What on Earth would possess the co-pilot to exit the aircraft through the escape hatch and down the nose? I think it's clear the engine's aren't running (you can see a stationary prop shadow). The pilot doesn't seem in a hurry to get out, so I can't see it being an emergency. Anyone know or have an idea?

Where? I'm getting curious...

Probably he's talking about a not linked video! :( The exit through the cockpit window is normally only used when an exit through the cabin is no more safe (e.g. smoke/fire in the cabin).

He is probably refering to a Pic that is on A.net.Showing a Dash 8 parked on the ramp and the co-pilot climbing down over the nose in an akward looking way :(

Probably he got a little distracted while watching Australia lose The Ashes to England and forgot to attach a link ;-)

Oops, my bad...www.airliners.net/photo/SATA-Air-Acores/De-Havilland-Canada/1568907/L/

Probably he got a little distracted while watching Australia lose The Ashes to England and forgot to attach a link ;-)

No - didn't watch the Ashes. I didn't wanna stay up all night to watch us let the Pommies win so we could make the next Ashes series here in Oz interesting.

hmm. no stripres on his shoulders... maybe he isn

maybe its evacuation training

you mean like this????

lol

There is one airline out there where relations between the flight crews and crew tracking are so poor that pilots will scoot through the service door to avoid crew tracking who is waiting on the jetbridge to "junior assign" the crew to another flight assignment.A corollary of the story is the flight crew upon spotting the crew tracker waiting on the jetbridge during the taxi in - they call the airport police to haul the tracker away as crew trackers of this airline did not have airport SIDA badges.Steve W.

There is one airline out there where relations between the flight crews and crew tracking are so poor that pilots will scoot through the service door to avoid crew tracking who is waiting on the jetbridge to "junior assign" the crew to another flight assignment.A corollary of the story is the flight crew upon spotting the crew tracker waiting on the jetbridge during the taxi in - they call the airport police to haul the tracker away as crew trackers of this airline did not have airport SIDA badges.Steve W.

I don't get anything of what you just said? What is a crew tracker and what does it mean to "junior assign" crew?

I don't get anything of what you just said? What is a crew tracker and what does it mean to "junior assign" crew?

Sorry - getting an airliner to fly is an effort between many groups of people. Some are obvious - and a larger percentage are behind out of public view.On the aircraft is the flight crew, at the airport are the rampers, customer service agents, etc.At most airlines there is System Operations Control (SOC) or something similar - those people work behind the scene. There you'll find:Dispatchers - they work with the pilots to determine airworthiness, they flight plan the route, determine payload (fuel, pax and cargo), etc.Maintenance Control - they work the the pilots to solve maintenance issues.Crew Trackers / Crew Schedulers - they are responsible for ensuring all flights are staffed with legal crew members - pilots and flight attendants. If a pilot calls in sick or is unavailable for whatever reason, the tracker/scheduler will call out a reserve pilot to fly the flight. If they run out of reserve pilots, then they are forced to do more drastic measures, like assign a reserve captain to fly as a first officer for example. The manner in which they find additional pilots/crew members to fly a flight is determined by contractual means, but usually once they run out of reserve pilots, they start searching for any crewmember that is legal (rest time/duty time/and flight time wise) to fly the assignment - starting from the bottom of the seniority list and working their way up the seniority list until they find the junior pilot legal and available to fly the flight - the "junior pilot assigned" or "junior assigned" to fly the flight.Once they've located the pilot to fly the flight, the tracker/scheduler is now responsible for notifying the pilot of his additional assignment. Usually line pilots do not have to consult with the tracker/scheduler - that is the advantage of being senior enough to be a line pilot - they simply fly their assigned sequences for the month and go home. Reserve pilots however have to be in contact with the tracker/scheduler all the time for flight assignments.So that is the dilemma the tracker/scheduler is in - having run out of reserve pilots, he/she now needs to contact a line pilot who is not required to contact the tracker/scheduler in the normal conduct of daily flying to fly an additional flight. The tracker/scheduler will try to contact the pilot via phone contact - most pilots don't have their phone turned on while flying - and most pilots don't answer a phone call from tracking/scheduling as a matter of course. Next, the tracker/scheduler will attempt to contact the pilot via company radio/ACARS to notify the pilot of the additional flight assignment. The pilot will most certainly get the message then, however most pilot contracts do not allow this method as an official means of notification to the pilot, and the pilot is not contractually bound to operate the flight until he is "officially" notified of the flight assignment. So failing to gain phone contact with the pilot, the tracker/scheduler must physically meet the pilot to inform him of the assignment, either personally or having someone meet the pilot as he gets off the airplane.So back to the picture - the pilot, knowing from ACARS/company radio that there is another flight that requires a pilot, and no reserves are available, his goal is getting off work - so with the scheduler on the jetbridge waiting to meet him - he'll scoot out any non-normal exit to avoid the scheduler. It's like a childish / adult game of "tag" - you're it. If the scheduler gets the pilot - his immediate problem is solved. If the pilot gets away, then the scheduler has to go back to square one and continue up the seniority list to find the next pilot. If the game goes on, then at some point - they can't find a pilot, the manager of SOC will decide to either use a different type aircraft which does have the crew to fly the flight (but might not have all the seats that are needed) or delay the flight until a pilot can be found or just cancel the flight.Anyways, that is what is going on behind the scenes. At some airlines where the flight crews are understaffed, this daily game of "tag" happens a lot.Steve W.

Oops, my bad...www.airliners.net/photo/SATA-Air-Acores/De-Havilland-Canada/1568907/L/No - didn't watch the Ashes. I didn't wanna stay up all night to watch us let the Pommies win so we could make the next Ashes series here in Oz interesting.

:( Yeah, you'll probably beat us 5-0 again.

:( Yeah, you'll probably beat us 5-0 again.

Yup, cos we don't doctor our pitches to resemble those dust bowls found on the sub-continent like the pommie curator did this series.

Evac training on the real thing? Tad expensive if you screw it up surely?I think there is a genuine emergency (e.g. smoke/fire) and he's bailed whilst the Captain remains on board.Best regards,Robin.