UPS MD-11 crash at SDF

In a report about an F-22 crash at Tyndall they laid part of the blame on me (anonymously and non-punitively) claiming I didn’t pass info to the controller working the scope (I was the assist) because it wasn’t on the tapes. They failed to mention that I was sitting right next to him and could talk to him like a human being, or that he said I did tell him and he was fully aware of what I told him but it was contradictory to what the pilot told him. So yeah, my opinion of military accident investigations is…low.

(On check in pilot used the wrong callsign to identify the emergency aircraft, resulting in the non-emergency landing first and the actual emergency getting extended vectors. Neither pilot questioned anything we did while they were in the air, including the non-emergency aircraft given the emergency discreet frequency).
Um, well...if you don't help yourself, there, pilot, how can anyone else be expected to help you?

EDIT: Also out of curiosity, is 'loop discipline' (as in you talk to each other on headsets, even if you are sitting right next to each other) a thing in air traffic control/etc. facilities?
 


I was wondering if the NTSB's video operations/etc. were actually up and running during the shutdown. They are. Member Inman gives the initial briefing.
 
Um, well...if you don't help yourself, there, pilot, how can anyone else be expected to help you?

EDIT: Also out of curiosity, is 'loop discipline' (as in you talk to each other on headsets, even if you are sitting right next to each other) a thing in air traffic control/etc. facilities?

Technically if you’re on the scope over, yes you’re supposed to for the sake of the recording. However, as the assist, I don’t have a physical way of calling the person I’m assisting over the headset.
 
Technically if you’re on the scope over, yes you’re supposed to for the sake of the recording. However, as the assist, I don’t have a physical way of calling the person I’m assisting over the headset.
I'd imagine the stereo nature of "NE yelling in my ear while being put in my other ear via interphone" would drive people nuts too.
 
All I can say is that when I was doing contract stuff with UPS in SDF during my AMF days UPS was very uncoordinated. I doubt that is the case with their MX but I have had to deal with a range of issues.

A few examples:
Getting assigned ramp spaces were they are storing empty cargo cans.

Having rampers attempt to load my plane without weighing the boxes.

Consistently late arrival of cargo to the plane. Sometimes several hours late.


I get it. My metro was small time compared to a 757 but I would argue this is where you really see how good an operation truly is. If the small stuff runs as well as the big stuff that is to be respected.

Surprisingly DHL in CVG seemed far more consistent.

This was 13 years ago though. Things may have changed.
Oddly enough I was working an Ameriflight contract. I took a break from full time work and full time school because I was getting burnt out. I'd been working 40hrs/wk as a line guy at KBUR and going to school 35hrs/wk and I heard Ameriflight was looking to hire part time evening workers on weekdays to support UPS when they started flying a 757 into and out of KBUR so I tossed my hat in the ring. I might've been the only applicant that already had an airport badge. Part of my interview was driving a brand new 50,000lb tug pushing the 757 tow bar. Moving airplanes around at that point was second nature so tootling down the service road pushing the tow bar without jack knifing it was easy and I impressed the interviewer enough that I was offered the job on the spot. That was before they actually started operations but I said goodbye to my line service friends and jumped on board for a massive amount of training regarding policy, shipping regulations and a bunch of other nonsense (ever heard of ORM-D?). I also learned UPS is actually two different companies and their junior managers will do anything required to move up regardless of morality. One of their dorks drove a red '74 Corvette and my partner in crime in the tug (the person who'd unhook the tow bar on the taxiway) was a salty lady older than me with a sharp tongue. She had a family to take care of and this was her second job just to make ends meet, she hated the dork in the Corvette and would constantly tell him she was sorry about his dick. It took forever for him to catch on and he started showing up in some late model econobox. In retrospect it was a lot of fun. Maybe because we were starting a new base for UPS they were adamant about how things were done and we adhered to their policies. Except for one night when I broke barehanded the seal on a container so the crew could load the boxes into the FWD belly and cut the first two fingers on one hand down to the bone and started bleeding everywhere. They took me into the hangar to wrap my hand up and then realized I was the only person who'd ever pushed that loaded 757 through the uphill 180 degree turn onto the taxiway. I can remember being a bit woozy as I pushed the airplane up the hill and my salty partner questioning about my well being but we pushed the airplane and once I'd parked the tug I was put in a truck and whisked away to a hospital where I received a bunch of stitches. This was during push and it was a Friday night, I'd been planning to go to Big Bear directly after work to meet some friends and go snowboarding and I mentioned that to the doctor, he said that's not happening, stitched me up and wrapped my first two fingers in enough gauze that I had a temporary peace sign gesture. When I got back to the airport I jumped in my truck and drove to Big Bear, but that's a story for another day...

UPSco is gnarly and does not accept incompetence. I also think they changed the policy to require everyone to wear work gloves on the ramp.
 
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