November 10. 2009 02:05

Here are some of the items we covered during three days of recurrent training and check ride.
One of the scenario was a flight from Beijing to Dubai.

-EGPWS - ATC keeps you low and vectors you toward the mountains - Terrain Avoidance.
-Electrical failures - which forced us to return back to Beijing with snow and contaminated runway but now we are over our landing weight with so much fuel so we have to do fuel jettison to lower our weight below max landing weight and reduce our landing distance for snow covered runway.
-Take Off with engine failure at rotation with sever damage (can not re-light)
-Emergency descent from 35,000 ft.
-Tail strike on take off
-Intercepting ILS from above the glide path
-Pilot incapacitation on landing
-Rejected take off due to an engine fire and evacuation on the runway just before V1.
-De-icing procedure on the ground - this part took one hour by itself.
-RNAV approach into Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
-High Altitude runway operation out of Addis Ababa (8,300 ft) take off with bird strike and end up losing an engine because of it with high mountains around and you have to follow an escape route as now with only 3 engines we do not make our climb gradient.
and so much more.....

No wonder we call it the TORTURE CHAMBER.

Kambiz Pourghanad (Airline Transport)

November 10. 2009 12:51

A pilot may train all his/her aviation career for the worst failure that may never ever happen. But, WOW, Mehdi jaan, you actually end up with the same failure in flight. how ironic. Well, that's the simulator is for. I'm glad to hear it worked out in your favour in this case.

All the procedures and SOPs are purchased with someone's blood. In my opinion the simulator is a place to test yourself and your limit. It's a place to do mistakes and walking away learning from those mistakes, cause you don't want your next mistake to be your last one on line in a real life. I am not a good pilot but a damn good student. Wasn't it Eleanor Roosevelt that once said: Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.


Stay safe, so you have a chance to fly again tomorrow.

Kambiz

Kambiz Pourghanad (Airline Transport)

November 10. 2009 13:08

I just remembered this:

There was a big poster at the entrance of our simulator building back when I was with Gulf Air that said:

You are professionals trained to deal with three things that can kill you: gravity, combustion, and inertia. Keep them under control, and you'll die in bed. (and someone wrote with pen beside it: hopefully at the age of 90 with an young 18 years old honey)

And in each briefing room there was another poster that said: You only have too much fuel when you are on fire.

I never forget these two posters.
kambiz

Kambiz Pourghanad (Airline Transport)