Seeing how this has become a bit of an Aer Lingus thread, I thought I may as well post this here and congratulate Aer Lingus on their achievement, they deserve it.http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/14/thomas-cook-worst-airline-ryanair_n_1147595.htmlAnd sorry again about the video thing .

Followed by ”Auto thrust coming out. TLA” to which both Sam and Seán responded to by also announcing “TLA”.

I hope you don't mind my asking, but since the flight two questions have been bugging me;1] What does TLA [as used above] actually mean? I assume it's an Airbus term as I've never heard it before in any of the Boeing videos I've watched.2] A personal question, how do you pronounce your surname? I was hoping to find out on the flight, but everyone just referred to you on first name terms and was too embarrased to ask.Niall.

TLA means - Thrust lever angle. Dont understand why it would be announced, never seen it any SOP I have come across so would be interested in an official reply. Are you sure you didn't mis-understand?Was the landing done with A/THR off? only thing I can think of is a verbal check that the donut on the upper ECAM matched the actual commanded thrust before disconnect. You have to make sure they match before disconnect or you may get a surge in the thrust.Regards

I hope you don't mind my asking, but since the flight two questions have been bugging me;1] What does TLA [as used above] actually mean? I assume it's an Airbus term as I've never heard it before in any of the Boeing videos I've watched.2] A personal question, how do you pronounce your surname? I was hoping to find out on the flight, but everyone just referred to you on first name terms and was too embarrased to ask.Niall.

TLA means - Thrust lever angle. Dont understand why it would be announced, never seen it any SOP I have come across so would be interested in an official reply. Are you sure you didn't mis-understand?Was the landing done with A/THR off? only thing I can think of is a verbal check that the donut on the upper ECAM matched the actual commanded thrust before disconnect. You have to make sure they match before disconnect or you may get a surge in the thrust.Regards

1] Bingo, Flex got the answer right, bit of a story which goes with that. EIN has that as part of our SOPs, I'm sure some other airlines have it too, but it isn't an Airbus standard SOP. Back on a cold January morning in 1995, a humble F/O, who shall remain nameless as his reputation has already taken quite the battering in this thread, was being trained on the 330 at EIN. Tech and sim training complete it was time for him to take out the bird and fly her round the circuit a few times. For his fifth and final circuit, the A/T was going to remain engaged until 20' above the runway, and then be reduced to idle upon the "retard" call out. He was sat in the captains seat beside the chief A330 pilot and with the chief A330 training captain of the airline sat behind him, feeling proud as punch after completing 4 very nice landings. All going to, plan and coming up to the call out, on hearing the "Retard" call, he over-entusiastically disengaged the A/T while the levers were still in the climb gate, engines surging forward but he was proceeding to bring them to idle in the hope they hadn't spooled up too much but to no avail, there he sat trying to salvage the landing, but it was too late, they we're lightly loaded and already accelerating. The aircraft was floating down the runway, not a hope of a successful landing. The Chief A330 pilot in the seat next to him screaming "GO AROUND GO AROUND, TOGA TOGA!!!!!!!!!!!", before the Chief training pilot reached up from behind and slammed the thrust levers into the TOGA gate, screaming "TOGA TOGA, GET US OUT OF HERE!!!!!!!!!". Now I don't know if many of you have been on a widebody jet, with no passengers, no cargo and very little fuel before, but if you put those engines into TOGA with such a light load, boy can those things climb. It was akin to an air display. So, following that incident, the SOP was put in place to have the PM confirm that the doughnut matches the current engine output before the auto-throttle is disengaged, and this is done through the "TLA" call out...02] Yes, O Cadhain, It's an old Irish name, the anglesised version is Kyne [or Coyne depending on where you're from]. It's pronounced "O-Kai-Enn" or just "Kai-Enn" if you're using the anglesised version.... But of course, Rónán will always do... :(

I knew there had to be a good story behind that!

Seeing how this has become a bit of an Aer Lingus thread, I thought I may as well post this here and congratulate Aer Lingus on their achievement, they deserve it. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/12/14/thomas-cook-worst-airline-ryanair_n_1147595.html And sorry again about the video thing .

