Pilot pwns press
Saturday, 31 January, 2009 — technological-failure journalism
Pwned by an expert
Salon’s “Ask the Pilot” columnist, and airline pilot, Patrick Smith absolutely pwns lazy coverage of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 (emphasis his):
I fail to understand how after decades of reporting on aviation incidents, the press cannot make it clear that at least two fully qualified pilots – a captain and first officer – are in the cockpit of every commercial jet. The captain is in command and ultimately responsible for the plane and its occupants, yes, but the first officer, or “copilot,” if we must, is not merely along as a backup or helpful apprentice. Tasks are split 50/50, including all hands-on “flying” duties. A copilot is at the controls for just as many takeoffs and landings as the captain, in both normal and abnormal operations, including many emergencies. (The Associated Press is habitually the worst offender in this regard.)
Following the US Airways crash there has been an outpouring of appreciation for Capt. Chesley Sullenberger. The first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, has gone mostly unmentioned (a nod here to Alan Levin at USA Today, for giving Skiles his due). Sullenberger took over the aircraft from Skiles, who was flying at the moment of the bird strike, but skill was not the issue. Rather, with both engines out, by design, the flight instruments on the first officer’s side would have failed. For all intents and purposes, Sullenberger had to take over. But regardless of whose hands were on the controls, both pilots, together, faced a serious emergency, and both needed to rise to the occasion.
Smith goes to explain what happens during a two-engine shutdown considers heroics vs. professionalism and adds context about other water landings.
A larger point: For some reason, stories seem predisposed to focus solely on single people as heros, in business or real-life. CEOs, for instance. Capt. Sully in this case. It’s lazy reporting. Sullenberger did a wonderful job, to be sure, and Smith’s critique is not aimed at him. Instead, it’s the abject failure to recognize he wasn’t the only one there.