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Originally Posted by BeechBoy  he specifically pointed out that he was displeased that I shared my "outside information" and "personal opinions" with dispatch. |
This statement bothers me the most. Your DO is obviously a tool. Your POI probably knows this. Being a tool though makes him dangerous. Your best hope is that he gets a job before this gets much bigger. That probably won't happen though because he is a tool. Anyway, your dispatcher is part of the team. The 3 of you, (Capt, FO and Dispatcher) are required to operate the aircraft. You are SUPPOSE to share your concerns with him/her.
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Originally Posted by BeechBoy 3. They were just about to change ATIS as we were getting in range. The brand new ATIS also was broadcasting -FZRA (this condition continued until approx 9pm - the incident took place at 2pm). |
Forcasts are BS but the actual is very important. Do you have a copy? If not, get one.
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Originally Posted by BeechBoy 4. I agree 100% that they have the right to question the decision. The thing that's frustrating is that the manufacturer says, "Takeoff into freezing rain, including light freezing rain is not permitted". How much clearer does it need to be. Instead of admitting they were wrong they just say that they disagree with that interpretation of the warning and will attempt to get it retracted. Also, I've spoken with 3 former research pilots from NASA who have extensive experience doing icing research (they fly the Twin Otter in those NASA training videos). All three of those guys said that I absolutely did the right thing and that even "light" freezing rain has plenty of moisture to potentially cause very serious trouble. |
I too believe you were 100% correct IF you can produce the document that says it is prohibited. That should be your get out of jail card.
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Originally Posted by BeechBoy I agree with your comment about 99/100 pilots doing something differently. In ground school certain limitations are highlighted as being especially important and must be committed to memory (i.e. airspeeds, ITT limits, etc). This icing limitation was not among them. I just happened to stumble across it when I was browsing the AFM. I'm sure there are pilots at Skyway who are not even aware of it or, if they are, are not fully aware of the danger that SLD icing can cause and decide to play the odds. Thus we've created an environment of, "we've always done it that way". (Funny how they actually use that lame argument as an excuse). |
Ice can be a real problem. We lost an aircraft at my airline back in '89 for tail icing. It was a Jetstream and it crashed as soon as they selected full flaps.
The problem you are going to have in this situation is that even if you win, and I believe you will, the D.O. is going to look foolish. He'll be pissed and probably look for some way to get you in the future. It is time to move along if you can.
Alternatively you should look to defuse this situation by letting him save face if possible. Perhaps he is not aware of the written prohibition about flying in to know freezing rain. If he won't budge you are going to have to go to war. Just be prepared for lots of lying on his part. I've seen this kind of thing before and it can get very ugly.
Good luck.