OK, the comments in that link have got to be some of the funniest I have read in awhile:

a part of its wing fell off and hit one of the windows as we were landing!

it doesn't matter what airline i choose there always some loudmouth drunk,a screaming kid or someone who has to fully recline the seat for the whole journey leaving the tv screen 4 inches from your face sat in front of you. id happily sit in the hold on my own if it was warm enough.

Their short haul is renowned as the cattle truck. The seats are so close I can't get the table down to eat my meals - which are dire. Because of the pitch of the seats I believe that these planes are unsafe - unless of course you are a whippet. Any problem and average size people would struggle to extricate themselves from the rows. If you are a little overweight or tall that row will become your tomb.

I was getting off in IAD on Sunday from a long flight from Narita and walked past an Aerlingus plane. What a great life experience you have had. I'll probably never have the experience you did but I'll hold on to my memory of flying in the cockpit of a C130 in north Pakistan and landing in an airport with a similar approach as Innsbruck.Take Care,Chris K.

I knew there had to be a good story behind that!

Agreed!In other news, another video from Aerlingus;

It looks like the A330 is the easiest plane to land and Airbus is the best or A330 pilots are amazing... Because I always see very smooth landings with the A330 . Why is that? Fly-by-wire?

Hi everyone (but this really is a question for Rónán)A friend of mine, who flew A330s (and A340s) for a few months before retiring told me airbrakes will automatically deploy as soon as the rearmost wheels touch the ground, which can be a bit of a surprise for newcomers.Are the Aer Loingeas busses programmed this way too?Thanks in advance and best regards,Bruno

Hi everyone (but this really is a question for Rónán)A friend of mine, who flew A330s (and A340s) for a few months before retiring told me airbrakes will automatically deploy as soon as the rearmost wheels touch the ground, which can be a bit of a surprise for newcomers.Are the Aer Loingeas busses programmed this way too?Thanks in advance and best regards,Bruno

Haha, Aer Loingeas, haven't heard that one in a while lol...Our buses use standard Airbus FCLs,Spoilers will deploy on landing provided;

• Both main landing gear are on the ground and,
• The thrust levers are in idle [if the spoilers were armed]
• Or, If at least one lever is in reverse (with the other in at least idle) [if they we're not armed]

Hope this helps,Ró.

Haha, Aer Loingeas, haven't heard that one in a while lol...

Well, I was looking for the meaning of "Lingus" and got this answer from my good friend Wiki...

Hope this helps,Ró.

It does. Thanks Bró ! :smile:Bruno

Well, I was looking for the meaning of "Lingus" and got this answer from my good friend Wiki...It does. Thanks Bró ! :smile:Bruno

Well, technically, Lingus doesn't mean anything, it's the anglesised version of Loingeas, but for those interested, "Loingeas" means "Fleet" in english....

Very well written Niall, great job. Makes me look forward to my trip to BOS (EI-137) next saturday (01/07) all the more. :-) Was sad to see EI-ORD retired though, first plane to take me long haul... Hopefully a ride on one of the newer A333s will be just as enjoyable ill keep an eye out for the FC with a bit more respect than usual..

Was sad to see EI-ORD retired though, first plane to take me long haul...

Who, "Old Unreliable"??? Good riddance to her, you'd always get a sinking feeling in the stomach when you glanced down at the briefing and found out you we're flying her. She's jinxed so she is, no luck of the Irish about her, that's for sure. It was rare to be able to walk out to her and not have to delay the flight for mx.... Heck, between the Boston incident and the Chicago incident, it's no wonder no one's been killed by her....Rónán O Cadhain.

Yeah i cant say i was ever 100% relaxed the few times i watched her pull up at logan to ferry me home.. always watching those ailerons for any sign of a snap :) yeah + the runway incursion is always one i enjoyed explaining to the co workers on our way outta logan :-) was it just the fact that she was an old bird? What about DAA and LAX there not that much younger?