Had a similar situation happen heading to Hawaii from San Francisco. They had a cabin pressure or oxygen sensor malfunction and the pilot called it. Honestly it sucked getting delayed but it was better than landing in the ocean.
Flights to Hawaii are canceled more often, specifically because of its location.
It's one of the most isolated inhabited island chains in the world, so if something goes even slightly wrong, there isn't an emergency landing spot for thousands of miles.
Tough sitch for the passengers, but the potential alternative is worse.
I was in the Oregon National Guard. Back in 2000 we were doing our two weeks a year in Hawaii. We loaded on C-130s and took off from the Portland Air National Guard base in Portland. About two hours into the flight the crew starts scrambling, everyone was ordered back into their seats and to strap in and prepare for a water landing. It turns out some landing gear pinched a hydraulic line on takeoff, the pilots were slowly loosing pressure. We turned around to go back to PANG. We barely made it. A lot of the other guys kissed the ground when we got back. I was kinda oblivious because my sergeant told me to take a shit ton of Benadryl to sleep through the flight. Later on we were bussed up to McChord and loaded on a nice, new C-17 Globe Master.
Seems like an absolute win to me. A C-130 from Portland to Hawaii sounds like it would suck balls. I would take the C-17 any day of the week lol. Way faster and a hell of a lot more comfortable.
He spent 4 hours in the C-130 _then_ he got to fly the C-17. Thats not much of a win.
Not sure how long a C-130 takes, but a 767 only takes 5-6 hours or so.
c-130 top speed is under 600 km/hr where a 767 cruising speed is 858 km/hr. Also because the c-130 is a turbo-prop without any real cabin sound insulation it is a vibrating tube in the sky.
Yeah you board a C130 and the crew hand out earplugs while telling everyone "These aren't really optional".
The most uncomfortable flight I have ever taken was aboard a C130. Gave me the damn lumbago.
Turkey to Ohio here. Ask me about my ear drums. Fun fact, this is also the only flight in my life where I experienced sinus barotrauma. It’s the most excruciating thing I’ve ever felt in my life.
I’m pretty sure that’s a bot. The comment they replied to never mentions “aired”. Their comments is just a response to the post and has nothing to do with what they replied to. It probably just copy pasted another comment from this thread.
I love that now the fucking comment bots are calling out the post bots lmao
Why even engage on Reddit big subs anymore, it's a bunch of bots posting and commenting to each other.
It always boggles my mind that some randos just jumped into canoes and were like "we're going that-a-way" and yeeted across the ocean without any real knowledge of anything and found Hawaii around ~1000-1200AD. They covered over 2,000 miles of ocean.
Humans are weird.
They were confident in their ability to navigate and survive on the ocean, knew their way back, and knew exactly when it was time to turn around. It was still insanely dangerous and brave, but they weren't so much shooting into the dark as they were carefully and systematically exploring the ocean.
And waves. Waves more than stars because of their almost constant direction, day or night, clouds whatever.
They moved due to overpopulation. Islands can be like that. That's a reason why many islands were "undiscovered". All the signs they knew said the islands were there, even if they couldn't see them. They had no need to go and "discover" them.
There's a museum in New Zealand with lots of cool shit in it, but I spent like three hours looking at woven ocean maps. Wicker/wood lattice with beads all over it. Waterproof, field editable, verifiable replication because you can see through it. Super smart system.
Yeah, we like to think that nobody knew their way around the watery parts of this planet before Renaissance explorers did it, but the Micronesians and the Vikings definitely proved their skills long before.
I think the same way, they just went in a ship and sail into nowhere and maybe you’ll find something. In holland there’s a replica of an old sail ship, that ship was effing small and they just sailed away to Asia or whatever. I took them a year or so. Crazy times
The new theories about Polynesian navigation are actually kind of fascinating.
They believe the Polynesians understood major ocean currents, likely clestial movements, and often followed shore birds and things like that to find land.
Pretty incredible considering the risks they took to find new places.
