BA hero pilot plans to quit in disgust (unfair treatment)

[tonyw]

PTSD exists. And it can be caused by a single incident.

Let's not go pooh poohing something that is a serious disorder

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdo...dsm_iv_tr.html

[NJT916]

Originally Posted by v1valarob

I'd just sit back, let the salary I am receiving come in and just hang out.

-Rob

Sounds like a good excuse for a Power Hour!!

[Tiger815]

Originally Posted by tonyw

PTSD exists. And it can be caused by a single incident.

Let's not go pooh poohing something that is a serious disorder

http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdo...dsm_iv_tr.html

I didn't say I didn't think it existed. I said I think the mental health profession has a vested interest in making sure there are lots and lots of cases for them to treat and they are quite clearly being successful selling their snake oil.

By way of example, when I was in Grade School there was no such thing as ADD. Still we somehow learned what we needed to learn and became productive adults. Now a large percentage of kids are diagnosed with ADD and are sometimes prescribed drugs that would disqualify them from some professions later in life, flying among them.

[tonyw]

Originally Posted by Tiger815

By way of example, when I was in Grade School there was no such thing as ADD.

Yes, because back then it was called hyperactivity.

As we learn more, we realize, oh, crap, I just thought that guy was weird but he's got a medical problem which can be resolved with treatment.

I'm sure you'll agree it's better to do that than to say, ah, he's a big pansy and he can't get over the war. Screw him, he just needs to man up.

[Rocketman99]

Nah. I still say he's just a big pansy and needs to man up. Modern society is a bunch of wussies. slight

[Hacker15e]

Originally Posted by Tiger815

Not to hijack the thread but, PTSD seems to me to be an epidemic these days. One has to wonder how the WWII generation was ever able to come home from their experience and lead the greatest wave of accomplishment in history, what with all their undiagnosed PTSD.

+1

I think it's very easy for people who have not been in a combat situation to assume the validity of PTSD claims. Personally, I think there is a decent chunk of them that, to put in like previous posters, just need to man up and deal with the fact that they've been in combat, seen atrocities, been sad, stressed, scared, etc...and then go on with their life.

Of course it is a real affliction and is serious...but the over-application of the term is getting ridiculous. The numbers of guys coming home from OEF and OIF claiming PTSD make me shake my skull, as compared to similar soldiers in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, etc. Those conflicts had their numbers (call 'em "shell shock" or whatever you want), but it was not nearly in the same numbers as today.

Naturally there is the effect of better diagnosis today than then, but to say that the war today is any more stressful than wars in the past is just insane in itself.

So, how's this relate to the BA pilot? I'm having a tough time buying his PTSD, but that is just IMHO. I haven't had engines fail on short final while commanding a full 777, but I've had equally life-risking stressful events while flying a fighter, and I think that a person's personal attitude toward the situation has an immense impact on how it affects them.

[CE525BGuy]

I think poeple forget that the cost of living in England is twice as much as it is in the states. The pay cut had to hurt.

[Hacker15e]

Originally Posted by CE525BGuy

I think poeple forget that the cost of living in England is twice as much as it is in the states. The pay cut had to hurt.

No kidding.

[falconvalley]

Everybody deals with stress differently. The man may actually have been spazzed by that event. I've flown with people who are fine until the stress level goes above normal. Who knows. He also isn't earning the pay he would be normally entitled to and it's normal for someone to be mad about that. It's also typical of the media to just generalize what actually is happening and not go into detail. Leave out a few words and you have to fill in the blanks. Can completely change the story. This might be standard for how the company handles the situation. I would be pissed anyway. That's alot of money to not be made. He's missing out on almost 3 times my salary!!!............

[WacoFan]

Ernest Gann wrote a great book called The High and the Mighty and a movie with John Wayne. I believe (if I remember correctly) that the Captain wigs out, and the FO has to save the day. That may be the case here as to why the FO, who I thought landed the plane, is back to flying, and the Captain is not. He may have said something that was picked up by the CVR where he panicked or something when the engines quit, and the FO kept calm and landed the plane. Just a hypothesis as to why the FO is flying and the Captain isn't. If they had both performed the same way, you would think they would both be flying, or both grounded. Just a thought.

[Hacker15e]

Originally Posted by WacoFan

If they had both performed the same way, you would think they would both be flying, or both grounded. Just a thought.

Except for the fact that the AC has the final command authority for the safe conduct of the flight. He is the one who is actually responsible.

If they're (BA) still trying to figure out "what happened?", then it does not surprise me at all that he's still not flying. That's standard business in the AF, to be gounded while awaiting the results of a post accident investigation.

[WacoFan]

Originally Posted by Hacker15e

Except for the fact that the AC has the final command authority for the safe conduct of the flight. He is the one who is actually responsible.

If they're (BA) still trying to figure out "what happened?", then it does not surprise me at all that he's still not flying. That's standard business in the AF, to be gounded while awaiting the results of a post accident investigation.

Thanks for the reply - would the AF ground the whole flight crew, or just the aircraft commander? Appreciate your service and thanks.

[Doug Taylor]

Originally Posted by CE525BGuy

I think poeple forget that the cost of living in England is twice as much as it is in the states. The pay cut had to hurt.

Hell yeah. Even at the layover hotel, "Happy Hour" means 4GBP beer.

Woo hoo! Right? Umm, that's like $8! DOH!

Belieeeeeeeeeve me. I don't care how much money a person makes. A double digit percentage pay cut is devastating on your budget.