So? Proper or not some snow flakes are easilly offended. Give them a participation trophey.
Southwest pilot on hot mic trashing California
- Thread starter y_p_w
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The language was inappropriate for any business setting, people are rightly terminated for such things in many industries regardless of who hears it or does not hear it.
The captain sets the climate on the flight deck, and it is their decision on what conversational topics are off-limits. I personally do not allow discussions of religion or politics.
It’s not about avoiding offense, It’s about ensuring that the cockpit crew remains appropriately focused on the task at hand.
Those two topics tend to arouse passion, and lead to distraction.
In our line of work, distraction is unacceptable.
It’s not about avoiding offense, It’s about ensuring that the cockpit crew remains appropriately focused on the task at hand.
Those two topics tend to arouse passion, and lead to distraction.
In our line of work, distraction is unacceptable.
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Several years ago, a controller at Toronto International lost his cool, swore at a pilot and didn’t realize he had a stuck mic. I think it’s on YouTube.
Please do not post it on BITOG because this controller really crossed the line. Just pointing out that stuck mic’s work both ways and be careful when you talk ( critical phase ) and what you say. It’s like social media, think twice what you post/say.
Please do not post it on BITOG because this controller really crossed the line. Just pointing out that stuck mic’s work both ways and be careful when you talk ( critical phase ) and what you say. It’s like social media, think twice what you post/say.
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Oh, but the only rant this pilot is going to hear is from his wife once she finds out he will not be flying again.
I listened to audio again and the tower actually tells him he’s on a hot mic.
If you're the one with the stuck mic, you can't hear anything. Reception is blocked while you're transmitting.
I worked for yrs on access and video security systems. Smile, you're on video/ audio. Stuff has only gotten cheaper, faster, better since I retired. After the Boston Marathon bombing, the FBI, AtF, etc rounded up all the sidewalk camera video from the stores. The brothers were caught on the collected video. Only gotten better since.
Wasn't quite sure that it was for. Of course it's kind of hard to make it out, but it sounds like someone in the tower is saying:
And last. Calling on tower. That's 1-2-4 point 0. Hot mic.
Nor does it apply to a chat board like BITOG, or any other thing not controlled by the Gov't.
Unless the first officer would have reported the gross and flagrant FAR violation to his superior.
Would the report be public?
No, the 1st amendment may be the most misunderstood and misquoted paragraph in history.
What are the rules if it was only reported to the airline? Would it have to be reported to the FAA? However, this was clearly heard by ATC so I'm not sure if they didn't already report it. I'm pretty sure that nearly anything reported to the FAA is subject to FOIA.
My guess is he started filling out a NASA ASRS form about 5 minutes after he deplaned. A honestly and properly submitted ASRS form can, in some instances, reduce or eliminate trouble with the FAA. His employer doesn't care about the ASRS form, he's likely to be in a bit of hot water.
I taxied across an active runway one time because I was at an unfamiliar airport, was explaining something to a student, and thought it was a taxiway. It was my dumb dumb mistake. The controller asked me to call him on the phone after parking, which I did. He was cordial and assumed I was a student pilot and wanted to know who my instructor was. Imagine how fun it was to admit to him I WAS the instructor. I filled out a NASA form that night and never heard anything about it ever again. I also never taxied anywhere I didn't have clearance to be again. There is a reason for minimal distractions.
I taxied across an active runway one time because I was at an unfamiliar airport, was explaining something to a student, and thought it was a taxiway. It was my dumb dumb mistake. The controller asked me to call him on the phone after parking, which I did. He was cordial and assumed I was a student pilot and wanted to know who my instructor was. Imagine how fun it was to admit to him I WAS the instructor. I filled out a NASA form that night and never heard anything about it ever again. I also never taxied anywhere I didn't have clearance to be again. There is a reason for minimal distractions.
What are you not getting?
Below 10,000 feet, the only allowable conversation is safety of flight.
Clearly a stuck mic is safety of flight. So are flaps, gear, selection of speed, altitude, or communication about the airplane energy state, runway, ILS frequency, or any other topic having to do with flying that airplane at that moment.
Discussing what people drive, or your feelings about the city, is clearly not safety of flight.
The mic is used to transmit over the radio, not to talk with each other.
When a radio is transmitting, reception is blocked. So, when you are holding down the transmit button, either intentionally, or inadvertently, you cannot hear any other transmission, including a transmission from the tower saying, “stuck mike”.
In some airplanes, loud ones like the 737, pilots use an intercom to speak to each other. The radio side tone sounds a lot like the intercom. I’m quite certain that this pilot did not know he was transmitting.
Again, it’s not what was said, it’s when it was said. His statement was said below 10,000 feet when extraneous speech is prohibited for safety reasons.
As far as job implications, an employer can fire a pilot for any action that brings discredit to the airline. The First Amendment protects an American citizen from government action, but if do something that makes Southwest Airlines look bad, while wearing a Southwest uniform, and while flying a Southwest airplane, they have every right to terminate you. Your right to freedom of expression is intact, but you have violated the terms of your employment.
Pilots have in the past have faced disciplinary action, up to and including termination, for failing to realize that. Social media posts have gotten pilots in trouble recently. Both ALPA and major airlines have had to remind pilots of their contractual constraints.
If you wish to post a controversial opinion on social media, you may do so as a pilot, as long as your profile does not link you to your profession. If you’ve got a picture of you in a company uniform, on the flight deck of a company airplane, as part of your profile, then, yes, you had better be careful not to bring discredit upon yourself or your employer.
I'm pretty sure the question is about whether or not this pilot would have been reported for the chatter had there not been a hot mic.
You may be right.
So, without the inadvertent “hot mic”, we wouldn’t know that pilots talk that way...
That’s why I don’t allow R/S/P on the flight deck, whether the FO and I agree or not. It’s distracting. It’s unprofessional. It’s detrimental.
Why did you guys in the USA always translate the real funny and interesting part into a lot of *BEEP* ? 
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