Originally Posted by Airsupport

I agree. Most people didn't have to do that before they got into the industry. What I am laughing at is the people who think that their freight dog days transfer over to airline flying. You know what my freight was. Checks. Lots and lots of checks. And like I said in my previous post I learned more about decision making during that time than I did flying IFR. After flying IFR for so long the skill of actually flying isn't the problem. It is the decision making that is the problem. I could back in the day take a Navajo and fly a single engine ils down to mins in bad weather and wouldn't think much of it. Thats not the point. The point is I shouldn't have taken that Navajo in the first place because the engine had already had to be shut down several times in the last week. And by taking that plane and losing that engine I have greatly narrowed my available alternatives to make sure there is a safe outcome. The times where my gut told me something was wrong, or to not do something, and I did it anyway were the times I realized that the checks werent worth my life and that what I had done nearly cost me everything.

Now my cargo is far more valuable than a bunch of checks. My cargo is moms, dads, brothers, sisters, my wife and kids etc etc. Anytime now that I feel something is not right I dont do it. I used up all my luck flying checks around. Now sound judgement and not taking unecassary risks is my motto. I know my limits. I know when I am biting off more than I can chew and I just dont do it. My passengers may hate me for it as they are giving me dirty looks while we deplane. That is fine. That is what I am asked to do. Be responsible and take charge. My kids dad is on the plane and they expect him to come home safely every time and that is what I intend on doing.

Here is a little story to illustrate my point:

The owner of a trucking company is looking to hire a driver to carry cargo up and down a mountain. The road is narrow and along a cliff. Three guys showed up for the interview and the owner explained to them the conditions and that great skill would be needed to drive the trucks up the narrow mountain passes. The first guy said, "I can drive the car within 6 inches of the ledge, thats how good I am". The next guy said, "Well I can drive the truck within 4 inches of the ledge, thats how good a driver I am." The last guy got the job when he said, "I will stay as far away from the ledge as I can."

Originally Posted by N271FE

A Pinnacle CA friend was recently suspended for 2 weeks without pay for refusing an airplane without an autopilot. Contributing factors to the decision were:
-No autopilot, scheduled block just over 2 hours
-Scheduled departure 10:16pm
-Destination wx 600 OVC, RA, winds gusting 25kts, 60 degrees of crosswind
-Line of thunderstorms between origination and destination
The CA refused the flight in the interest of safety with regard to enroute and destination weather, and was immediately removed from the flight and replaced with a reserve CA. Pinnacle didn’t have any spare planes to swap to, so scheduling simply replaced the crew. The reserve CA also initially refused the flight, but ultimately ended up going after a lengthy delay during which time most of the enroute and destination wx had cleared.
I simply cannot fathom how Pinnacle can completely ignore FAR 91.3, "Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command" and penalize the CA for the decision that was made.

Originally Posted by aviatorhi

If all your using is "previous experiences" to made a decision to not attempt a flight then it's time to think about changing to a more predictable job.

Originally Posted by dojetdriver

If you're talking just the suspension, doubt it since PRIA is about training ONLY, not being disciplined or what goes in your personal file at your emloyer.

Now, if for some reason it's determined by the braintrust of flight ops management that the CA has to go to some kind of training for his actions and he bonks it, well, MAYBE that might show up. But I doubt it, and has NOTHING to do with the suspension in the first place. All that is is a hypothetical scenario.

I think the ONLY place where the CA will have to deal with it is if he interviews and the app and/or interviewer asks if the pilot has ever been "disciplined". And just going on what's been provided, it'd probably be a slam dunk on his part as long as he answered the question with the objective facts, states why he did it, and leaves emotion and opinion of PCL management out of it.

Originally Posted by xjcaptain

Then again we are getting paid to FLY and it's part of the job. I'm sure this will ruffle a few feathers, but maybe some need a little ruffling. Some need to man up a bit, quit whining and just get the job done. If flying in a little weather is that big of a problem, perhaps some are not in the right job....Rant off....

Originally Posted by Blueskies21

I wonder how this decision would have gone if it's a 737 or 757 no autopilot into bad weather. I don't know the answer, maybe a mainline guy can chime in. Most beech 1900's don't have autopilots so no autopilot flying clearly isn't out of the ordinary.

Originally Posted by N271FE

A Pinnacle CA friend was recently suspended for 2 weeks without pay for refusing an airplane without an autopilot. Contributing factors to the decision were:
-No autopilot, scheduled block just over 2 hours (SO WHAT?)
-Scheduled departure 10:16pm (MAKES IT EASIER...NO-ONE ON THE RADIO)
-Destination wx 600 OVC, RA, winds gusting 25kts, 60 degrees of crosswind (SO WHAT? WOULD THIS NORMALLY STOP YOU?)
-Line of thunderstorms between origination and destination (I CAN SEE THIS BEING AN ISSUE, BECAUSE OF THE ALTITUDE LIMITATION OF NO AUTOPILOT, BUT HEY YOU HAVE A PRETTY NICE RADAR IN THAT RJ)
The CA refused the flight in the interest of safety with regard to enroute and destination weather, and was immediately removed from the flight and replaced with a reserve CA. Pinnacle didn’t have any spare planes to swap to, so scheduling simply replaced the crew. The reserve CA also initially refused the flight, but ultimately ended up going after a lengthy delay during which time most of the enroute and destination wx had cleared.
I simply cannot fathom how Pinnacle can completely ignore FAR 91.3, "Responsibility and authority of the pilot in command" and penalize the CA for the decision that was made.