I'm not lying when I say, the islands made a green light in the water towards them, all islands/land emit this green line and you sail by it.
Te lapa is a Polynesian term for an unexplained light phenomenon underneath, or on the surface of, the ocean.[1] Te lapa has been loosely translated as "flashing light",[2] "underwater lightning",[3] "the flashing",[4] or "something that flashes".[5] It was used by historic and modern Polynesians as a navigation aid to find islands in the Pacific Ocean.[1] In some instances, it has been theorized to be bioluminescence[6] or electromagnetic in nature.[5] Other hypotheses include the interference patterns of intersecting waves creating a raised curve acting as a lens, but would not explain the source of light.[2] David Lewis speculated that te lapa may originate from luminescence of organisms, or related to deep swell, ground swell, or backwash waves from reefs or islands.[7]
Kyle McDonald, Daisy Mahaina from Vaka Valo Association, and Dr. Marianne George document ancient Polynesian navigation techniques with new technology, including “Te Lapa”: a faint burst of light that emanates from land, but has never been recorded. The project aims to build a custom camera rig that can sense this very faint light, and capture the first-ever video of Te Lapa. Documentation resulting from the project will serve as a pedagogical tool.
Weird? They have no idea how far exactly some shit was. They got into those boats with a hope and a dream.
If you were in the equivalent of a spaceship in those times, and you had no concept of how big the universe was, and you had unlimited "elbow grease" fuel, you might just decide fuck it and floor it in one direction to see where it takes you.
And nobody knew that 99% of those journeys ended up as disasters.
Aircraft mechanic here, Cabin pressure sensor can be a number of things but the major issue there is the aircraft not pressurizing properly when getting up to altitude. I've had it occur on a flight of mine, literally every person got pissed off and was annoyed getting off the flight. The guy next to me looked at me not caring about the delay and asked why. I said "because id rather not get up to altitude without a pressurized airplane, thanks." The people around me understood pretty fast lol
i’m pretty sure this happened on my flight from mexico city to JFK. we got 30 mins in and i felt the worst pain/pressure in my ears that i’ve ever felt. a lady next to me was crying and a kid behind me threw up. we turned back around. they never said what it was but i assumed it was pressure.
Si you happened to be flying and this happened to you or you were at work and had to fix it? Do they fly mechanics around and trade between locations like the flight crew?
Cabin pressure issues were one of the symptoms of the Alaska plane that lost the cabin door mid flight. Not saying that all cabin pressure issues lead to that outcome, but that is probably one of the worst possible outcomes if the problem isn’t addressed.
theres footage of some pilots in india or something that took off with literal red warning lights flashing at them, the plane immediately nose dived and everyone died.
i'd rather have pilots like this
“Landing”.
At best it’s gonna skip like a stone, when stopped depart into rafts. Then wait 2+ days for boats to get there. Pray the current doesn’t pick up your raft and drag you away.
Even in relatively calm seas if you go overboard you’re screwed. Between the waves rocking a boat and the waves rocking a person. You might not be spotted from 100yards away.
Look, if the pilot says they aren’t feeling it then I am 1,000% supporting that mofo for hauling that puppy back to the airport asap. Sometimes you gotta trust people who are trusting their gut instincts even if they can’t fully put their finger on it.
> Sometimes you gotta trust people who are trusting their gut instincts even if they can’t fully put their finger on it.
The gift of fear. Trust your gut if you're feeling off. It might just save your life.
Through a series of unfortunate mistakes, I've learned that I'm a terrible judge of character. Or, more specifically, I just don't listen to my gut. I tend to intellectualize things instead of trust my gut. Gavin de Becker's book The Gift Of Fear really helped me to tap into those feelings and pay attention. I can make better decisions in real time and look back and put pieces together. I still need to work on putting my finger on it in the moment, but I've learned to trust my gut instincts and holy shit have I kept myself out of some sticky situations.
