On walkarounds

[Ramapriya]

I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
even one pilot actually do a walkaround!

Do commercial passenger airlines have someone other than the pilot
perform the walkaround of the aircraft, if at all? And how important
is the walkaround in commercial jets? I remember reading the accident
investigation report of an Aeroperu 737 crash where it was suggested
that a walkaround may have helped detect the piece of duct tape that
was plastered in the wrong place, blocking the static port...

Ramapriya

[Rich Lemert]

Ramapriya wrote:
> I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
> noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
> 45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
> plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
> even one pilot actually do a walkaround!
>
> Do commercial passenger airlines have someone other than the pilot
> perform the walkaround of the aircraft, if at all? And how important
> is the walkaround in commercial jets? I remember reading the accident
> investigation report of an Aeroperu 737 crash where it was suggested
> that a walkaround may have helped detect the piece of duct tape that
> was plastered in the wrong place, blocking the static port...

At most airports I've gone through, unless you were constantly
watching to make sure, it would be easy to miss the pilot's walkaround
from the gate area. However, I have had flights where it was obvious
that someone who looked like he was a pilot (he was wearing an
appropriate-looking uniform), was doing a pretty thorough walkaround.
I've also had a flight where a problem was reported to the captain by
the baggage handler, who had felt a drip where he didn't expect one.

Rich Lemert

[Flygarn]

I know from a retired captain that they had specified on their work
schedule which flights required them to inspect the plane themselves. On
a lot of flights an aircraft technician would do the walk-around.

Rich Lemert wrote:
> Ramapriya wrote:
>
>> I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
>> noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
>> 45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
>> plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
>> even one pilot actually do a walkaround!
>>
>> Do commercial passenger airlines have someone other than the pilot
>> perform the walkaround of the aircraft, if at all? And how important
>> is the walkaround in commercial jets? I remember reading the accident
>> investigation report of an Aeroperu 737 crash where it was suggested
>> that a walkaround may have helped detect the piece of duct tape that
>> was plastered in the wrong place, blocking the static port...
>
>
> At most airports I've gone through, unless you were constantly
> watching to make sure, it would be easy to miss the pilot's walkaround
> from the gate area. However, I have had flights where it was obvious
> that someone who looked like he was a pilot (he was wearing an
> appropriate-looking uniform), was doing a pretty thorough walkaround.
> I've also had a flight where a problem was reported to the captain by
> the baggage handler, who had felt a drip where he didn't expect one.
>
> Rich Lemert
>

[Darrell S]

For airlines, maintenance personnel are required to perform a complete
inspection of the aircraft before it is released for flight.

A thorough external "walkaround" inspection by the flight crew is also
required on the first flight of the day or after external maintenance. On
subsequent flights it is not required if the crew/aircraft remains the same
unless maintenance is performed. If the crew changes, the new pilot crew
must do an abbreviated external inspection.

--

Darrell R. Schmidt
B-58 Hustler History: http://members.cox.net/dschmidt1/
-

"Ramapriya" > wrote in message
om...
> I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
> noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
> 45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
> plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
> even one pilot actually do a walkaround!
>
> Do commercial passenger airlines have someone other than the pilot
> perform the walkaround of the aircraft, if at all? And how important
> is the walkaround in commercial jets? I remember reading the accident
> investigation report of an Aeroperu 737 crash where it was suggested
> that a walkaround may have helped detect the piece of duct tape that
> was plastered in the wrong place, blocking the static port...
>
> Ramapriya
>

[MLenoch]

I always did it as the F/E in the morning or crew change. It was often dark
then!!
VL

[Slick]

A friend of mine who is a captain for Continental said he rarely does his
own walk arounds, but he always has someone from his crew do it. He always
tells me "I worked my way to captain, now everyone else can do my grunge
work."
"Ramapriya" > wrote in message
om...
> I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
> noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
> 45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
> plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
> even one pilot actually do a walkaround!
>
> Do commercial passenger airlines have someone other than the pilot
> perform the walkaround of the aircraft, if at all? And how important
> is the walkaround in commercial jets? I remember reading the accident
> investigation report of an Aeroperu 737 crash where it was suggested
> that a walkaround may have helped detect the piece of duct tape that
> was plastered in the wrong place, blocking the static port...
>
> Ramapriya
>




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[G.R. Patterson III]

Ramapriya wrote:
>
> I've done a fair bit of international commuting and have always
> noticed the pilots getting dropped close to the airport approximately
> 45 min or 1 hour prior to takeoff, whereon they simply embark the
> plane and get down to business in the cockpit. I've not till date seen
> even one pilot actually do a walkaround!

I haven't flown commercial for some time, but when I did, I used to try to get a seat
in the terminal where I could watch the action. When I flew Delta, I frequently saw
the first officer doing a walkaround.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

[Capt.Doug]

>"Ramapriya" wrote in message -
> Do commercial passenger airlines have someone other than the pilot
> perform the walkaround of the aircraft, if at all? And how important
> is the walkaround in commercial jets?

Most airlines require that a crewmember perform an exterior inspection
before every leg. It is important to do this because the previous crew may
have scraped a wingtip or struck the tail and you don't want to be blamed
for their poor airmanship. Additionally, if it is a sunny warm morning
without an APU howling, I'll do the walk-around just to find something to
razz the mechanics about.

D.

[lance smith]

I do a lot of big jet flying and have seen the flight crew inspection
many times. Obviously it's not the same as a GA preflight- alieron
hinge checks, rudder movement, etc, but they look for the big stuff.

Here is some interesting info:
http://www.swiss-aviation-training.com/satindex/PRINT/at-pt-fs-pilotday-2.pdf
http://www.pilotmentors.homestead.com/BasicsAirline.html

A good website for airline career stuff:
http://www.jetcareers.com/

-lance smith

[John Smith]

"Slick" > wrote in message ...
> A friend of mine who is a captain for Continental said he rarely does his
> own walk arounds, but he always has someone from his crew do it. He always
> tells me "I worked my way to captain, now everyone else can do my grunge
> work."

But is he surprised that no-one really WANTS to fly with him? I wouldn't be
his first officer, it sounds like I wouldn't get much stick-time.

[George]

What do they call a pilot who doesn't do preflights ?
Ans: A statistic

[Capt.Doug]

>"John Smith" wrote in message > But is he surprised that no-one really
>WANTS to fly with him? I wouldn't be
> his first officer, it sounds like I wouldn't get much stick-time.

Who said no one wants to fly with him? The junior officer is expected to do
the exterior inspection. One of the perks about upgrading to captain is that
one no longer has go out in a 40 knot wind blowing freezing rain in from
Flushing Bay. His sentiment about letting someone else do the walk-around
echoes what most of us feel. You read a negative connotation into it when
one isn't there.

Additionally, in airline life, you wouldn't get much of a choice about who
your captain is. If the captain doesn't let you fly alternate legs, it
usually means you're getting fired soon anyway.

D.