Blog Update & Life Update

    Hello all who love to cross the sky, as pilots, flight attendants, or as passengers! Here it is quite a few years later than when I wrote stories regularly, but I am still an Airline Pilot and still following Jesus. The times they are a changin' as Bob Dylan so succinctly sang so many years ago. I'll give you a rundown of what has changed for me, an update on the links I've added, and an aim point for hopeful future posts and on line direction of my writing efforts. 

    Just over two years ago I was hired by one of the major airlines, and I feel like I have reached my career destination. I am pleased with the career progression I am likely to have for the next about fifteen years before I reach retirement age. The level of professionalism I've encountered pleases me as well, it is a notch above the regionals in consistency and quality, whether I am flying with line pilots, completing training, or dealing with management. I knew that the grass would probably not be as green as I hoped once I arrived, and that became true quickly enough, but the switch was still worth it. 

    I am based on the Boeing 737, and yes, it is a flying truck, but a very nice one that has significantly more advanced avionics and more stable flying qualities than the Bombardier Canadair CRJ 200 I shepherded around for thirteen years. I was on reserve on the west coast for six months, then was a lineholder trying to get trips partially crossing the Pacific to Hawaii. I didn't even realize that my airline flew the 737 nonstop to Hawaii from the west coast until I was almost hired there; but you know what, all the majors do. The first flight at night in cruise flight during IOE my Check Airman Captain started a long briefing on possible navigation, communication, and weather difficulties, and ditching procedures and it hit me, the engines are very reliable but it was still very minutely possible a flight would lose both and have to ditch. It has happened before. 

    After a year I became based in the middle of the country, just in time for the spectre of Covid to hit. I saw it coming on the videos and tweets online, and knew we were in for it if the government didn't respond as quickly and aggressively as reasonably possible. And the government did not. And that is as nicely and respectfully as I can frame it. I spent last year hardly flying, while on reserve, but grateful that Congress passed aid not once, but twice, to ensure my minimum pay gaurantee for most of the year. In late September my pilot's union passed a negotiated agreement with our management to reduce our work hours, and thus pay, in a proportion tied to how much our flying schedule had decreased as compared to 2019. Last year was a tough one for everyone, but as my Pastor says (too much according to my brother in law): "I sense that our community has a sense of loss and suffering, and we need to lament about that". And we do. over 390K covid related deaths in the USA as of this writing. Our friends, families, work groups, cities, states, nation, we need to lament what we have suffered and lost; the loved ones and friends, and the suffering, and sacrifices we have endured during this age of cover.

    But there is something else we should lament: our continuing descent into this madness of Trumpism, which is seriously challenging the very nature of our shared reality, damaging the fabric of our society, and fracturing the security of our Democracy. Oh, sorry if you didn't know I was anti-Trump. Yes, I am a "never Trumper". I would like to write more, but I would also like to finish this update. If you'd like to know more about my opinion on Trump and his Presidency, follow me on twitter @crossky, and please check the Christian Blogs and Sites I like on the bottom right side of the blog. 

    On the top right side I've updated the links to include my favorite aviation safety resources, all are highly recommended. Only one airline pilot blog is left on the set of links, "Decision Height", written by a retired airline pilot, not updated often but an excellent set of stories for your reading. I've become concerned about aviation safety, not only at the professional and airline level, but for private pilots and general aviation. Kathryn's report is a comprehensive site that has many general aviation accident information. 

    It is heartbreaking to see that many private pilot and general aviation accidents are easily prevented, if only the pilot acts responsibly, in accordance with the regulations, and not in a careless and reckless manner. Annually, many family and friends are sent to an early grave (and perhaps Heaven's glories) when they tragically perish at the hands of pilots "making stupid pilot mistakes' (to be blunt). I hope to develop a set of resources available to help educate PASSENGERS so that they can evaluate the safety of the private pilot they are about to fly with, and to determine if the risk (and a real risk it can be) is worth it. Airplane passengers are attuned to evaluating whether someone they meet is a safe car driver, but they have no frame of reference or information to use to do the same for a private pilot they are about to go flying with. If you have an opinion on this or suggestions I would surely like it if you share it with me in a comment. 