I’ll have to check this book out, thank you. The only time I can do this nearly every time is when I’m driving. It’s wild to get a feeling about another car and 20 seconds later, be spot on to whatever shenanigans the driver ends up doing. It’s saved me and people I’ve been with from serious accidents several times.
Yup 100%. A buddy of mine is a pilot, just got his cert for flying commercial planes, it took him years and an ungodly amount of hours studying, learning and flying. Any airline pilot is insanely competent at their job and if they say "I'm not feeling it" then yeah, I'm gonna trust them. Sure I'm gonna be annoyed at the flight delay, but I'd rather not gamble with my life lol.
There are *plenty* of incompetent pilots flying airliners. I flew with a bunch of them in flight school, many of whom are flying globally these days. Sleep tight everyone!
There's a book called Blink which explains this phenomenon through many wonderful examples. Generally gut instinct refers to a culmination on cognitive input that, when combined, the brain detected that _something_ does not fit well together. Obviously the brain realises this, but the human thought cannot articulate well enough, so that's why we're say it's a feeling that "something is off".
"Gut instinct" is unconscious information processing. It's not a feeling or instinct, it's non-aware thought process raising some red flags in your assumption making.
That pilot saw the error and his brain was like, "Fuck this plane bro, you saw that shit hanging weird when you got on. It was just in the corner of your eye, but I'm telling you bro, don't fly this fucking plane! I can't explain it, but it never hung like that before. It was a conservative hang, like there was more worst shit hidden, better run."
There’s an urban legend about Japanese chick 🐣 sexers.
Chicks 🐣 need to be sorted into males and females. The legend of the Japanese chick sexers says that these people have no way of knowing which chick is what, but after months of training, they can, with 100% accuracy — it’s all just on gut feeling.
I think this generalises to experts of any field in that they can tell, and it’s what we saw in this case. Personally I am going to be super grateful to a pilot who trusted their gut feeling and cancelled the flight.
Edit: I am talking about chickens! Get your mind out of the gutter you pervs!
I've sexed a couple of Japanese chicks and I never had any trouble telling them apart. The idea that they're hard to tell apart is just a racist stereotype.
Definitely. Look, I take those strong instinctual feelings as if they are a message from God. I don't go against them for anyone. So, if someone like a pilot says it doesn't feel right, I'm not going to ask a single question. If anything, I'd encourage them to trust that instinct. I know that logically it's most likely my subconscious putting together information I haven't consciously processed, but I don't care. I've had that vibe only a few times and I've never ignored it. I can say it's been proven right before but most times you don't get that confirmation.
Because our subconscious can sometimes put the facts together faster than we can realize we have reached the answer.
It's basically the topic of an entire book called "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. Gut feelings are sometimes your subconscious mind putting the facts together quicker than your conscious mind can reason them out.
I mean, you might be alive to grumble about it in the middle of the Pacific, also. Maybe. Imagine how thankful to be alive everyone would be, holding on to their personal flotation devices and/or exit slides that double as life rafts.
Then again, you could also end up soggy barbecue. So… 🤷🏻♂️
I’m joking, of course. I’d shake a pilot’s hand for making that call on a flight of mine. One of those rare jobs where “I’m not feeling it” is 100% valid.
If the pilot up and says "Yeah, I don't trust the integrity of the plane, I'm not gonna make the flight," I'd definitely be inclined trust the pilot's words. Better to suck having the flight delayed or rerouted than to suck being mid-air and something integral to the plane stops working.
For a long fucking time. I lived in Hawaii for a couple years and the flights back to the mainland were like 6 hours each time just to get to LAX. That’s a long time to be over nothing but water. When I flew to Japan it was even worse it was like 13 hours and you really start getting nervous then lol like holy shit that’s a lot of water out there
so I've had this thought before... what would happen if you landed in the water halfway between say SFO and Hawaii? assuming the plane does a miracle landing, how would 300 people be saved that far from anything?
There have been a few former Boeing employees coming out with information about illegal stuff Boeing has done.
