mrezee
Living the dream!
I'm a dispatcher, not a pilot, but this is based on a real incident that happened at my regional last year.
After a min-rest overnight due to a bad IROP the previous day, you hop off the hotel shuttle at the small outstation terminal to operate your flight back to the hub. Walking up to the gate, you see that the flight is delayed 90 minutes; the inbound aircraft hasn't even left the hub yet. Tired and hungry, you head over to the bar-restaurant next to the gate and sit down to have some lunch as well as a large glass of Coke to perk you back up.
The aircraft finally arrives and you head over to the gate, stepping behind the podium to pick up the release. You don't see some cables on the floor running from the computers back to the wall, so you stumble a little bit as you step over them. You and the rest of the crew head down to the aircraft, preflight the aircraft, and boarding begins.
While you're programming the FMS, the forward flight attendant approaches you. A pax that just stepped on the aircraft is demanding to speak to you and ask if you have been drinking. The basis of her accusation is unknown; maybe she saw you drinking (a Coke) at the restaurant, or stumble when getting the paperwork, or both? Or maybe she saw neither, and she's just a very anxious, infrequent flier that recently read a news article about the inebriated AA pilot that was just arrested in Manchester, UK. Regardless, you haven't had a drink in 3 days. But the passenger is refusing to sit down until she knows.
So do you speak to the passenger and tell her you're not intoxicated? Or do you decline to speak to her at all and have the flight attendant tell her that everything is fine? Do you ask the station supervisor or GSC to talk to the passenger? Or do you ask the airport police to perform a breathalyzer test on you, proving your sobriety yet taking a massive delay? Note that this particular airline takes their social media presence very seriously, so if she posts anything on social media regarding the incident, you'll most likely be hearing from the chief pilot.
You're the Captain, what do you do?
[Note: I'm not sure of the actual outcome of this incident as it was handled by the on-duty pilot in our SOC, but I do know the Captain was able to operate the flight.]
After a min-rest overnight due to a bad IROP the previous day, you hop off the hotel shuttle at the small outstation terminal to operate your flight back to the hub. Walking up to the gate, you see that the flight is delayed 90 minutes; the inbound aircraft hasn't even left the hub yet. Tired and hungry, you head over to the bar-restaurant next to the gate and sit down to have some lunch as well as a large glass of Coke to perk you back up.
The aircraft finally arrives and you head over to the gate, stepping behind the podium to pick up the release. You don't see some cables on the floor running from the computers back to the wall, so you stumble a little bit as you step over them. You and the rest of the crew head down to the aircraft, preflight the aircraft, and boarding begins.
While you're programming the FMS, the forward flight attendant approaches you. A pax that just stepped on the aircraft is demanding to speak to you and ask if you have been drinking. The basis of her accusation is unknown; maybe she saw you drinking (a Coke) at the restaurant, or stumble when getting the paperwork, or both? Or maybe she saw neither, and she's just a very anxious, infrequent flier that recently read a news article about the inebriated AA pilot that was just arrested in Manchester, UK. Regardless, you haven't had a drink in 3 days. But the passenger is refusing to sit down until she knows.
So do you speak to the passenger and tell her you're not intoxicated? Or do you decline to speak to her at all and have the flight attendant tell her that everything is fine? Do you ask the station supervisor or GSC to talk to the passenger? Or do you ask the airport police to perform a breathalyzer test on you, proving your sobriety yet taking a massive delay? Note that this particular airline takes their social media presence very seriously, so if she posts anything on social media regarding the incident, you'll most likely be hearing from the chief pilot.
You're the Captain, what do you do?
[Note: I'm not sure of the actual outcome of this incident as it was handled by the on-duty pilot in our SOC, but I do know the Captain was able to operate the flight.]