    I will be flying again soon, starting in February, after I complete recurrent training. I hope to write a new post then. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Moments of March Madness

Moments of March madness, regional airline version, with multiple First Officers. Thunderstorms and rain, then sleet, then wet snow at home. A week later at Chicago, an ILS down to bare minimums in heavy snow, with me as Pilot Monitoring. My good First Officer number one did a great job as Pilot Flying. Me in bold: "100 to minimums". "Lights in sight - minimums" "Continuing". "Runway in sight". Airplane: "One-hundred". "Runway in sight". "Landing". All in quick succession.
My smart-phone weather radar showed snow squalls passing through Chicago in waves: moderate snow, then short periods of heavy snow, all of it wet with fog. We boarded the next flight during moderate snow: we got deiced, then anti-iced at the gate, then heard murmurs over the operations frequency: "we don't have a holdover period for heavy snow, so we'll wait till it goes back down to moderate before we deice." My good F.O. updated the ATIC and it now reported heavy snow. Well, our charts don't have holdover times for heavy snow either. Time to be a Pilot In-Command and make a decision. We have a procedure for almost everything in the airlines. You can choose to operate per what's written in black and white, or interpret what is written in black and white. But there are gray areas. I looked at my green, anti-iced, clean wing, then at my good F.O. "It won't last long. They've been changing the ATIS every five minutes. Just because they don't have holdover charts for heavy snow, doesn't mean anti-ice fluid can't prevent contamination of the wing for a while, we just don't know how long." I sensed that we had an unspoken understanding, but I asked him outright just the same: "Are you OK with it? I think it will go back to moderate in a few minutes". Yes he was, and yes we went, and yes the snow went back to moderate five minutes later, and stayed that way at least until we took off.

March madness. Before the trip started I should've briefed my good F.O. number two better, he surprised me with: flight spoilers extended down low on approach (I told him before 1,000 AGL, he stowed them & learned from it); crosswind correction totally opposite of the actual wind during the flare (learned from that too); and after one of his landings he suddenly veered off of the runway on the high speed exit. It was un-briefed, un-planned, un-expected, and and un-apologized for. "80 knots MY AIRCRAFT" I exclaimed to transfer controls as he suddenly steered us off the runway. I didn't have to tell him afterwards that was one of my No-No's. It was the equivalent of driving your car full of people, seeing your freeway exit at the last second, jamming on the brakes and jerking the wheel, not comfortable or confidence inspiring for anyone.

March madness. After flying ten out of eleven days, with a one day break in between, I was totally spent. I did it to myself for extra pay the first time, the second time the company did it to me because of staffing problems. I was already near my scheduled FDP limit and felt tired, so I would've not accepted the extra flying if it had been another revenue flight, but because it was a deadhead flight to the overnight and flying the next day, I could be extended up to sixteen hours of duty.

March madness. Let me develop this one, though. "Nothing beats the sun on the water", I said, as my third good F.O., a former corporate flight department chief pilot, was taking a picture. We were slowly climbing up to our cruising altitude, eastbound over Lake Michigan toward Syracuse, New York. The sun was still rising on this morning flight, reflecting a beautiful golden-silver light on the gray-black water. So many times the interplay of sun or moon, clouds and water is in terms of black and white, and silver and gray. We enjoyed the moment in silence for a little, then he said "What you said made me think of another son on the water". It took me just a bit, but I quickly realized he was referring to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walking on water, toward his disciples, as told in Mark 6:45-52. I smiled and said, "oh, you're right!". What a play on words. We should've talked more, but it had already been established he and I were both God fearing Christian family men. We again in silence appreciated the glorious scene on the water, a physical manifestation and representation of the Godly glory and spiritual reality of the Son of God and Son of Man being not in the water, but on the water.
If you were a disciple of Jesus in that boat, witnessing him walk, er, march, on the water for the first time, you would think your eyes were deceiving you. You would do the mother of all double-takes. You might think you were crazy. March madness.

March madness, basketball version, is coming right up to Easter. Easter will be on April 1st. Easter will be on April Fools Day. Does that make believing Christians fools this year? My last good F.O. might think so. The other night over buffalo wings and a beer with my Flight Attendant, he stated matter-of-factly that "85% of the founding fathers were deists. I'm a Deist." Well we eventually talked about his Deist beliefs, and my Christian beliefs. And I should've asked Dr. Google sooner, but 85% is pretty far off. It's more like 15%, if you just go by the Denominations they belonged to. I will fly with him again I hope, and we can continue the conversation. It was good just to share with a co-worker my faith in Jesus again, and what He means to me for my life, for the here and hereafter.

It's not madness to believe in a personal, benevolent God, who is (1) Holy and demands Justice because He is Holy, and is (2) Loving, and full of Grace and Mercy - both at the same time. We might not understand God, because His ways are not always our ways, even though we were created in His image. It is not madness to believe that you need a Savior, and that Jesus is who the Bible clearly states He is.

Thanks for reading my blog, and may God Bless you!

Crew Room Conflict

It has been a pretty long time since I posted on this blog. Welcome back to me! My church is doing a church wide discipleship program and about 300 of us are involved in it. My small group of eight are involved too. Through the course, I remember how I saw this blog is a way to combine my experiences on the line and in the sky with my spiritual life and share that with readers, and I recall what joy it was doing that. So, I’d like to start blogging again, but maybe in a different way.

