How would you answer these interview questions?

[bdhill1979]

Were talking about a Very ill patient in the back, for discussion purposes we're assuming the worst..:banghead:

In an EMS situation "every patient is the same"; that is straight out of the textbook.

There is no quantification of "ill" or "Very Ill" or "at deaths door"

You do it the same every time.

 

[Keefe Overby]

numbers two:I would use that 4X4 truck to move the snow or make a path in the snow,by backin up and repeating the process a few times that should compact the snow enough to use the tug.number one:scrub,number three,divert.

 

[Nick]

In an EMS situation "every patient is the same"; that is straight out of the textbook.

There is no quantification of "ill" or "Very Ill" or "at deaths door"

You do it the same every time.

Exactly.

Which brings me back to what I said about standardization.

Whoever it was replied that there are "a bunch of freakin robots out there."

Really, that is what you want. You do not want a bunch of pilots flying around that ignore selected rules on the spot based on the situation. This is a pretty basic concept.

The rules weren't established on a snowy ramp, or a rainy night with a patient in the plane and a light out, or any other situation.

The rules were created in some room with a discussion amongst people who were not being swayed by the criticality of a situation in front of them.

 

[Itchy]

Robots probably would never bust minimums to "have a look".

 

[butt]

Maybe you aren't dead, yet. Do you know what caused the nav light to be out? What if there is a short in the wiring that didn't cause the breaker to pop?

Where do you draw the line between the regs that are breakable and ones that aren't?

Discretion. Its what makes us professionals. We aren't paid to cancel flights. We are paid to get the flight done safely. If a pilot goes around canceling flight every time some little thing breaks, that pilot's paycheck receiving days will soon come to an end.

If you're a weekend warrior who flies 3 times a month, having a hard line "I will never ever ever break a regulation no matter how banal" mentality may be OK, since all that is ever at stake is your enjoyment, but more is expected from professionals.

Also it should be noted that the odds of you getting caught breaking just about any regulation is very, very, slim to begin with. Even if you took off every single night from a busy Class B airport without navs, it's still relatively unlikely you'd ever get caught.

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Discretion. Its what makes us professionals. We aren't paid to cancel flights. We are paid to get the flight done safely. If a pilot goes around canceling flight every time some little thing breaks, that pilot's paycheck receiving days will soon come to an end.

Sounds like you fly for a crap company if they expect you to fly aircraft that aren't airworthy.

 

[Keefe Overby]

your not breaking the law until you get caught!

 

[Itchy]

If a pilot goes around canceling flight every time some little thing breaks, that pilot's paycheck receiving days will soon come to an end.

If that is the attitude imparted to you from your company, safety is taking a very serious backseat. Get out.
If that is your attitude, time to re-evaluate what safety is.

Judging from your willingness to bust minimums, I can hazard a guess.
[Edit: Read: Professionals do not bust minimums.]

Any operator that is worthwhile will greatly appreciate discretion over risk *EVERY TIME*.

I have seen inop stickers on broken coffee cup holders. The MEL works. If it is not MEL'able, then there is a reason for that.

 

[butt]

Any operator that is worthwhile will greatly appreciate discretion over risk *EVERY TIME*.

My point is that there is a limit to all this. Is any worthwhile operator going to be OK with you canceling a flight any time you see a chip in the paint?

Lets say your personal minimums are 5000 ceiling and 7 miles visibility. Is any worthwhile operator going to be happy when you tell them you aren't going because the weather is 4500 OVC 5SM?

Being a professional means not taking on more risk that you can handle, it doesn't mean not taking on any risk at all. Also part of being a professional is having a good grasp on where your limits are. It seems a lot of people in this thread really don't know what they are able to handle to not, so they just default to whatever the regs say.

 

[butt]

[Edit: Read: Professionals do not bust minimums.

There is a difference between "busting" minimums, and exceeding minimums. An ambulance driver that blasts through a busy intersection at 6mph is what I would refer to "busting" that regulation. An ambulance driver who slows down, increases his awareness and alertness, and goes through an intersection carefully when the light in red, is what I would call "exceeding minimums". Do you see the difference. I never have, and never will "bust" a regulation in that respect. Nor should any other professional.

 

[Itchy]

My point is that there is a limit to all this. Is any worthwhile operator going to be OK with you canceling a flight any time you see a chip in the paint?

Lets say your personal minimums are 5000 ceiling and 7 miles visibility. Is any worthwhile operator going to be happy when you tell them you aren't going because the weather is 4500 OVC 5SM?

Being a professional means not taking on more risk that you can handle, it doesn't mean not taking on any risk at all. Also part of being a professional is having a good grasp on where your limits are. It seems a lot of people in this thread really don't know what they are able to handle to not, so they just default to whatever the regs say.

Do you mind if I ask how long you have been in the business?

That is just plain wrong. You cannot go around deciding on "what you can handle" and interpolating that into your daily operation. You fly by the regs and company manual and not much else.

An unfortunate truth to this business is that it is more about what you can't do than what you can.

