Excellent Series On Cargo Flying

Most of the stuff I've seen in the papers about flying freight usually misses
the mark by focusing on Fedex or UPS. This series of three articles focuses on
freight dogs. I think the author hit the nail on the head. The only weakness
is that not every freight accident I can think of is necessarily fatal. I can
think of a couple of guys that I know who got hurt very badly in freighters.
One of them has to wear braces on his legs like a kid with polio just to be able
to stand up for very short periods.

Anyway, this guy sure got the maintenance problems and the usual NTSB results
down.

For those of you who don't know, I used to do this kind of flying. Not no more.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/14998705.htm
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/15003611.htm
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/15010344.htm

"About This Investigation

The nine-month Miami Herald investigation built upon thousands of pages of
documents.

The newspaper spent hundreds of hours examining a database maintained by the
National Transportation Safety Board that includes reports on crashes around the
world dating back decades.

The newspaper filed Freedom of Information Act requests for FAA enforcement and
inspection files; examined NTSB investigative dockets, government reports on
cargo planes, lawsuits, industry memos, safety studies and news reports; and
conducted interviews across the country."




--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

The author of the newspaper hit piece was an idiot. There
are problems, poor maintenance and bad management lead the
list in my mind. But he focused on how many FAA inspectors
and the way they are assigned. Also, he bemoaned the fact
that a C310 isn't icing approved.
Pilots know how to handle that issue, don't take off, go
somewhere else and land. It is just not possible to have
all cargo flown by two pilot crews in a 737 under part 121,
which is the "answer" that the Miami Herald author seems to
thing is the solution.

The Miami Herald is a rag looking for sensation, not facts.


--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
wrote in message
m...
| Most of the stuff I've seen in the papers about flying
freight usually misses
| the mark by focusing on Fedex or UPS. This series of
three articles focuses on
| freight dogs. I think the author hit the nail on the
head. The only weakness
| is that not every freight accident I can think of is
necessarily fatal. I can
| think of a couple of guys that I know who got hurt very
badly in freighters.
| One of them has to wear braces on his legs like a kid with
polio just to be able
| to stand up for very short periods.
|
| Anyway, this guy sure got the maintenance problems and the
usual NTSB results
| down.
|
| For those of you who don't know, I used to do this kind of
flying. Not no more.
|
| http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/14998705.htm
| http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/15003611.htm
| http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlot...s/15010344.htm
|
| "About This Investigation
|
| The nine-month Miami Herald investigation built upon
thousands of pages of
| documents.
|
| The newspaper spent hundreds of hours examining a database
maintained by the
| National Transportation Safety Board that includes reports
on crashes around the
| world dating back decades.
|
| The newspaper filed Freedom of Information Act requests
for FAA enforcement and
| inspection files; examined NTSB investigative dockets,
government reports on
| cargo planes, lawsuits, industry memos, safety studies and
news reports; and
| conducted interviews across the country."
|
|
|
|
| --
| Mortimer Schnerd, RN
|
| VE
|
|
|

Jim Macklin wrote:

The author of the newspaper hit piece was an idiot. There
are problems, poor maintenance and bad management lead the
list in my mind.
snip

Jim, have you ever flown cargo for a living?

(Note: I certainly have not, but I am wondering if you have a true
insider's perspective.)

--
Peter

yes. I've also flown a lot of single pilot passenger
charter.



"Peter R." wrote in message
...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
|
| The author of the newspaper hit piece was an idiot.
There
| are problems, poor maintenance and bad management lead
the
| list in my mind.
| snip
|
| Jim, have you ever flown cargo for a living?
|
| (Note: I certainly have not, but I am wondering if you
have a true
| insider's perspective.)
|
| --
| Peter

Jim Macklin wrote:
The author of the newspaper hit piece was an idiot. There
are problems, poor maintenance and bad management lead the
list in my mind. But he focused on how many FAA inspectors
and the way they are assigned. Also, he bemoaned the fact
that a C310 isn't icing approved.
Pilots know how to handle that issue, don't take off, go
somewhere else and land. It is just not possible to have
all cargo flown by two pilot crews in a 737 under part 121,
which is the "answer" that the Miami Herald author seems to
thing is the solution.

The Miami Herald is a rag looking for sensation, not facts.


I strongly suggest you go back and read it again. He definitely exposed the
flaunting of the required rest rules and poor maintenance. The point of the
limited number of qualified FAA inspectors is that there aren't enough to do the
job. The results are paper inspections.

From your comments, I'd have to guess you've never been a freight dog. I have
and I thought the man hit the nail on the head. Don't fly? Your delay better
be damned short or you're going to be looking for another job. And they are few
and far between. When I was flying cargo, they all seemed to be in East BF,
Iowa. I live on the east coast and want to stay here.

If I lost an engine within 200 miles of my destination, I was expected to fly to
the destination; not somewhere else. The company didn't get paid if it went
somewhere else; at least that's what they told me. While management might state
one policy, the reality was generally quite different. Mission completion was
Job One.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

As long as pilots will fly junk just to get hours, the
a**holes will run slipshod over the pilots. But there are
good operators and there are professional pilots.