Recently hired I had an experience worth sharing , well often I have experiences worth sharing but it is usually my wife and maybe my daughters who get to hear about it. They are growing up! My oldest is 17 ½ and other daughters 13 ½, someday soon they will stop using ½ numbers, that will be a bittersweet moment.

I had a crew room conflict, and it wasn’t pretty. Our new crew room in our new base is small, much too small for the number of folks based there. They say they are working on a larger crew room but the ugly rumor part of that is we are waiting for another regional airline to vacate it for us. There are four computers used to check in for our trips and do various tasks, only two of them typically work at a time. 

After verifying which two of the four machines were working, I verbally put my name in the hat, so to speak, to use a computer after a Flight Attendant was done. I turned my back and checked my V-File in the employee filing cabinet. I turned around and she was done, at the same time another Flight Attendant across the room asked if that computer was open. I’ll save you some suspense - the conflict wasn’t with her. I mentioned I had been waiting for it and would be quick. I was closer in any case. With just a little anxious self-conscience about it, I checked in for my trip, printed my trip sheet out, looked at the announcements quickly, and logged out.

I stood up, turned around and starting looking for the Flight Attendant, saw her, and told her I’m done, come on over. Simultaneously a First Officer was on short final for the chair and computer I’d just vacated, and it became clear he wasn’t going around. “I told this Flight Attendant she would be next.” He wasn’t going balked landing either. “What are you doing, she is next, she’s been waiting”. He had landed and was exiting the runway, no radio communication at all. He didn’t even acknowledge me, much less my request.

My temper rose up quickly and I muttered in defeat “I guess you don’t give a crap then”, as I walked away.  He had been closer than she was, as a matter of fact, but I didn’t see him when I was looking for her. She wanted to hide at this point and not get involved. I shrugged my shoulders and told her “sorry, I tried.”

He was done even quicker than I was, got up, walked to nearby where I was, and took out his phone. It was then that I started to think “I’m think I’m scheduled to fly with this guy.  I am scheduled to fly with this guy. Do I want to fly with this guy? Does he want to fly with me?”

“Hi, this is _______  ________, and I’m calling in sick”. He was calling in sick, right there in the crew room, which was a good decision under the circumstances. I shook his hand after he ended the call, and we talked it over, talked it out. He was on day six of flying, after being extended and junior manned over the weekend. Crew Scheduling had been abusing him, and as the most senior F.O. in base, he felt didn’t deserve that and had had enough. Enough that he mentioned that he had thought about quitting his job. There was some personal stuff going on too he mentioned, it had been an awful morning already.

I’d worked with him before on a simulator checkride a few years back, but had never flown with him on the line. I didn’t recognize him at first, less hair, more belly, although I’ve changed appearance some too. There may have been some extenuating circumstances contributing, but for his privacy and my some short measure of respect for him I won’t address it.

I felt a little sheepish about making the scene, so I asked him was it something I did to make him call in sick, the way I reacted at the computer? I mentioned I was trying to save the computer for the Flight Attendant, and he seemed to have a new sensitivity to that. I think he understood that I was trying to show her respect. He asked where she was; he suddenly wanted to apologize to her. She had left the crew room to escape the tension and breathe.

I agreed with him that if you’re not emotionally ready to fly then you’re not fit for duty and should call out sick. I assured him that we should fly together in the future, and agreed that he should get his rest. I tried to encourage him to hang in there, now was not a time to quit.

But should I have stood up to him like I did for the Flight Attendant, or let him be like a rude driver on a crazy freeway without any pushback?

It was time for me to head to the gate, with or without my First Officer, to get set up for our first flight, meet my Flight Attendant (the one involved was not her), let the gate agent know we would be delayed, and get in touch with Crew Scheduling to find out when our replacement F.O. would arrive. So I excused myself and headed out for less tense environs.

I saw the Flight Attendant in question in the hallway and mentioned he wanted to apologize to her, she found it difficult to believe. Turning around, he had followed me out in the hall, speaking to a Pilot Manger who wanted him to explain his sick call, a standard practice especially for a sudden sick call at show-time. I encouraged her to approach him, and wanting to give them privacy, moved on out of the way. I think he apologized, she accepted, and they resolved the conflict.

My emotions were dizzy all that first day of this recent trip going over what occurred in my mind and heart. Fortunately they did find a new copilot for me within 30 to 45 minutes, my replacement was a new line holder, and had the idealistic attitude of “commute in early and tell crew scheduling I’m here, do you have anything for me to do?” going. Well, they sure did! Two and a half days later I saw him in the hotel I was checking out of, he was still flying a rerouted trip, even though he is a line holder. But now he had a good story of above and beyond service he maybe shared at his upcoming interview with a Major Airline. He is a U.S. Air Force Veteran Pilot, and just might be a Regional Airline short timer by now, I imagine.

