Aborted Take Off

[Hawks]

I am just probably ranting, but I thought I would write it here anyways.

Today the winds in south Nevada were pretty strong. I was able to get my first load of skydivers up with out too much of a hitch. Load number 2, I am on my take off roll, pretty gnarly cross wind, I have both left aileron and rudder in this thing and I am still drifting right so I killed it, exited and told my skydivers I was going to give it another go, they weren't keen on it, so we called it a day, because they have to land in this crap with parachutes....Fast forward

The boss man is getting on my case because I aborted my take off. I told him the conditions, and he wasn't having it. He gave me a lecture on how we need the revenue etc...I told him, at that point screw the revenue, my decision was based on safety concerns. Better to scream about a few bucks then have an incident or accident...

This is not the only time I recieved a truck load of crap for making a decision like this. I do not need to start second guessing my self.

Is this the crap you deal with while you are building flight time?

One of our jump masters told me I am getting schooled on cross wind take offs and landings tomorrow. I'd better bite my tounge or else...

[minitour]

Originally Posted by Hawks

Is this the crap you deal with while you are building flight time?

Hell, I deal with that kind of crap on a regular basis. Like "why didn't you just top off and do it non-stop?" or "why did you divert with the weather -1/4 and VV001?" or my personal favorite "why did you cruise at FL320 instead of FL400 on that 300 mile flight?".

I bite my tongue and do the right thing. Keeps me legal, keeps me safe, job be damned.

-mini

[Douglas]

Sucks dude, but there are good bosses out there of low time pilots. Few..but out there.

[jhugz]

I no longer do BFR's because of these types of shenanigans.

[Mike H]

Wasn't it the skydivers' decision to not go up after you offered to try again? Bossman's complaint is with them, not you.

[E_Dawg]

Seems the lower time you have the more likely you are to deal with BS like this, exactly when you need it least. I had one flight school that wanted me to keep flying a plane that constantly redlined the oil temp, but they refused to fix. I just told my students not to book that plane any more. Not a great way to inspire confidence in the flight school, but then that was their choice.

[ppragman]

Just remember, in the eyes of most managers, you are expendable. Ohh, that and getting this one flight out matters more than anything else in the whole wide world, ron. So far, I've been lucky, and have worked as PIC for two pretty good places.

[JKJCKSN]

Originally Posted by Mike H

Wasn't it the skydivers' decision to not go up after you offered to try again? Bossman's complaint is with them, not you.

I concur with Mike, H; your boss made a bad call on this one.

For all we know, you might of made a successful second-attempt on take-off, made it up to altitude, and your skydivers might of still called it off due to winds, costing your boss even more money for the fuel expended, etc.

Hope you ain't losing any sleep over this.

[minitour]

I did a low speed abort today (<80 knots) for a stuck bleed valve. Boss man is bitching up a storm. Sorry, but I don't want the engine to esplode because I didn't want to do an abort cruising through 70 knots on an 8,000' runway.

Don't like it? Find someone else to fly.

*Ran the checklist and it was fine after that*

-mini

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by minitour

I did a low speed abort today (<80 knots) for a stuck bleed valve. Boss man is bitching up a storm. Sorry, but I don't want the engine to esplode because I didn't want to do an abort cruising through 70 knots on an 8,000' runway.

Don't like it? Find someone else to fly.

*Ran the checklist and it was fine after that*

-mini

Good thing you never flew the 35s at Airnet.

[minitour]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

Good thing you never flew the 35s at Airnet.

Do stuck bleed valves in lears lead to red flashy things?

-mini

[mikecweb]

Originally Posted by minitour

Do stuck bleed valves in lears lead to red flashy things?

-mini

Burnt ankles.

[TUCKnTRUCK]

I swear thats why the 1900 was never allowed to depart with bleeds on. They wanted us flying before we discovered a problem...

And so what.. the take off wasn't safe.. Why push it? stop and wait for the wind to sort out a bit

[minitour]

Originally Posted by mikecweb

Burnt ankles.

Ah no this wasn't just an uncomfy cabin. ...we talked to a crew in BFE alabama that had that happen. By the time they got it turned around and back to the field, the pax had their shirts off and were playing Poker.

Apparently our wing A/I valve stuck open, sucking the air away from the engines and causing our "HEY LOOK" ITT light to flash red at me...so we stopped rather than cook the engine. At least that's the diagnosis I gave it after running the checklist and consulting with mx. They concur.

The boss said we should have just retarded the left throttle and continued.

...at 70 knots. Way below V1.

.........yeah.

I wish I was joking.

-mini

[flyingmaniac]

I think that you should record your conversations with your boss to provide a legal discussion for yourself if you get fired. If that doesn't work keep a written book of your discussions with your employer.

Lawyers like to see a history of bad things happening.

Just my 2 pennies.