Putting all cargo into a 737 or even a Caravan is just not
possible. I've seen planes being flown on cargo flights
that damage visible from many feet away, such as warped
cowls from the engine fire, no rubber on the deice boots
[just cloth], puddles of oil in the cowl [btw, this was one
airplane at one moment]. It took me over an hour to get the
feds to finish their lunch break and come over and ground
the airplane. It left anyway after the FAA office closed
for the day.

I'm not saying there are no problems with cargo flying, but
the solutions the author of the article talks about are not
possible. First thing. pilots need a backbone.



--
James H. Macklin
ATP,CFI,A&P

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN"
wrote in message
m...
| Jim Macklin wrote:
| The author of the newspaper hit piece was an idiot.
There
| are problems, poor maintenance and bad management lead
the
| list in my mind. But he focused on how many FAA
inspectors
| and the way they are assigned. Also, he bemoaned the
fact
| that a C310 isn't icing approved.
| Pilots know how to handle that issue, don't take off, go
| somewhere else and land. It is just not possible to
have
| all cargo flown by two pilot crews in a 737 under part
121,
| which is the "answer" that the Miami Herald author seems
to
| thing is the solution.
|
| The Miami Herald is a rag looking for sensation, not
facts.
|
|
| I strongly suggest you go back and read it again. He
definitely exposed the
| flaunting of the required rest rules and poor maintenance.
The point of the
| limited number of qualified FAA inspectors is that there
aren't enough to do the
| job. The results are paper inspections.
|
| From your comments, I'd have to guess you've never been a
freight dog. I have
| and I thought the man hit the nail on the head. Don't
fly? Your delay better
| be damned short or you're going to be looking for another
job. And they are few
| and far between. When I was flying cargo, they all seemed
to be in East BF,
| Iowa. I live on the east coast and want to stay here.
|
| If I lost an engine within 200 miles of my destination, I
was expected to fly to
| the destination; not somewhere else. The company didn't
get paid if it went
| somewhere else; at least that's what they told me. While
management might state
| one policy, the reality was generally quite different.
Mission completion was
| Job One.
|
|
|
| --
| Mortimer Schnerd, RN
|
| VE
|
|

Jim Macklin wrote:

I'm not saying there are no problems with cargo flying, but
the solutions the author of the article talks about are not
possible. First thing. pilots need a backbone.


Yes, and the thing you have to remember is, like all pie in the sky
government regulations/mandates they end up costing the end user
a *lot* at the end of the day.

Airlines have been losing money for years not making Joe Blow
actually pay the price for all of the stuff that goes into
flying a 757 from point A to point B. Same thing for cargo...
if you make freight operators go through the same hoops you:
A) need more GOVERNMENT (i.e. more taxes) to make it happen and:
B) Joe sixpack will be paying a lot more to ship grandmaw's
birthday present.

Americans want an safe, antiseptic, no stress, no risk lifestyle
but hate paying for it (themselves anyway). Maybe that's why
illegal immigration is such a big hit.

ktbr wrote:
Americans want an safe, antiseptic, no stress, no risk lifestyle
but hate paying for it (themselves anyway). Maybe that's why
illegal immigration is such a big hit.

Uh oh, I smell thread creep...

by "Jim Macklin" Jul 12, 2006 at
08:09 AM


The author of the newspaper hit piece was an idiot.....
Pilots know how to handle that issue, don't take off, go
somewhere else and land."



Obviously, all the ones who crashed did not know how to "handle that
issue." Rules and regs need to be substantially tightened.

But, we will wait until one of the many near misses (on homes or a
business or school) results in a large number of casualties. Plenty of
near hits so far this year.... It is only a matter of time. Then the
pols will jump on it, Boyer will produce bumper stickers, and GA will
circle the wagons....

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN"

I think the author hit the nail on the head.

I think they're tap-dancing with their data a bit, to sensationalize, but
are essentially accurate. For example, the main focus of the report is
clearly small-plane freight. But then he quotes these figures:

"In the U.S., air express accounts for more than 70 percent of air cargo
shipments, researchers at UNC Chapel Hill found. Revenue for U.S. air and
express freight was nearly $30 billion in 2004, a record, the Seattle-based
aviation consultant Air Cargo Management Group found."

Now, I may be wrong, but I think he used some full industry figures there,
not just small cargo numbers.


For those of you who don't know, I used to do this kind of flying. Not
no more.

The only freight dog work I've done was in 727s and 747s. Real industrial
cargo, though, no overnite letters. Very early in my career, I was offered
a job flying a Navajo (I think- some kind of cabin class twin) for a small
cargo outfit here in MA. With only about 400 hours, I was pumped!! At the
airport, the guy was showing me around, and I noticed there was no pilot
hatch, only the main door. He explained that the plane gets about half
loaded, then the pilot gets in, and the other guys complete the loading.
Even with only 400 hrs, I wasn't that dumb. I told him he was nuckin futz,
and walked away. Next freight I flew was maybe 20 years later in a 727.
Every day I think of all the thrills I've missed :-) :-)