Respect for women is important, whether your status is higher or lower than them, whether you’re young or old, male or female, subordinate or superior.

One person who showed great respect for women was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Stories abound in the New Testament Gospels where he held them in honor and respect, had them undertake important roles that weren’t in line with ancient attitudes about women, in a culture where men totally wrote the rules and enforced them.

Don’t take my word for it, take these Christian Writers and Bloggers words as well:

https://www.franciscanmedia.org/jesus-extraordinary-treatment-of-women/

https://bible.org/article/christianity-best-thing-ever-happened-women

https://www.gci.org/church/ministry/women6b

God bless you, and thanks for reading my blog.

Good Friday Chants

Dateline: Good Friday, March 29, 2013 A.D.
Location: Flight Level 310, 30 nautical miles west of JST (Johnstown, PA, USA)
Time: 6:45 PM
Speed and Course: GS 417 knots, course about 085 degrees magnetic

This is where we were and where we were going, in the sunshine and smooth air.

"Fa-ther, in-to your hands I com-mit my spi-rit".  I was looking for something to help me bide my time with to Philly.

The autopilot was engaged, I was the pilot flying, and I had the ADF tuned to 1060.  A Catholic station with a strong but distant signal was fading in and out some, but without much static.

"Fa-ther, in-to your hands I com-mit my spi-rit".  A Priest with a reverent voice was singing, slowly, a beautiful chant from some unknown location.  I started listening intently.

I noticed the words and remembered where they came from.  Was this in one Gospel or more?  The sun was behind us, and scattered, early spring cumulus clouds far below were doing the best they could to grow, not very much albeit.  A weak layer of haze between the clouds was obscuring the earth in between.

"Fa-ther, in-to your hands I com-mit my spi-rit".  Repeatedly, with a perfect rate and rhythm, and pause in between.  These were the last words my Lord and Savior, and I hope yours too, said on the cross before he died, and 'gave his life as a ransom for many' (Mark 10:45).

We were still forty minutes out from landing in Philadelphia.  I had time to ponder questions that arose in me.  In saying this, Jesus in his bodily death gave his spirit back to the control of God the Father.  So, where then, did the Father send Jesus to in between his death on the cross and his resurrection on the third day after he was crucified?

"Fa-ther, in-to your hands I com-mit my spi-rit".  It was from Luke 23:46 (and Psalm 31:5), I later learned, and Luke was the only gospel these words of Jesus were recorded in. 

After my good First Officer, in a precise manner, brought us back to terra-firma on Philadelphia's 5,000 foot runway - a demanding but typical feat for our CRJ200, I had time to ask Dr. Google these questions.  Jesus didn't descend to Hell, per se, (yes it is in the Apostle's Creed)  for more punishment for mankind's sins, all of it was paid for on the Cross.  However, scripture seems to indicate that He visited Sheol/Hades, two other realms of he underworld, 'waiting areas for the dead' you might say.  It is interesting and educational reading waiting for you at Got questions? and "C.A.RM.". 

 "Fa-ther, in-to your hands in com-mit my spi-rit".  I was reminded of some of the other last words Jesus also said were ones of complete humiliation and abandonment, of separation from God.  Because our sins were laid upon him - although He was without sin, He was made to become sin for us, for my sins and for your sins (2 Corin 5:17) These words of separation from God are from Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"  How could Jesus issue these trusting words of finality, after He had asked God in a seemingly highly confused and anxious state (he was still human after all) "why have you forsaken me?" 

I think this showed his humanness in that his reaction displays the difference between knowing that something difficult is coming and actually experiencing the overwhelming, unfamiliar emotions of it.  Jesus had already sweat drops like blood, been tortured and humiliated incomprehensibly, been nailed to a cross, and now the sin guilt burden of all humanity had been laid upon him, an innocent man.  Our Holy God had withdrawn His presence from Jesus, because a Holy and Perfect God cannot be in the presence of sin, it is his very nature.  This is not a weakness or fault of God as post-Christian thinkers assert, but a characteristic that belies his universe and life creating majesty, honor, and glory that He deserves.  Besides, our Holy God's complete presence in the midst of any sin utterly destroys that person (Moses saw God's backside - He wouldn't let Moses see his front because it would've killed him). 

