[Phillip Beall]

All,

I have been asked about this – FAA, United Investigate Cockpit Visitor During Colorado Rockies’ Flight – Video posted online shows man sitting at the controls during baseball team’s charter flight – and yes, it is going to be very expensive for the pilot(s) and United.

I have been with AA for over 38 years now.  Back then it wasn’t uncommon on charter flights, or low passenger count flights, to have the cockpit door open for extended periods.  I once flew as a copilot from Seattle to DFW on Thanksgiving day.  Four flight attendants and four passengers.  We had the door open the entire time and the passengers took turns coming up to chat with us.  But it was not then, and certainly is not now, cool to allow anyone other than an operating crewmember to man the controls.  Too many things can go wrong and very quickly.

My guess is the pilot(s) in this incident will have their airman certificates at least suspended for a substantial amount of time and they will be fined, probably $10,000, the maximum allowed per offense.  United will likely get fined hundreds of thousands, if not more.

United has really taken it on the chin in the last several months.  I can’t point to any one thing that is causing the chaos, but they better figure it out pretty soon…

This is again one of those free “gift” links that Wall Street Journal provides with some of their content.

Enjoy,

Phillip

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