flynwmn

Philadelphia to Syracuse on piedmont as the FO I just finished talking to Dispatch since the capt didnt have a cell phone, was told that the plane was stuck in Harrisburg waiting on flow control back in to Philadelphia I told the capt about the flow control delay and this woman tells me what do I know you're just the assistant to the pilot.

cencal83406

Apparantly FO is the "Rodney Dangerfield" of the corporate world?

tomgoodman

Some passengers would try the patience of a saint. Perhaps the "Rule of St. Benedict" on hospitality should be applied. It said that any traveller should be welcomed in a monastary, fed, sheltered etc... "But if he becomes quarrelsome, the abbot must ask him to leave; and if he refuses to do so, let two stout monks, in the name of God, explain the matter to him."

jetlag7

I had a similar experience... trying to get to MMUN from FLL and there were significant flow-control delays from ATC. (typical for that route of flight during the season)

I was explaining to the lead passenger why we wouldn't be able to taxi-out for another 40minutes when he cuts me off with a "You're not even a real pilot!! I want to speak to the Captain about this!!!"

To that, I responded, "Certainly.... the Captain will be with you shortly" and quietly went to work on some other non-pertinent task.

About 5 minutes later, the Captain returns from his visit to the "porcelain altar" and proceeds to repeat exactly the same thing I said. -- The guys wife and daughter were soooo embarrassed I think they were actually going to slap him!! (he was "extra" nice to me after that)

This type of thing does not happen very often, but it's really no big deal when it does.

tcaphou

Right on!!!! I agree with you absolutely, Shanks.

GlasssPilot

wow.

really, wow.

hypa11

just smile brush it off and don't make it make you have a bad day. In the end he puts you where you want to be up front of a jet.

BURflyer

I don't think most people realize that the copilot does the same thing as the CA. When CNN or the local news talks about a flight they don't usually use the term CA or First Officer it's usually pilot. It kind of implies that the other guy sitting next the pilot is just there to fill the seat, hence co-pilot.

RKpilot

I fly single pilot now so I dont have that problem anymore, but when I was F/O I'd get the "you're not a real pilot" comment and I would just tell them "yeah you can talk to the capt. but he's gonna tell you the same thing I just said." Never convinced them but it's just the stigma of three stripes I guess.

bcrosier

Worst pax ever?

The phantom.

"Back in the day" I was flying a light jet. Most legs around 1.5 hours - no one ever used the loo (really just a bucket full of blue water). On the _extremely_ rare occasion when they did, it was easy to tell - they'd make a big deal of closing the doors and curtains that partitioned off the lav - you knew, and
1) They usually had the courtesy to tell you, so you could dump it, and
2) It was NEVER used for, shall we say, number two.

(I'm sure you can see where this is going)

Yes, some phantom $h!++#r managed to discretely plop him (or her) self down on the dunny, evacuate their bowels, and slip back to their seat undetected. This in and of itself wouldn't have been so bad - but as previously mentioned, the facilities were rarely used, and when they were we always knew (or so we thought).

(As a side note, the lid to the potty seat apparently makes a surprisingly effective seal)

Fast forward, oh I'm guessing somewhere between one and six months. It's time for some routine maintenance and general housekeeping on the old bird. So we decide to dump the old (and as far as we knew, unused) blue juice and put some fresh in.

It took approximately 1.5 seconds for the stench from the now thoroughly fermented fecal matter to pervade the entire aircraft. Mere words cannot describe what greeted my colleague and I - a thousand rotting possums, a paper mill, and an oil refinery all together would have been pleasant by comparison. We beat a hasty retreat out of both the aircraft and the hangar, fresh air being a prized commodity at that juncture.

Eventually we managed to dump the reeking contents of the bucket, but even with repeated rising with hot water and fresh blue juice we never quite got the stink out of that bucket. It took a good two days airing out before the airplane itself was passable - with the help of a healthy dose of Ozium.

So where ever you are Phantom $h!++#r, you will live forever in my memory (and my damaged sinuses).