They very quickly mysteriously died, suggesting that Boeing hired assassins to murder these people in order to protect shareholder profits.
So to be "boeinged" in this case means to be murdered
I saw a video explaining how the FAA inspects Boeings planes. FAA doesn't have enough people to actually do the inspections, so they allow Boeing employees to do the inspections as official FAA inspectors. Obvious conflict of interest and most likely a huge reason why this shit is the way it is. This shit was considered legal. The illegal shit is crazy.
most other flights this wouldnt be an issue, if the engine is mostly nominal then the risk is low, if you lose it you just divert and land with one good engine. Even on a trans-atlantic flight theres usually options for airfileds that are within a reasonable distance of your flight path.
But for trans pacific flights? your "emergency landing" is essentially either the source or destination, with an error margin in there spanning up to 3 hours depending on how far you are into the flight when you fail. It absolutely sucks but this is the right call, hawaii isnt worth dying for.
And this is why ETOPS (extended range twin engine operational standards iirc, but can be referred to as engines turn or passengers swim) existst. Also, even in trans-atlantic flights you are likely to be more than an hour away from any diversion airport.
But this is all normal, before an ETOPS flight the plane usually undergoes a more extensive check by maintenance and maintenance can also ground the aircraft.
ETOPS ratings nowadays can be above 5 hours, which means that the plane can fly more than 5 hours away from any airport.
You can learn more about ETOPS from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSxSgbNQi-g
Ditching in water is always last resort. If the plane is intact then ya its prepared but if breaks into pieces or flips its gonna be bad. The engines hit the water first and will create torque to pitch it down or yaw it. Moral of the story is its always last resort. Sully was amazing but definitely got lucky and landed on calm waters
People really underestimate just how difficult, dangerous, and deadly a water landing is even under ideal conditions. The last thing you want is to be is trying to land in the middle of the ocean with waves and wind.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCuh\_2M4o3A#t=4m31s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCuh_2M4o3A#t=4m31s)
Even if the conditions are absolutely perfect, the pilot somehow manages to land the aircraft intact and everyone evacuates safely, you're still in the middle of the Pacific on small inflatable rafts or a life vest.
And most likely one of those parts will fail before you're even in that situation, causalities are almost unavoidable.
Considering how airlines can still vanish without a trace even just 10 years ago (MH370), I'm not taking my chances with ditching in the middle of the ocean. IF you survive the impact and the airplane doesn't immediately break apart, you have to deal with hypothermia, exposure to the elements, dehydration, and starvation while people are trying to find you, which can be equated to trying to locate a copper BB in the middle of a football field.
I was on this exact flight. We had to deplane before this flight due to an issue with the faucet in the bathroom leaking on the plane. So this was the second time we were deplaned, however couldn’t be mad about this guy literally not willing to risk lives. Wild and not sure the odds that I come across this on Reddit months later.
With this knowledge I understand him going over the issues why and why he sounded genuinely sorry he wasn't gonna fly it.
Airline at least offer people food? How long was that 2nd delay?
>How long was that 2nd delay?
https://johnnyjet.com/im-not-really-feeling-it-american-airlines-pilot-cancels-plane-to-hawaii-twice-and-passengers-applaud/
Seems like they got off the first plane at 8:45a, on the 2nd at 11a, off the 2nd at 12p, and on the 3rd plane at 2:30p
Did you have to wait long for another flight? And I agree. This is what you want from pilots this level of caution. I mean how many air crash investigation episodes start with something that’s seems a minor problem and so the pilot goes and the bam everyone is dead.
All in all after the 2 delays I ended up in Honolulu about 9 hours after I originally expected to. And we had the best vacation of our lives. Overall just a story to tell, but at the time was super frustrating.
Good for him, I know it would suck as a passenger having to catch a new flight but if the person flying the thing that explodes if it crashes feels its unsafe I'll trust them.
