Cathay "Asia's World City" Delivery Pilot Fired for Fly-by

[heeshung]

I think the media did a horrible job of reporting the story. When I watched Inside Edition's, well, edition on the topic, I got very angry. As they showed the video, the narrator said, "Just listen as the spectators exclaim in horror." The video showed the jet skimming across the runway, with people in the foreground faced towards the jet and away from the camera VERY OBVIOUSLY cheering the pilot on. That was a pure lie on the media's side. They were giving him the thumbs up, waving at him, and jumping up and down. They were certainly NOT horrified. Inside Edition also said it was a fly-by at the "Seattle airport". While I've only seen the Inside Edition edition so far, I'll bet other newscasts portray the event in the same way. They make it seem way worse than it actually is, with the cheering being an obvious example.

[Matt Molnar]

Here's the original video:

[liveleaktp://www.liveleak.com/view?i=00a_1204000744[/liveleak

[wunaladreamin]

All debating aside, that was friggen badass!

[mirrodie]

That doesnt look like a fast approach

[hiss srq]

That is a REALLY low and slow approach with some serious nose up attitude.

[Matt Molnar]

Serious wing flex too.

[Matt Molnar]

Some guy made an illustration estimating how low the plane actually was.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liem/2299961962/

[cancidas]

from FlightGlobal:

Cathay chief 777 pilot fired after low-level flypast stunt
By Nicholas Ionides

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has fired a senior pilot for carrying out an unauthorised low-level flypast in Seattle during the delivery flight of a Boeing 777-300ER last month.

The incident took place on 30 January at Everett Airport immediately after Cathay took delivery of the new 777-300ER. After takeoff for Hong Kong the captain – chief 777 pilot Ian Wilkinson - returned the aircraft to the airfield and made a low-level flypast with the landing gear up.

One industry source close to Cathay tells flightglobal.com that the aircraft was at just 28ft-30ft above the ground.


©Matt Cawby/www.microvaultradio.com


Watch the withdrawn video of the Cathay Pacific low-level flypast here ...

On board were around 50 or 60 people, according to another industry source, including Cathay chairman Christopher Pratt.

Cathay confirms that “the pilot in command of the flight concerned had been dismissed as he had not sought nor obtained the necessary company approval to undertake such a fly-by. A second pilot involved has also been subject to disciplinary proceedings. Both disciplinary actions are subject to an appeals process”.


©Matt Cawby/www.microvaultradio.com


The airline adds that “Cathay Pacific has a well established approval process for fly-bys and a number had been conducted in the past as display flights at air shows with proper approval in place.

“The approval process was not followed in this case, resulting in disciplinary actions. Following the incident, Cathay Pacific has issued a notice to all cockpit crew reminding them of the company’s policy for conducting fly-bys.”

Cathay says it is still conducting an internal investigation into the incident, “including the collection of flight data, and interviews with the crew involved”.

It also says it has “taken the initiative to inform the Civil Aviation Department of the case and a report will be submitted to the department once the investigation is complete”.

The first officer was not dismissed as he reportedly did not know permission had not been obtained for the manoeuvre but he has been removed from training duties for six months.

Watch the withdrawn video of the Cathay Pacific low-level flypast here ...

[Nonstop2AUH]

Some years ago, Virgin Blue hired a former CX pilot who had been fired for throwing peanuts at the CEO in a bar. So perhaps Virgin will give this guy a job too.

"A Cathay Pacific pilot fired for throwing peanuts at his chief executive has been hired by Sir Richard Branson, head of Australian airline, Virgin Blue.

Captain Scott Munro was suspended for gross misconduct at a function by Cathay, then sacked and two appeals were rejected.

A Virgin Blue spokesman told the South China Morning Post: "If he threw some peanuts at our senior executives, certainly if he threw some peanuts at Richard, I think the worst thing that could happen is that Richard would throw some peanuts back at him."

In his application to Virgin Blue, Captain Munro had told them about the incident at Cathay. He said he threw peanuts at the ceiling in the Dakota Bar, near Chek Lap Kok Airport, and some landed near chief executive David Turnbull.

In April, Mr Turnbull said the pilot was dismissed because, "he threw things at me. He's the captain of the ship. It's not what you expect of him".

Cathay Pacific declined to comment."