"Fa-ther, in-to your hands I com-mit my spi-rit".  Via Max Lucado through Pastor John O'Neal, the clarity of contrast is made that Jesus is now reunited because he calls Him Father, not God, when he gives up his spirit to his control.  He is separated from God because he took on the guilt and bore the punishment of MY sin; He asks "My God why have you forsaken me?".  Then the work is just complete, He knows it and exclaims "It is Finished!".  Then

"Fa-ther, in-to your hands I com-mit my spi-rit".  I was feeling blessed by these now comforting words Jesus gave in complete trust to the Father, just as those in Christ should aspire to do in death and in life.

He is risen, He is risen indeed!  The richness, the mystery, and the truth of the Gospel message is well worth your time investment in getting to know the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep.  And took it up again.  Jesus' resurrection is proof that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life! 

God bless you, and thank you for reading my blog.

Keep your day job, er, career

Every now and then I hear from my RJ friend who quit his flying career to be at home with his wife and two boys.  He dove into a Network Marketing system, only a month later to find not success but proof that his wife was on her third boyfriend outside of their marriage.  

Now the divorce is nearing completion, and they share custody of their one son together, while she has custody of her first son from her first marriage.  

He steered away from network marketing and started a commercial janitor cleaning service, which has succeeded well, apart from the constant problem of hiring and keeping good workers, he says.  That problem is also present in his new business, a commercial account donuts business for convenience stores.  

With a starting wage of $10 per hour, which he says is higher that other companies of the same type, his employees work ethic and attitude typically fizzle out after a few months, and he finds himself doing most of the work.  Now with both businesses (because his commercial cleaning business hasn't sold off yet), he sleeps when he can get it, during the day or a nap in the morning after the donuts have been delivered.  He is looking for a manager of the donuts side, I told him he needs a professional.  

"Keep your job career Craig!  At least until you can make as much as your current job career with your business you have now" he says (my business is good but I have quite a ways to go).  

What is the difference between a job and a career?  My First Officers lately have again been describing their occupation of Airline Pilot as 'just a job' and not a real career.  I just refuse to see it that way.  Maybe airline pilots are spoiled prima donnas like the stereotype portrays, because I still constantly meet passengers and others who wish they could have my career.   

I'm feeling a little spoiled right now, actually.  Currently I have a few more days off, because Hurricane Sandy has taken a pretty good swipe at New Jersey and New York City.  I was scheduled to start a four day trip this past Monday, but it was delayed Sunday night.  I will be lucky if I fly the last day of it on Thursday.  As a result of water from Sandy feeding into Long Island Sound from the east, LaGuardia Airport is flooded and closed as I write this.  It might be closed for days more.  Feet of water covers the runway, and the water line is up to the terminal I fly out of.  Consideration of the scene brings questions to mind which include: when will it re-open?  Will the runways be damaged?  Will the runway lights still work?  Will the ILS (Instrument Landing System) still work?  When will I return to LGA?  
Fortunately, I've been blessed to be at home all during Sandy.  Many of my fellow pilots were flying during this event, which is now called "Superstorm Sandy" and were given re-routes from their flight schedules to take their aircraft to places away from danger like Charlotte or Cincinnati.  My hat is off to them.  A good number of them are now stuck away from home on their scheduled days off.  This storm will leave a deep impact in terms of damage and lives lost.
Storms of nature, storms of life.  A mess is created and then someone has to clean it up,  during which lessons are learned in the reflective process, and the "if I could do it again"s come up.  
Aaron's "if I could do it again" after his storm included continuing to fly, even if he knew his wife was having affairs.  No one saw it coming, at least in my circle; I certainly didn't.  Divorce would've been likely whether he kept flying or not.  Even if he did, I think he still would've been a good father to his son, present and active in his life on his days off.  
After about a year, Aaron started to mention that he missed flying, he missed making the 'life and death decisions', I think he missed the joy of it, the adventure of it, and the camaraderie.  He didn't miss the inconvenience of being gone half the time, of living out of a suitcase, from airport to airport to hotel to airport, or the various headaches he had to put up with.  He was using personal skills he had honed while flying in his new business, but it missed some of the challenges and adventures that flying satisfied him with.  I felt bad for him, still do, and every time we talk it is like his words reset my outlook on my career.
What is is the difference between a job and a career?  Chris Rock knows the difference, and its pretty funny (four letter words warning):

Note to self: try not to talk about how fun my job is to friends and relatives (unless they ask). 