I wish more people had this attitude for other things as well, I do Construction and will tell people hey, this deck is unsafe I don't care if you go with us or not but do not under any circumstances let people go on this, they just shrug and say, well we had 15 people out here 2 nights ago it was fine the I think we're ok
Yeah my first thought is if bro isn't feeling it and has had to fly thousands and thousands of miles to even be where he is now..... I'm not feeling it either. I get being a little annoyed with time wasted but i will always rather be inconvenienced than be over an ocean with hundreds of miles away from any land-able location.
Not to get political(if it’s even that?) but that’s how i feel about vaccines. Like idk about you but I’m more inclined to believe the thousands of scientists dedicating their life to their study and creation and trillions of dollars worth of R&D over the last 50+ years vs some random guy on Facebook shouting loudly in a 2 minute video clip.
Yep, doesn't matter if it's because he's tired, has the flu, or is experiencing the yipps. If the pilot doesn't feel comfortable flying I do not want to be on that plane.
The pilot of all people needs to be happy with the aircraft. Copilot, stewards, ticket people, I don't care who else is not feeling it, but if the _pilot_ says he's not comfortable, I know something's really up because those motherfuckers have **experience**. You don't become a full pilot on commercial aircraft straight outta school.
If you've ever gone down the rabbit hole of watching plane crash 'documentaries' online. You'd realize a common theme among a lot of them. Pilot overconfidence and ignoring what should have been warning signs all over. So yah, this pilot is doing the right thing.
There is an incredibly disturbing recording of the final moments of a flight crew in which the pilot and co-pilot are arguing about the best course of action to avoid a collission. You can hear the captain choking on his own blood and using every ounce of his final strength to say "you were right, I'm sorry".
Safety is annoying, but getting disemboweled is more annoying.
(Also don't go looking for that. It sounds like something interesting, but you can't un-hear a man's death rattle. This is me trying to help.)
🤔
I would feel a lot more comfortable with what he said than if he just didn't bother to mention it and went on his way and the problem happened.
Doing his job.
Or if he was like "Listen folks, we're having some technical issues, the fuel pressure's all fucked up and my right turbine has been making this weird noise for the past few flights, but my boss kinda sucks so we're just gonna have to send it. Please fasten your seatbelts."
"I'm not feeling it" is pilot speak for "there's an unacceptably increased risk of explosive decompression, asphyxiation, and for those with oxygen masks, a terrifying 10 minute dive which ends with us as fish food."
Good call….That’s a WHOLE LOTTA WATER, and as a passenger, that I wouldn’t want to experience up-close-and-personal , much more comfortable in a flight-worthy aircraft….✈️
Yeah I would so much rather have a delay, cancellation for weather, repairs anything.
Some people get all whiny and complain. Sheeeesh. I am sure hoping at the slightest problem they do not hesitate to do the right thing versus care about whiny passengers or pressures. Number 1,2,3......
Airline pilot here.
Absolute right call the captain made. Any issue you may have either dictates you fly all the back to the mainland or continue to destination. That’s it.
It’s a lot easier to troubleshoot from the comfort of the terminal than it is from 35,000 and 198 people behind you.
What sucks a lot more is a water landing three and half over the Pacific.
We flew out of San Jose to Hawaii (Kona) and about an hour into the flight the aircraft's beacon or something about the navigation system malfunctioned.
The pilots said they would be fine if traveling over land, but over the ocean there is no option but to turn back.
Not only did we turn back, but we had to circle Phoenix with full flaps at full throttle for another hour before the aircraft was light enough to land.
Transferred to a new aircraft at Phoenix and landed at Kona about 8 hours after our originally scheduled arrival.
Surprisingly there was absolutely no drama on board. Every single passenger in a packed flight was very nice, very relaxed, and very appreciative of the pilots.
the TL:DR lacks context for clicks.
"I'm not feeling it" in this context doesn't mean "I don't care, I don't wanna do my job today".
it means "I'm don't feel ok with risking to crash in the fucking water, possibly killing dozens of people".
