Delta pilot, Captain Happy, loses it on ATL ground

My Dad was a pilot in the USAF for 26 years, and he told me that in the Air Force you had two kinds of A**hats, your "garden variety A**hat" and then the "Flaming A**hat". Sounds like this guy easily fits the criteria for the later member of the species. I don't know what the big deal is about making a "boo-boo" that doesn't cause an incursion or a loss of separation. The controller was just being polite, and helpful. I was a Captain on the 1900 and cannot tell you how many times I goofed coming into and out of our gates by the firehouse ( kinda confusing ). Controllers were always very cool about it. My cold sweat nightmare was being nose-to-nose with an AA 777!
 
Would sling shotting the offender in the face with the hand mic be acceptable?

Not exactly the same but somewhat similar...
1283941777_watermelon-slingshot-to-the-face.gif
 
Apparently, there's "more to the story" on frequency about what set him off, but nonetheless, he lost his cool and the story is probably far sexier than reality.

I guess.

I don't know.
 
Just saw it now on the front page of CNN. Also saw a near miss from Newark where a United 737 was cleared to land as anXjet was cleared to take off onan intersecting runway....Looked pretty close....
 
Jumping onto the Company computer system on a day off is a no-no. It breaks your "day off-ness". Good call.
Well, in all honesty, I do go on icrew on days off, but that is to check out open time and the swap board in order to improve my schedule. That is important work. Looking up dbags is wasteful keystrokes.

What I do find interesting in all this is that ground ops comms are usually all done by the FO. Rarely does the CA interact with ground. If it was the FO, I sure hope the Bossman had a "Come to Jesus" talk with him.
 
Well, in all honesty, I do go on icrew on days off, but that is to check out open time and the swap board in order to improve my schedule. That is important work. Looking up dbags is wasteful keystrokes.
Permissible. Speaking of OT, I should glance at that. (Oh wait. Can't exchange. No reserves. Nevermind.)

What I do find interesting in all this is that ground ops comms are usually all done by the FO. Rarely does the CA interact with ground. If it was the FO, I sure hope the Bossman had a "Come to Jesus" talk with him.
On the rare occasion that I hear a Captain on ground, they sound almost lost or scared. ;)
 
While this is all back-channel stuff and I never think losing your cool over the radio is ever appropriate unless, of course, making some sardonic reference to Greek mythology.

Unconfirmed and I have no idea but I guess the flight had been jacked around, forgotten about and issued nonstandard (???) taxi instructions, all to give another airline preferential treatment and he just had it.

I have no idea if it's true, that the backstory has any validity and even if so, it does not condone the behavior.
 
Unconfirmed and I have no idea but I guess the flight had been jacked around, forgotten about and issued nonstandard (???) taxi instructions, all to give another airline preferential treatment and he just had it..

ATL giving preferential treatment to another airline and not the "home team?"

That sounds odd. Like said home team airline serving Pepsi products onboard instead of Coke. :)

:tinfoil:
 
I fly a turboprop, and get the second-class citizen treatment all the time, so kinda used to it...:-) Obviously, we don't have the full story, but if You listen to the entire 30 minutes, I cannot detect any deviations from the normal instructions issued by the controller. In fact, the controller responded the way he was trained if a crew didn't follow ATC instructions. We all can have a bad day, bad week, bad career, etc...But the appropriate response would have been to acknowledge the error and request a progressive taxi:-)
Seriously, I think that the pilot should be counseled on proper use of the ATC/Pilot phraseology as laud out in the ATC/Pilot glossary and have an informal meeting with the controller over a friendly cup of coffee and clear the air a bit in interest of fostering a positive relationship between flight crews at the airline and ATC. An event like this can go a long way in a very short period of time to destroy a positive, cordial and professional atmosphere.
 
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