[Hawks]

Originally Posted by flyingmaniac

I think that you should record your conversations with your boss to provide a legal discussion for yourself if you get fired. If that doesn't work keep a written book of your discussions with your employer.

Lawyers like to see a history of bad things happening.

Just my 2 pennies.

I like that, I keeping having run ins. Some just petty crap, but some are bigger in nature. I'll go buy a book tomorrow. It would also be a good idea to keep track of other things around the job, like ancillary stuff I do for extra cash, like pack chutes and do video edits.

[minitour]

Originally Posted by flyingmaniac

I think that you should record your conversations with your boss to provide a legal discussion for yourself if you get fired. If that doesn't work keep a written book of your discussions with your employer.

Lawyers like to see a history of bad things happening.

Just my 2 pennies.

Normally he sends these wonderful ideas via text message to my phone or via email to my blackberry................which are forwarded to my own personal email address for safe keeping.

The certificate holder, OTOH....they put NOTHING in writing. Smart. Very smart.

Down side is he can't really "Fire" me since I'm a "contractor"...but yes, I see your point and I've definitely been doing that for a while now.

It's a shame the owners of the plane don't understand what a smoking hole looks like......until he becomes one. I just worry about who he's going to take with him.

Thank God 1) I'm willing for him to "fire" me for saying "no" and 2) the pay is "better 'n average".

-mini

[Hawks]

Originally Posted by jhugz

I no longer do BFR's because of these types of shenanigans.

"Hey Farva, what is that restaurant with all the goofy on the walls you like to go to?" "Shenanigans?"

[jhugz]

Originally Posted by Hawks

"Hey Farva, what is that restaurant with all the goofy on the walls you like to go to?" "Shenanigans?"

[PeterPilot]

Originally Posted by Hawks

It would also be a good idea to keep track of other things around the job, like ancillary stuff I do for extra cash, like pack chutes and do video edits.

Hopefully you have a parachute rigger certificate if you are repacking parachutes.

Typically if the winds are too strong for the pilot, they are way too strong for the skydiver. However, leaning towards the side of safety in decision making is one of the keys to having a long and happy life.

[Hawks]

Originally Posted by PeterPilot

Hopefully you have a parachute rigger certificate if you are repacking parachutes.

You do not have to be a parachute rigger to pack parachutes...you can be "supervised" by an appropriately rated parachute rigger...but yes I am a rigger, seat & back rated.

[NC_BE300]

Originally Posted by jhugz

awesome find great movie

+1 point

[Nigel Croker]

Sounds to me like you did exactly the right thing, Good call

[Fr8dog44]

Unfortunately, what you experienced with your boss is all to common. I personally have MANY ecounters/stories of being reprimanded for excersizing caution and safety. The bosses aren't the ones flying those planes, you are! If you crash and burn, they blame you! You were never instructed by the company to fly that way!!!Also, you're not there to defend yourself! And there's always insurance to cover the costs! Owners only care about one thing and one thing only, MONEY!!! And how much YOU can make for THEM! And, as the economy worsens, so do they!

If you think what you went through was bad, wait until you do 24/7/365 on demand charter and refuse to fly because your duty time is about to run out, or you're going past your daily 10 hours of flying time and need to stop to get your 10 ours of rest!

Many owners don't realize you can't make tons of money in aviation. But they believe they can and if you can't do that for them, they'll just fire your ass and get some other over-eager-beaver-nieve pilot willing to step into your shoes.

I hate to sound negative but this is today's world of aviation. It's gotten just like every other job. It can even now be a dead-end job!

Hopefully you can find that one in a million operator who will treat you like a human being!

[jynxyjoe]

Originally Posted by Hawks

I am just probably ranting, but I thought I would write it here anyways.

Today the winds in south Nevada were pretty strong. I was able to get my first load of skydivers up with out too much of a hitch. Load number 2, I am on my take off roll, pretty gnarly cross wind, I have both left aileron and rudder in this thing and I am still drifting right so I killed it, exited and told my skydivers I was going to give it another go, they weren't keen on it, so we called it a day, because they have to land in this crap with parachutes....Fast forward

The boss man is getting on my case because I aborted my take off. I told him the conditions, and he wasn't having it. He gave me a lecture on how we need the revenue etc...I told him, at that point screw the revenue, my decision was based on safety concerns. Better to scream about a few bucks then have an incident or accident...

This is not the only time I recieved a truck load of crap for making a decision like this. I do not need to start second guessing my self.

Is this the crap you deal with while you are building flight time?

One of our jump masters told me I am getting schooled on cross wind take offs and landings tomorrow. I'd better bite my tounge or else...

Cannot maintain directional control on takeoff. The very definition of a reason to abort. You did the right thing.

Just nod and smile and keep your job. Unfortunately crap companies are where you just have to nod and smile or else the paycheck goes bye-bye. Good luck.