Filed under: The Cockpit Chronicles
I've often marveled at how smooth air travel has become. Contrary to media reports, tens of thousands of flights operate every day with nary an issue. That was certainly the case for the previous six Paris trips this month.The first clue that it'd be a more interesting flight came as I walked into the cockpit after doing the walk-around inspection outside. The captain mentioned that we didn't have any autothrottles tonight. It's akin to driving a car for 7 hours without cruise control.
I pulled out my Macbook to check the 767 MEL (Minimum Equipment List) to see if there were any issues about flying across the Atlantic without the autothrottles. Nothing came up, which meant they could be deferred for a few days until repairs or component replacements could be made.
At this point I can already hear a few corporate and regional airline pilots screaming, "Hey, we don't even HAVE autothrottles!"
I've often marveled at how smooth air travel has become. Contrary to media reports, tens of thousands of flights operate every day with nary an issue. That was certainly the case for the previous six Paris trips this month.The first clue that it'd be a more interesting flight came as I walked into the cockpit after doing the walk-around inspection outside. The captain mentioned that we didn't have any autothrottles tonight. It's akin to driving a car for 7 hours without cruise control.
I pulled out my Macbook to check the 767 MEL (Minimum Equipment List) to see if there were any issues about flying across the Atlantic without the autothrottles. Nothing came up, which meant they could be deferred for a few days until repairs or component replacements could be made.
At this point I can already hear a few corporate and regional airline pilots screaming, "Hey, we don't even HAVE autothrottles!"
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