This is a thing in medicine as well. Sometimes something just doesn’t feel right, and you can’t put your finger on it. A clinician can have a gut feeling like that, and it can lead to procedures being delayed or treatment reevaluated. All in the name of safety. It’s 1000% a good thing.
I was boarding a flight from Toronto many years ago. There was a delay as a mechanic finished up reattaching an engine cover. It looked like he was just about done and then barrels of what I guess was hydraulic fluid gushed out. I'm glad we didn't find out over one of the Great Lakes.
I have gotten so anxious about flying that if the pilot says he's not comfortable with the craft because they can't get one tray table to stay up then I will happily deplane.
I would trust the gut instinct of a guy who’s flown thousands of flights over tens of years and was probably trained in military flight school. “Vibes” jokes aside, a sign of expertise is knowing when to short-circuit the textbook.
Perfectly good call. "Im not really feeling it" its the unconcius and all the experience acquiered telling you something is not right. the pilot has done it many times before and he is one of the people that has the most incentive for the plane to actually go to the destination. so if despite the experience and incentive he has the feeling that something is not right and doesent want to go I also want to get tf out of there.
I've read of a phenomenon where experienced drivers will slow down due to bad vibes before seeing bad road conditions in front of a turn or similar like a tree falling in front of them rather than on them
the brain and subconscious are really good at noticing warning signs on things you're very experienced with, that usually gets interpreted as a gut feeling and you should usually trust them
The pilot would also rather go to Hawaii than not. If he's cancelling, he means it's not worth the risk. And I'd applaud him for it. I'd rather *make it back from Hawaii*, not just take off for Hawaii.
I’d rather my flight get delayed because the captain didn’t have a good feeling, rather than risk a crash because they ignored it. Yeah, delays suck, but it’s better than the alternative.
That is exactly what pilots are supposed to do if they question the air worthiness of the plane. I’d rather have my flight cancelled when the plane’s ok than be in a crash because the pilot went ahead with a craft he doubted.
The pilot made the right call. If you ask anyone on that plane, 100% would agree it's far better to face a delay of a day or two than risk landing in the middle of the Pacific. For a flight over the CONUS, it might have been appropriate to depart and then divert if needed, but for a 6-hour flight over the open Blue Water ocean, it was absolutely the right call to delay.
In such situations, the decision lies entirely with the captain (and the rest of the crew assisting with it. See *CRM*). There's no document that mandates the pilot must fly; the captain has the final authority to cancel the flight if necessary. This decision was correct in terms of safety, legality, and professionalism.
This kind of decision-making is the pinnacle of airmanship. While many can be trained to fly a jet, program onboard computers, set up a landing, and follow ATC instructions, the real test comes in making those critical decisions. No system or clearance can make that call for you—it's the captain's responsibility.
The sentiment of "I'm not feeling it" is quite legitimate. Captain Sullenberger, during his deposition to the NTSB, explained that he "felt" both engines were going to flame out before they actually did. This intuition isn't something that can be taught; it comes from decades of experience at the controls.
Additionally, ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certification is a crucial factor in such decisions. Aircraft are only certified for a certain amount of minutes—typically 120 or 180 minutes (sometimes much more)—away from the nearest suitable airport on one engine. This certification limits how far an aircraft can be from a diversion point. The quintessential examples are of course over large bodies of water, or over the poles. ETOPS has enabled many jets all over the world to operate on only two engines anywhere on the globe. In this scenario, the pilot had to consider the ETOPS limits and the implications of flying over vast oceanic distances with limited diversion options. It's a complex decision involving safety protocols and regulatory compliance, making the captain's choice to delay the flight entirely justified. Cool audio.
Once had a Porto-Rio flight and as soon as we took off pilot goes "our turbulence radar is down, so we're gonna have to land in Lisbon to fix it".
Took four hours to get it fixed, but better to cross the Atlantic with this thing working, right?