 

[Itchy]

There is a difference between "busting" minimums, and exceeding minimums. An ambulance driver that blasts through a busy intersection at 6mph is what I would refer to "busting" that regulation. An ambulance driver who slows down, increases his awareness and alertness, and goes through an intersection carefully when the light in red, is what I would call "exceeding minimums". Do you see the difference. I never have, and never will "bust" a regulation in that respect. Nor should any other professional.

Just to refresh your memory...

The same goes for when I fly "outside the rules". If I'm doing an instrument approach and MDA seems to be the exact same altitude of the ceiling; you know, when you can see below you the ground, but can't see in front of you... Do I do a missed approach and screw over all the passengers as well as my company? No. If I see nothing but solid white at MDA, I do a missed, but if I can see the ground below me, and I am familiar with the area, and am certain I can handle going down a few more feel, I'll do so. If I don't see it, I'll go missed.

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

Do you mind if I ask how long you have been in the business?

That is just plain wrong. You cannot go around deciding on "what you can handle" and interpolating that into your daily operation. You fly by the regs and company manual and not much else.

An unfortunate truth to this business is that it is more about what you can't do than what you can.

We had a flight instructor killed last year. The report is still pending, even a year later, (November 15th), but previous students told us he liked to do aerobatics in our airplanes, unbeknown to us. He thought he knew what his "limits" were....

http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20071119X01812&key=1

All indications point to intentional spins in an aircraft that wasn't approved for them.

 

[Goonie]

soo I'm sitting here on a trip with the chief pilot of my side job and asked him this question...

His response( and he has conducted hundreds of interviews)

"haha...a nav light? Of course you take off! Declare an emergency, use your pic authority! No FAA inspector in the world would waste their time with this."

It would be interesting to get the FAAs take on this. Maybe I'll ask my POI next time I see him.

 

[butt]

Do you mind if I ask how long you have been in the business?

That is just plain wrong. You cannot go around deciding on "what you can handle" and interpolating that into your daily operation. You fly by the regs and company manual and not much else.

An unfortunate truth to this business is that it is more about what you can't do than what you can.

What do you do in an emergency? Company rules and FAA regulations go out the window.

You've lost an engine in a Seminole, and it's solid IFR at your destination. You don't have enough fuel to divert. Density altitude is 8000ft. You're either going to have to risk going below minimums to land, or risk doing a single engine go-around with mountains around you and very poor engine performance. What do you feel better about doing? A go-around on very little power, or going below minimums? You fly instrument approaches to minimums every day, but it's been months since you've last done any single engine work. What do you do?

This question is irrelevant because either situation should be equally safe/dangerous because they both require deviations from company policy and/or regulations, right?

 

[CoffeeIcePapers]

What do you do in an emergency? Company rules and FAA regulations go out the window.

You've lost an engine in a Seminole, and it's solid IFR at your destination. You don't have enough fuel to divert. Density altitude is 8000ft. You're either going to have to risk going below minimums to land, or risk doing a single engine go-around with mountains around you and very poor engine performance. What do you feel better about doing? A go-around on very little power, or going below minimums? You fly instrument approaches to minimums every day, but it's been months since you've last done any single engine work. What do you do?

This question is irrelevant because either situation should be equally safe/dangerous because they both require deviations from company policy and/or regulations, right?

That is a true emergency, divert as necessary. A patient on the ground before you step in the aircraft is not an emergency.

 

[Itchy]

In an emergency, everything goes out the window, and you do what you have to do.

Quite a bit different than getting your passengers to their destination even if the cloud deck was 30' to low.

 

[DPApilot]

If GoJet called me for interview today would I go? Yes

Did I bust my CFI checkride twice? Yes

Was I really bumed and needed some support? Yes

Did an immature little kid spread all kind of stories of me breaking regs on the internet because I was trying to pay it forward and have noone else go through the experience I had at IAA? Yes

Do I think I know everything about Aviation? Absolutely not...not even close...however it is pretty clear to me not to break a reg. I think I learned that day 1.

again, where in this thread did i say anything about you and IAA?

everyone has a bad flight school experience, as did i at American Flyers, bad CFI. but thats the CFI, not the school.. oh well. i think flyers is great but they are way overpriced, or else id probably still be there. but thats besides the point.

now notice you still ignore the initial question?

 

[Nick]

soo I'm sitting here on a trip with the chief pilot of my side job and asked him this question...

His response( and he has conducted hundreds of interviews)

"haha...a nav light? Of course you take off! Declare an emergency, use your pic authority! No FAA inspector in the world would waste their time with this."

Illogical reasoning on his part.

Declaring an emergency on the ground due to payload is not something the PIC has the authority to do.

Second thing -- this is no emergency.

This is routine operations due to the nature of the carrier.


Still, nobody has answered my question:

Why should the pilot be expected to put their certificates at risk simply because their company does not have enough procedures in places to get the flight going without breaking rules?

 

[Michael95U]

again, where in this thread did i say anything about you and IAA?

everyone has a bad flight school experience, as did i at American Flyers, bad CFI. but thats the CFI, not the school.. oh well. i think flyers is great but they are way overpriced, or else id probably still be there. but thats besides the point.

now notice you still ignore the initial question?

C'mon guys. Let's try to stay on point here.