Don’t throw your trash in the back
We actually just recently found a water bottle behind the pedals in the jet. It was empty and it is part of our checklist for firing up the aircraft and doing the security check to look back there, but it shows that this can, and does, happen, and that Chuck actually has a good point thinking about safety here. Things can roll forward and end up in weird places. Of course, in typical Chuck fashion, he only gets “some” of it right. This strip would actually make a great video for the animation. I love these shots where you zoom out and reveal the bigger picture.
And speaking of weird things ending up in weird places: Back in my “Julio” days I once was working on removing an instrument from the backside of the instrument panel. Those of you who have done it, will know that it takes a contortion specialist to get back there. You have to take the seat out most likely and wedge your body way in there to reach, especially the top few instruments. Well, the one I removed had puke on it!
How the puke flew under the instrument panel and then up again to land and cake the backside of the attitude indicator, I will never know. That must have been some crazy aerobatics!
Usually we found it in the side pocket of the doors, because people usually tend to turn away from the other person and then some would run down from the door or the window …
Yeah, that’s the stuff they don’t tell you in school when they tell you about how awesome a job in aviation will be, lol.
Mike
We were lifting off a US amphibious carrier in our trusty H-3 one day. After sliding left and losing the benefit of ground effect, the flying pilot discovered he couldn’t pull full collective.
It must have appeared to the Landing Signals Officer that we just disappeared below the level of the flight deck. I heard him on the radio screaming “Up! Up!” as I, in the cargo door was doing the same over the ICS while watching the ship’s HF whip aerials pass through the rotor disk.
As we plummeted towards the sea, the AC calmly pushed the throttles up as the flying pilot pushed the nose over. We recovered at an altitude just above soaking wet.
Turned out a water bottle jammed the collective travel.
My whole life didn’t flash before my eyes, but my Egress training sure did!
Hi there,
nice strip. I am fortunate that my flights be it scenic or others are usually not that long. So my passengers rarely start to eat onboard. But talk about puke. Since I am doing quite a lot of scenic flights over Hamburg an northern Germany. I have experienced my share of passengers who got reacquainted with their breakfast, lunch or whatever they had. One instance I looked back to the rear an saw the lady quite pale, the next thing I heard was “rrrgghh!” over the intercom and I realised the question in my PPL exam “What to do when a passenger starts to vomit?” – right answer “Open the window.” Especially when the bag she used to vomit in had a hole at the bottom and everything ends up on the seats. Quite an experience, and as you said no one tells you about that in flight school. Well it would be something if there was a exercise to experience that in real life.
Well the have a nice day and many happy landings
Harro
https://xkcd.com/2675
Just because it is so appropriate to your comic in general.
And don’t forget the Alt/Text