"Is There a Pilot On Board?"

[Guest Robin.B]

Funny that I'm reading this thread while eating Roasted Peanuts :-lolVery interesting discussion; one of the most interesting aviation topics I've read for some time!

[aentwis 61]

>Very well said.>>A german slogan is "Oben geblieben ist noch keiner, runter>gekommen sind sie alle":-) I dont now the right english>translation.>>Greetings>>StefanI agree totally, it's a good phrase...I don't think there is an English equivalent of the idiom, then again, I could also be wrong... ;)Happy flying!

[Guest oledurt]

>Before I begin, let me just say that this event never>happened, and hopefully never will. Any similarities are>coincidental. When you are finished reading the story please>post your opinion. Ive read a few of these types of threads>before and am wondering what the PMDG pilot thinks.>>---------->>You are waiting in line to check-in at San Diego for your>flight to Baltimore. You are visiting your brother (or sister>or mother...well you get the point) for 3 days over the July>4th weekend. You check-in, pass security, and take a seat at>the gate. About 20 minutes before you board, N201LV pulls up>to the gate. N201LV is a brand new 737-700 just delivered to>Southwest a few weeks ago. Theres not a spec of dirt on the>plane, and you can tell it is brand new. When its finally time>to board, you proceed to the "A" group and are one of the>first ones on the plane. You quickly grab the best seat you>can, a window seat right behind the wing. 10 minutes pass, and>you push from the gate. The engines start, and you are on your>way.>>You spend 2 minutes taxing, and then line up on Runway 27. The>engines get louder and you are rumbling down the runway. You>think to yourself what a great job the pilots have. You>imagine what they are saying right now: "V1, Rotate, V2". The>plane lifts off, and you are on your way to Baltimore.>>About 2 hours in to the flight, the pilots up front are>starting to get hungry. Due to regulations the pilots must eat>different meals. Captain Carl pulls out a pack of dry roasted>peantus, and First Officer Freddy grabs a pack of the honey>roasted. They open the packs and chow down on what they think>is a harmless meal.>>About 15 minutes later Captain Carl is starting to feel a bit>sick. He dosent tell anyone, and passes out about 5 minutes>later. First Officer Freddy now is getting a bit scared and>calls the flight attendant to tell her of the situation. Right>before he contacts ATC for vectors to the nearest airport, he>feels some pains in his stomach. He looks down at his stomach,>gets dizzy, and passes out.>>By now all the flight attendants know of the situation. They>try to remain calm, but the passengers start to get anxious.>You are about to press the call button, but one of the flight>attendants makes an announcement.>>"Um Lady's and Gentleman we have a slight problem up in the>cockpit. Both of the pilots have passed out and no one is able>to fly the plane. If we have any pilots on board, please press>your call button now">>You wait to see if anyone presses before you do anything. A>minute passes, and another announcemnt is made. You start to>sweat and think to yourself, "Can I land this plane?">>---------->>MattNow let me say I am not a pilot but I am a member of a VA and I fly ALOT! I respect what these real world pilots are saying, but let me tell you that I have flown hundreds of hours on the PMDG and the answer to this scenerio is quite simple.I would remain in my seat nice and calm...I would unzip my pants and have sex with my wife...If I wasn't dead yet I would order a couple drinks from the FA's then I would grab my wife by the hand kiss her and tell her I loved her.After that I would put my headphones on and play Lonely Day by System of a Down at max volume and patiently wait to die...>R.I.PGuthrie

[Guest stubbornswiss]

Thanks for an interesting, thought provoking thread!Just a couple of thoughts......1. Flying FSX, even with the Uber Advanced PMDG-747, is quite different from flying a high end, full motion flight simulator. With the motion, the sounds, and the visual environment affecting our senses, things are not so relaxed as with sitting in your living room in front of a couple of 22" monitors, with the kids running around, the wife telling you dinner is ready, and the "too loud" sounds of Jeopardy on the TV in the background;2. Flying a high end, full motion flight simulator, as realistic as it may be, is still exactly that - a simulator! The real stresses associated with real life "Abnormal Operations" (read EMERGENCY), can never be realistically simulated. And remember, in real flight you ONLY get one shot at a maneuver! There is no pause button, no reset, and no replay.As proficient as one may be with "procedures", a bit more is required to land a heavy jet. A bit more than can be acquired from several hundred hours on FSX. It is known as "handling", and is gained from actual handling of real life machines. In todays world you may able to get type rated on a simulator, but that is a type rating, and one can only assume that you are already a licensed pilot, with "handling" experience.Now don't get me wrong, in such a dire situation as described in this thread, I believe anyone with ANY knowledge of flight would be better than no one at all. With help from a type rated pilot on the ground, disaster may be averted for a while, even with the possibility of a miracle at the end! Possible but not probable.I am not an expert on this subject, but I am a retired airline captain, and these are just personal thoughts.OK..... now I need to get back to setting up FSX for that early morning transatlantic flight.... :-)

[Guest Knikolaes]

LOL Wow. I had to check my eyes when I got an email notification on a thread I subscribed to 3 years ago O.o How deep was this one in the mix anyway? :-)

[tf51d 284]