If you can't wait to get out of there and go home, and the clock surely runs slow, you are working at a job.  If what you are doing requires extensive training and education, intelligence, good judgement, a specific skill set that can only be had by training and practice, social skills, and entrusts a great deal of responsibility and authority to those in the occupation, you are working as a professional.
That is why they call it being a Professional Pilot.  You call it a job to my face and you might as well have used God's name or His Son's name in vain.  I don't like it, it makes me frown inside.  When you call it just a job, you sell yourself short and you sell the profession short, and give yourself and your passengers a false justification to make less of an effort at excelling at your job than you should.
Furthermore, you place all value of what you do for a living in terms of pay and benefits, when in reality, so much of job satisfaction is experienced because of other factors.  Real job satisfaction does involve pay and benefits, but ask these questions of your job/career: do you enjoy it?, are you good at it?, does it leave you time for a personal life?, does it help or hinder your overall quality of life?
Yes, all airline pilots, including regional airline pilots, make less than they used to, as much as 50% of what they did before the 9/11 attacks.    Yes, it is difficult to get by as a regional jet Co-Pilot these days, especially if you have a family and/or live in a high cost of living area.  Yes, management 'doesn't treat us as well as they used to'.  It is just the way it is.  
The saying "I'll act like a professional when they treat me like one" just rings hollow and like a selfish child to me.  If my Chief Pilot or Domicile Manager rode in the jumpseat, or even in the first row, on every flight, I would act like the professional I am every time (not that I don't already, but even more so).  This is the equivalent of the boss being in the cubicle or office two doors down, a situation which many workers still have, and airline pilots don't.  It is a convenience that we often take for granted.
Furthermore, and I won't dwell on it much but just touch on it: the difference between being a professional just working a job is in the attitude one has.  One could be digging ditches or in a factory doing a mundane job, but if you make a daily effort to give that job your best and take advantage of every opportunity to excel and be the best ditch digger or assembly worker you can be, you will be noticed and advancement in position, responsibility, and pay will follow.
Ahh, but Craig, you say, its easy for you to behave as a Professional, because you have a job you love, and passengers who respect you.  Yes, that is true, I am blessed/fortunate/lucky to make a living at something I love to do, many don't, but stay in a job/career for the money, convenience, etc.  
I can't elaborate very well on how and why one can actually take joy in toil that is not your preferred line of work, but this link can: from the Bible book of Eccelesiastes by King Solomon, this is a good, readable study: "Fear God, Enjoy Life".  I can testify though that anyone can glorify God through their work, if they work with an attitude being one of serving God and doing his will, with joy and to the best of his or her God given ability.  This is scriptural as well: "Modeling Christ in the Workplace Through Work Well Done".
If you would like to have a career as a Pilot and have that burning, passionate desire that you can't shake, like you can feel in your clenched hand when you dream about it, I encourage you wholeheartedly to pursue one, but be prepared to be a Professional in your conduct throughout.  Others will notice, and you will build a reputation that will continue to pay off throughout your journey in the sky.  Professionals do a professional job because they love it, not just because they are paid well to do it.  
And maybe that is the simplest way to look at it.  If what you are doing for a living is something you love, even once upon a time, that is a career, and deserves to be treated as such, for everyone's benefit.  Even the Almighty's.
God bless you and thanks for reading my blog!

  

A moment in HPN time

I was only a moment I had this evening in a typical day, looking through the best office windows of any job in the world.  I was able to savor it and contemplate for a few seconds, then we came in to land.  Don't fret, I was the PNF (pilot not flying).
We were on approach in mostly smooth air to White Plains, NY, home of some of the wealthest folks in the USA, and home of the most crowded small airport terminal I know of, bar none.  My fine First Officer, with six years (almost) service to our regional airline, was smoothly flying our fully configured for landing CRJ on final approach to runway 34 (towards the north).  The beads of water kept sliding past on the windscreen.  Light raindrops falling were being interrupted at one hundred sixty miles an hour, and rolling back on the 'rain-x' treated windscreen.  The visual of that led me to shift my near focus to the scene outside.  The still lush green lawns and golf course below.  The broccoli tops of the trees now starting to turn to autumn colors.  The dusky yellow light on the horizon, breaking through where gray clouds and scud blocking the view weren't.  The points of light lit up in a vertical rectangle growing larger, quickly on the ground up toward us, - the bent strip of metal shaped runway that make this place one of the more challenging airports we fly into. 
FO Josh was configured, on speed, on glideslope.  The center landing light was on and that meant the Control Tower had cleared us to land.  He reduced thrust and flared right where I would've, in fact he was doing it as I was thinking it.  Then he didn't flare enough.  Or did he?  The runway underneath us had just made the switch from a slightly uphill grade to a pretty steep grade, for a runway anyway.  With the jet losing speed and lift, and the sink rate apt to increase without an increase in yoke back pressure, the runway was 'rising' to meet us faster than normal.  More back pressure was needed to avert a firm touchdown.  I saw us sink that last three feet and it was a nice plop to terra firma, not the firm touchdown I was expecting.  I was impressed.  Josh had a nice touch and didn't land long either, or gyrate the jet too much.
Leaving the runway I knew, I felt, once again, that I was right where I needed to be, wearing this uniform (as much as I complain about it), doing these duties, performing these tasks, being with these people (co-workers), all with pride, honor, and excellence.  At least for this moment. 
I used to hear that to be an airline pilot for a career, and to stick with it, you have to 'really love flying'.  Easy to understand until you think long and hard about what one has to put up with to endure an airline pilot career.  The sacrifices that everyone makes do not stop.  Not everyone gets the six figure plus salary, their desired airline, or a quick upgrade.  Not everyone keeps their first wife or first house (but that is great advice).  Not everyone flies till retirement.  To get into it, sure, you love it, but to put up with all the negatives, you better love it still.  I'm still flirting with getting out, somehow, to be honest. 
But the beauty of the sights to be seen, the moments of camaraderie and achievements to be had, and the opportunities to share my testimony of Jesus with others, still give me a real sense of receiving (outside of pay and benefits) something valuable for what I sacrifice - the precious time I spend away from my wife and family. 
I still hope to write more in the future.  I am currently still trying to juggle my side business better.  I feel that three balls are in the air again, so to speak, and the focus is there.  God bless you, and thanks for reading my blog!

