Cathy Low level 777 on delivery flight

[Naki]

See here Was also on 3 news last night.

[A185F]

Ahh big deal, they've made such a fuss over nothing. I've seen a video of a falla I know flying down auckland runway low level in a cathay 777 when they were flying round the world on a 1000 cycle etops aproval program. Mind you they had permission. anyway here is a pic of this one off pprune.

[Anthony]

I also think it's a bit of a fuss over nothing - I could understand firing him if he'd written off the aircraft, done this while it was full of passengers, or caused any death, damage or injury.
But it was only a delivery flight with no passengers, he obviously didn't crash and write off the plane or anything, so I don't see the point in firing him.

Maybe CX is just making an example of this one so nobody else tries it and fails.

I know if I was a pilot I'd like to try some kind of stunt like this, so this guy is not alone.

Cheers
Anthony Harris

[Naki]

There were passengers on it - not fare paying passengers but airline executives (60 or so) including the CEO! Nice pic!

[victor_alpha_charlie]

He probably knew the CEO, so knew what a pr*ck he was (assuming it was the CEO's decision to fire him). If the CEO was on board, it probably wasn't the best idea!

[A185F]

also on a side note, the cockpit of this 777 is grey. I was unaware of the 777 having a grey cockpit option. Anyone got any pics of these ?

[creator2003]

Ive been having ago of this lately in the sim ,its pretty hard not to drop the plane onto the tarmac at low level like that when you are trying to go slow ,even at fast speeds it takes time 4 the plane to react ..
video was pretty cool thanks for the link

[deaneb]

QUOTE (brotonee @ Feb 27 2008, 04:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I also think it's a bit of a fuss over nothing - I could understand firing him if he'd written off the aircraft, done this while it was full of passengers, or caused any death, damage or injury.
But it was only a delivery flight with no passengers, he obviously didn't crash and write off the plane or anything, so I don't see the point in firing him.

Maybe CX is just making an example of this one so nobody else tries it and fails.

I know if I was a pilot I'd like to try some kind of stunt like this, so this guy is not alone.

Cheers
Anthony Harris

You are joking right ?? The pass was made at a relatively low speed - note the nose up attitude, was un-authorised and was as low as 9 metres. This is foolish flying from a professional pilot who has paid for it with his job. Thats a lot of aeroplane to be stooling around at that level - you only have to think about the Airbus thad did a similar thing in the 80's and ended up crashing into trees.
The fact this guy did not crash is not the point, the point is if is foolish enough to do this, then he'll probably be stupid enough to tak these sorts of risks again.

Deane

[victor_alpha_charlie]

QUOTE (deaneb @ Feb 27 2008, 09:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You are joking right ?? The pass was made at a relatively low speed - note the nose up attitude, was un-authorised and was as low as 9 metres. This is foolish flying from a professional pilot who has paid for it with his job. Thats a lot of aeroplane to be stooling around at that level - you only have to think about the Airbus thad did a similar thing in the 80's and ended up crashing into trees.
The fact this guy did not crash is not the point, the point is if is foolish enough to do this, then he'll probably be stupid enough to tak these sorts of risks again.

Deane

I guess you're right Deane. It would have been just as easy/impressive to do it at 2-300ft rather than 90, and have permission/training etc first. I understand it because it is a milestone for Cathay, but it didn't need to be that exciting.

[Daniel]

I think it was dangerous and shouldnt have been done unless he had approval. What would have happened if something went wrong?
If he wanted to do this he should have gained permission. I wouldnt attempt something like this unless i had approval but it would be awesome.
Victor_alpha_charlie is right, it would be just as impresive higher up.

[Anthony]

I'm not saying it wasn't dangerous, because there certainly is an element of risk there.
I also think that he should have sought approval and permission before doing it, and I should have said this in my first post, but to clarify:

I would be into doing something like this if I was the pilot, but I would get approval first. He should not have done it without approval.

This certainly is rather foolish and it is dangerous, but my point is, it didn't crash! That's the main thing - there are no dead people, no dead aeroplanes, and no damage done.
It's kind of a 'no harm, no foul' situation as i see it, but that doesn't mean i think its acceptable for him to have done it.

Having passengers on board (which is a factor I was previously unaware of) changes the whole thing a lot. This absolutely should not be done with passengers on board, unless you are trained, have approval and the passengers are aware of what youre going to do.

Cheers
Anthony Harris

[FlyingKiwi]

Not wanting to ignite a flame war here, but there are a lot of things you can do in an aeroplane without crashing, but that doesn't mean you should do them!

[ardypilot]

Why on earth would such an experienced pilot do this if he the CEO was on board and knew it was illegal?

[kiwiflyboy]

After speaking to people today, who are friends with people who have flown with the pilot in question.... This was authorised by the tower, and have only heard good things about the pilot. It wasnt authorised by the company, and chances are the only reason he got sacked (instead of disciplinary action) was because it made it onto youtube etc.... Corporates dont like their brand-name in what may be considered "bad publicity"

[Alex]

QUOTE (kiwiflyboy @ Feb 28 2008, 05:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...the only reason he got sacked (instead of disciplinary action) was because it made it onto youtube etc....

I heard that was the case as well, although it may be just hearsay.

Alex

[Gavin Conroy]

Well from watching the video I can see why a few people have got upset about this.
Any display pilot will tell you its a good idea to have good energy down low and seeing the aircraft nose hig and slow does look a bit sus, especially with pax on board.

If it was at 100ft at 280 knots I wonder weather it would have caused such a stir?

[kiwiflyboy]

Somehow I dont think he would have done it at a dangerously slow speed, I can imagine pilots in an A/C like that fear the stick shaker and stall warning. From still pictures you can see he has trailing edge flaps down and also leading edge flaps down. this will increase that buffer between his a/s and vs

[HardCorePawn]

I have heard the figures 28ft (radio alt) and 200+KIAS... although according to a couple of reports he may have been as fast as 275KIAS....

[A185F]

QUOTE (HardCorePawn @ Feb 29 2008, 09:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have heard the figures 28ft (radio alt) and 200+KIAS... although according to a couple of reports he may have been as fast as 275KIAS....

Likewise although 83ft ra. 200kts, flaps 15 (or 10 cant remember). Remember because it is so big it looks slow but i'm sure that was plenty fast, due config and weights.

From what I am aware, this is rather common, brand new aircraft doing a fly past on delivary flight. Here is another cathay 777 same thing same place (although a little higher)



From what I gather the pilot was very high up in cathay and very experienced and had a fair idea what he was doing. If it was such a dangerous stunt, (everything is dangerous to someone in aviation, to a degree) there would be no such thing as airshows. Look at that fantastic 757 display put on by the RNZAF. They do things oodles more "dangerous" than this, right by thousands of spectators and the pilots doing the display would have only a tiny fraction the experience of these cathay guys.

It is clear (even from a cathay statement) that permission should have been sought for this and that they do actually do these things on special occasions. The fact that they did not have permission and it made it to the media would have been the only reason the pilot was sacked cos otherwise this really would have not been a big deal.
Storm in a tea cup really. But thats just my thoughts.

[HardCorePawn]

Yeah... I read he actually got a champagne toast from those onboard when they got to HK!

They're just pissed it ended up on YouTube and that it make harm Cathay's reputation... so they are looking for a scapegoat... apparently they 'purchased' the rights to the video so they could get it taken off YouTube...