>Thanks for an interesting, thought provoking thread!>>Just a couple of thoughts......>>1. Flying FSX, even with the Uber Advanced PMDG-747, is quite>different from flying a high end, full motion flight>simulator. With the motion, the sounds, and the visual>environment affecting our senses, things are not so relaxed as>with sitting in your living room in front of a couple of 22">monitors, with the kids running around, the wife telling you>dinner is ready, and the "too loud" sounds of Jeopardy on the>TV in the background;>>2. Flying a high end, full motion flight simulator, as>realistic as it may be, is still exactly that - a simulator!>The real stresses associated with real life "Abnormal>Operations" (read EMERGENCY), can never be realistically>simulated. And remember, in real flight you ONLY get one shot>at a maneuver! There is no pause button, no reset, and no>replay.>>As proficient as one may be with "procedures", a bit more is>required to land a heavy jet. A bit more than can be acquired>from several hundred hours on FSX. It is known as "handling",>and is gained from actual handling of real life machines. In>todays world you may able to get type rated on a simulator,>but that is a type rating, and one can only assume that you>are already a licensed pilot, with "handling" experience.>>Now don't get me wrong, in such a dire situation as described>in this thread, I believe anyone with ANY knowledge of flight>would be better than no one at all. With help from a type>rated pilot on the ground, disaster may be averted for a>while, even with the possibility of a miracle at the end!>Possible but not probable.>>I am not an expert on this subject, but I am a retired airline>captain, and these are just personal thoughts.>>OK..... now I need to get back to setting up FSX for that>early morning transatlantic flight.... :-)>>There was an episode of the Mythbusters, that took this issue on. They used Level-D simulators to test it. Neither one of them even had any FS experience at all. They did 2 series of tests. One was a novice trying to land without any instruction, and both of them crashed pretty quickly. However the second test, was with help from a ground controller/pilot, With enough time to familiarize them with the controls prior to the landing. In both cases both was able to land safely, albeit to too smoothly but survivable. That was without automation. It was noted an autoland would have been easier. So while I do agree it would be difficult, I wouldn't say there was no chance a non pilot could do it if they had the time and proper ground assistance. I think the closest incidence of a situation like this was the Helios Flight 522 on 2005, where both Pilots became incapacitated from hypoxia due to an oxygen failure and a Flight Attendant tried unsuccessfully to regain control. In this case though, there was no time for ground assistance, so it still leaves an open question what would have happened if there was.

[basa 0]

Well, I've thought about this situation a lot of times.Having had real flying experience (PPL, but no active license now) and after more than two years of PMDG training, if the trouble was that the pilots are dead but there isn

[Guest sunbear]

Stefan,I have to agree with you as I have a number of hours in the 737 NG real simulator and the PMDG software was a fantastic resource as I have never fatally injured anybody aboard. You are spot-on when you said that the CH yoke does not give you any feedback. This is the one big area in flight simulation that is a limp-along and when you take control of the real yoke in the simulator, it's a whole different way of flying. You can put thousands of dollars/euro's in your system but never ever replicate the feeling of the real yoke in the simulator. Too bad as this is what flying is all about.However, I have to agree with a lot of folks that it would be very possible to set up the NG for an 'Autoland' if you had the right mind-set to do it.....I'm not saying it would be easy with the pressure etc., but it very well could be accomplished.My wish is that somebody would make a decent yoke to go along with the unbeatable PMDG software. Hint!!Regards,jack

[REVO 0]

Hello Simmers.It shouldn

[BAW9DV 2]

Hmm,Didn't see this thread until late ... But its an interesting one!I have been very fortunate to have flown all the way back from Tokyo to London in the flight deck of a British Airways 747-400 (pre 9/11 - it was in the Summer of 2000). The flight crew were fantastic and very keen to hear about the aircraft and the perceptions of a Flight Simulator pilot like me! I was also lucky enough to get three hours on the 747-400 Simulator at British Airways Cranebank Training Base near Heathrow - a 50th birthday present from my wife - in the company of one Training Captain and one serving BA 744 line pilot. I'm happy to say that as well as being a great experience, I acquitted myself pretty well!Now to the question..... To be honest, despite having flown the PMDG 744 product since it came out and having flown the PSS 744 product for FS2000 and 2002 before that - and the current PMDG737NG product, there is a difference between knowing how to fly the aircraft and having the ability to fly the real jet when called upon to do so.By that I mean, I can truthfully say that I have the skills to fly the 747-400 quite well and the 737NG fairly well. But if I was called upon to operate the real aircraft down to a safe landing, this would depend very much on whether I had my nerve together and how I responded to the pressure of the situation!For the real Simmers among us, the mechanics of flying the real plane are there for us and generally, I believe most of us could manage to fly the real jet to some extent. However, if you know which switch operates the PTT on the radio, you would also receive an aweful lot of help from the ground to get you down - as has been proved before on occasions where this has happened in General Aviation scenarios such as PIC heart attacks while airborne, etc. With these jets almost flying themselves, the chances of making it down safely would be good.In reality, I believe that the problems would be down to the nerve and general state of the "pilot" attempting the landing at the time, and the pressure of the situation facing the crew who have become incapacitated. For me, the need to get them down quickly so that their lives could be saved, would be a great burden, no matter how good my nerves were at the time!For me ... If I was asked, I would go for it if no other pilots were on board because then I would be the best and possibly the only option. How I would be when I took my place in that left hand seat is another matter! And I cannot really answer that truthfully until it happened to me! But I WOULD try it - I think that I would have to for the good of those on board .....Just my thoughts,cheers,Lee

[onurksn 1]

I guess this subject is one that we simmers love to talk about. I have a lot of hours on the PMDG 737 and I'm fairly sure I could fly it on autopilot unless of course anything crucial fails. In an emergency situation like this you're bound to get help from ATC, getting vectors and altitudes, at least most of us would know which button to hit, we know pretty well where everything is. Vectored to a fully operating CAT3 or even CAT2 runway of at least 10K feet in length, in fair weather I'm positive I can land an NG without killing anyone, but probably damaging to some extent the aircraft. I would certainly faint after stopping though:-lolI suppose the hardest part would be touchdown, as a passenger I have experienced very hairy landings, I'm sure you've all had this kind of experience, I can't even imagine myself being the PIC in those situations!!