Look before you leap

As a one year CRJ Captain, about six years ago, I taxied the jet out of the Philadelphia regional jet ramp late one evening for Binghamton, New York.  This was the first trip with this particular First Officer, and we were getting along great together.  He had many good qualities, and you don’t always find well rounded FO’s (or Captains) on the line.  Many times one is able to determine (or hear on the line) that each pilot has a few areas which are their strengths, but there is one area where the other crewmembers would be wise to ‘cover them’ on.  It’s a wise and professional tactic to practice, and if you do it in the right way it does not disrespect the other crewmember at all; on the contrary it makes your ‘team’ stronger. 

Jay appeared to be strong in all areas; but there was still one corner in which I thought I might have to be careful in, and that was in taking his suggestions.  He was pretty assertive for a First Officer and a little cavalier (he had a lot of confidence which seemed to give him leeway), but he used the right tact and balance in communicating with me.  During our flights we had been conversing, mostly out of “sterile cockpit”, about all kinds of subjects – politics, company goings-on, our pilots union, and religion (and his lack of faith in my Jesus), and we had a pretty good time doing so, in spite of our differences on matters of faith.   

Really, we probably talked too much, in places where we shouldn’t have been.  I can’t recall how much the sterile cockpit rule was bent, but I’ve learned over the years that heated conversation during periods out of sterile cockpit can leave a pilots mind remain focused on the subject relatively long after sterile cockpit is entered again.  This is where discipline could and should come into play (not talking about subjects not pertaining to the flight at hand), and an area I try to focus on more these days.  I say ‘these days’ because as the years roll on, things happen, things that make you think twice about how disciplined you really are in your duties, and how you would like to be matches us with the reality.

It was late, a quarter till eleven, when we were given the “cross two-seven right, right turn on sierra, contact tower one one eight point five” clearance.  We continued south on taxiway Echo and followed the snaking, right left right path of taxiway Sierra, my left hand on the tiller steering the pointy end of the CRJ toward the rows of the orange lights of the UPS ramp nearby runway two-seven left. 

Whatever non-pertaining conversation there was (couldn’t have been much) stopped suddenly when Philly Tower gave our takeoff clearance, “cleared for takeoff runway two-seven left”.  My ‘strong in all areas’ first officer repeated the clearance back to the Tower, and I called out “Flaps eight before takeoff checklist”, which we quickly completed, leaving a two hundred yard straight section of taxiway Sierra, headed west, before a quick left and very short taxi segment on taxiway Sierra One (S1) to get on runway two-seven left, and then a sharp right turn to align with the runway for takeoff (see the airport diagram below).

Philadelphia International - Taxiway S1 and Runway 27L on center lower half, near control tower

We made the left turn and started to cross the hold short line for runway two-seven left.  I had made this turn many times, and only as a Captain.  Because S1 was a very short taxi segment before the hold short line, it was tricky to visually check the final approach of runway two-seven left for traffic before actually crossing the hold short line for the runway.  Not to worry, though, we had good men with good intentions looking out for us; the control tower was close enough that we could still see their silhouettes in the cab during the day.  Many times, but not always, before this evening I would delay making the turn until the last moment in order to make a sharper turn, which would give us more room to visually check that there is no traffic on the final approach course before the jet’s nose crossed the hold short line that marked the boundary between the taxiway and runway.  

