was still the potential for serious problems if the First Officer was not able to complete all of the tasks or if he simply made a mistake and went off the end of the runway. A lot of things could still happen and the lead F/A would have to balance her preparation of the passengers, not alarming them any more than they already were. As well she would need to be ready for any incident that may occur. She would review her evacuation procedures as well. And then she would wait.

As the plane rolled out on final approach the First Officer would be flying. After all it is his aircraft and his responsibility. He may allow his thoughts to stray momentarily to what may happen when he gets to the gate. This will last but a second or two and he will wrench himself back to the moment and focus on landing the plane. On touchdown he would slow the plane to a safe taxi speed by using the brakes and reverse thrusters. Arrival at the gate promised utter chaos as he could see the police and medical staff in the jetway as he slowly brought the plane to a halt. Before the door opened the lead F/A would ask all passengers to remain seated until told to move.

It would depend on who as in charge of things on the jetway as to whether or not the medical staff would enter first or the police. Most likely it would be the police. It should be the medical people. They will talk with the Captain to assess his mental state. As you can see from the pictures in the news, he would be taken down a set of steps in handcuffs. A ludicrous gesture in my humble opinion.

The crew as well as the passengers who were directly involved in the subjugation of the Captain would be interviewed at length. Eventually they would all be let go to head off in various directions. The Captain would be headed first to the hospital, then to jail. A travesty.

So there you have it. How it could very well have "gone down" on the JetBlue flight. This situation is extremely rare. Personally, I feel for the Captain. And I hold the passengers, the lead F/A and above all, the First Officer in high regard. They did a spectacular job under very difficult circumstances.