“Tower are they going to get out of our way in time?”  The clearly and quickly spoken words by the female UPS pilot alerted us to a major problem, simultaneously as I got over my disbelief and did a triple take with my eyes, observing the multiple bright lights of a Boeing 757 on short final of our runway, and their runway also, two-seven left (27L).  My synapses snapped into overdrive, suddenly thinking as quickly as possible.  There was no time to wonder about why this was happening, no time to deny or delay the reality of the moment, no time to escape from the sudden pressure of the situation.  A huge airplane about a half mile to our left and about two hundred feet above the ground would be right where we were in less than fifteen seconds. 
The need for a pilot to check the final approach is a primary safety directive taught from a student’s first flight: always visually check that the final approach is clear before you take the runway for takeoff.  By this evening I had about six thousand hours of flight time, and I had never been in another aircraft’s way on the runway.

Fortunately I didn't freeze.  Because they were so close and we still weren’t aligned with the runway and wouldn’t have started the turn to do that for another ten seconds, there was absolutely no way we could have taken off and cleared the runway in time.  That was a no brainer, and postflight that made me think the UPS pilot’s words were a polite (and surprised) way of asking the control tower to make us clear the runway so that they did not have to abandon the approach and execute a go-around.   

Runway boundary constituted by 'holding positions markings' shown - FAA AIM

Because the nose and our cockpit was already past the hold short line and we were technically on the runway even though the plane wasn’t past the runway edge lines (see FAA AIM diagram above), I didn't let my feet ever touch the brakes.  I saw my escape across the runway to the other side of taxiway “Sierra One” and started to advance the thrust levers.  We could sort out the taxi back to the runway after we got out of the way.  With a stuttered surprise, the tower controller ordered urgently:  “Exit the runway at Sierra Two”.  He owed us that much at least, after clearing our aircraft to take off while having already cleared one to land, and creating a serious safety risk all at once. 

At that point I didn’t know if Sierra Two was straight ahead or where, I just wanted to ‘get away’ and have a snickers, so to speak.  “To the right, to the right!”  My First Officer urgently yelled and motioned in reply to my question regarding Sierra Two: “is that straight?”  I gunned the thrust levers halfway up, made a quick right turn down the runway halfway between the edge and the centerline, found Sierra Two (S2) and turned off clear of the runway, back eastbound, again on Sierra.  We watched the big, long 757 with cool customers driving it land just as we finished the turn on Sierra.  They braked normally and took the left turnoff from the runway at taxiway Yankee (Y) just like nothing had happened.  But something had just happened, something bad.  The control tower had cleared us for takeoff, directly conflicting with another aircraft they had already cleared to land.  We had just experienced a moment you do not want to have, ever, as a pilot.

The tower did not miss a beat, in spite of knowing their mistake.  I should say his mistake, although I don't know the staffing at that hour but I assumed the tower was minimally staffed with one controller for the tower and one for ground, and no manager backing either of them up.  He was businesslike as he stated to us “you are still cleared for takeoff, runway two-seven right”.  Still cleared for takeoff.  No takeoff clearance cancellation had been given, in spite of us severely cramping some big iron’s style on short final.  He should’ve cancelled our takeoff clearance, and I thought during our climbout that he didn’t because (1) he didn’t want that to be on the ATC tapes, and (2) he didn’t want to perform any possible paperwork required, (3) he didn’t have time to either.  He knew what he was doing, except for that one moment, and that’s all you need is a moment, unfortunately.

My First Officer and I talked a lot about this on the way up to Binghamton, New York, that night. 

How did that happen?  I didn’t visually clear the final approach path, and the tower probably had cleared the 757 to land before we had switched to the tower frequency.  Runway 27L is not usually used for landings, except by UPS at night when it provides them a short taxi to their nearby ramp.  I didn’t have my guard up for that possibility.  I have a theory that at some point the controller couldn’t see the 757 because the approach path position of the 757 made it to become blocked from view by the control tower cab roof, unless the controller gets up close to the windows.  The controller had a moment of inattention and permitted himself to be distracted.  Controller fatigue could have been a factor.  They could have had reduced staffing and fewer controllers to back each other up. 

I asked: should we report the controller’s mistake?  It would surely get him in trouble.  We wondered if they had an immunity program to write a report about their mistakes and be given protection from discipline or termination (they didn’t at that time).  Reporting him would force us to admit we didn’t clear the runway visually before entering it, and we wondered about what that meant for us.  We could call him when we arrived at Binghamton and asked for an explanation, he probably had a ready apology. 

What do you think I did, reader, at the end of the flight and end of the night?  What would you have done, and why?  Let’s start a little discussion. 

Learn from my lesson: always, always, always clear your runway before you cross the hold short line, control tower or not!  My favorite quote from Ronald Reagan applies here: “Trust but Verify”.

God bless you, and thanks for reading my blog!