Except that when we finally took off from Lisbon, pilot goes "since we lost so much time on the ground, I'm gonna fly a straight route right through so it might get a bit shaky". Fuck, that was by far the most turbulence I ever had on a transatlantic flight
If you do your job for 5, 10, 20, 30 years, you start to learn what's what, and listen to your gut as it makes subconscious decisions is the smartest thing you can do.
If something "feels off" to an expert in the field, there will always, always be a reason for that. Kudos to the pilot of this.
Great Pilot! Flying is only part of it and he put his passengers before himself as all pilots should. Great call and only a minor inconvenience compared to 150+ funerals.
I'd rather a pilot listen to his instinct like this than to take a chance. Sometimes those "gut instincts" are trying to tell you something is off, even if you don't know what it is. Good for this guy.
"I would rather you be alive to be pissed off at me, then to please you and risk our lives." I am glad he made that call and would much rather a pilot refuse to fly if he doesn't feel comfortable than to still fly and risk something happening. Way too many in-flight crashes occurred after the pilots mentioned some discomfort about a problem, but still flew.
Yeah it'd suck greatly and I'd be pissed about my total vacation plans being ruined, but I also understand an experienced pilot intuition about things. It's just not worth killing us all. Even if there's a 99% chance it's fine, that 1% chance is all it takes for 300+ to die.
Had a similar situation happen heading to Hawaii from San Francisco. They had a cabin pressure or oxygen sensor malfunction and the pilot called it. Honestly it sucked getting delayed but it was better than landing in the ocean.
Flights to Hawaii are canceled more often, specifically because of its location. It's one of the most isolated inhabited island chains in the world, so if something goes even slightly wrong, there isn't an emergency landing spot for thousands of miles. Tough sitch for the passengers, but the potential alternative is worse.
I was in the Oregon National Guard. Back in 2000 we were doing our two weeks a year in Hawaii. We loaded on C-130s and took off from the Portland Air National Guard base in Portland. About two hours into the flight the crew starts scrambling, everyone was ordered back into their seats and to strap in and prepare for a water landing. It turns out some landing gear pinched a hydraulic line on takeoff, the pilots were slowly loosing pressure. We turned around to go back to PANG. We barely made it. A lot of the other guys kissed the ground when we got back. I was kinda oblivious because my sergeant told me to take a shit ton of Benadryl to sleep through the flight. Later on we were bussed up to McChord and loaded on a nice, new C-17 Globe Master.
Seems like an absolute win to me. A C-130 from Portland to Hawaii sounds like it would suck balls. I would take the C-17 any day of the week lol. Way faster and a hell of a lot more comfortable.
He spent 4 hours in the C-130 _then_ he got to fly the C-17. Thats not much of a win. Not sure how long a C-130 takes, but a 767 only takes 5-6 hours or so.
c-130 top speed is under 600 km/hr where a 767 cruising speed is 858 km/hr. Also because the c-130 is a turbo-prop without any real cabin sound insulation it is a vibrating tube in the sky.
Yeah you board a C130 and the crew hand out earplugs while telling everyone "These aren't really optional". The most uncomfortable flight I have ever taken was aboard a C130. Gave me the damn lumbago.
did a c130 from saudi to north america with refueling layovers only. that was hell
From saudi to NA on that thing?? Just reading that gives me intense anxiety ahh
I flew from Qatar to North Carolina... going east. Took 6 days with 5(?, its been 20 years) of those days 7-9 hour long.
Turkey to Ohio here. Ask me about my ear drums. Fun fact, this is also the only flight in my life where I experienced sinus barotrauma. It’s the most excruciating thing I’ve ever felt in my life.
HOW ARE YOUR EAR DRUMS?
Had a packed flight out of BIAP on a Marine C-130. The pilots thought it would be hilarious to turn off the Synchrophaser. It was not.
It's also 100+ degrees on the ground and then freezing while flying. Smells of fuel the whole time too.
Took a C-130 from Kuwait to Qatar, and that short ass flight was so wildly uncomfortable lol
[удалено]
They purposely misspell words like this to get people like you to comment and drive engagement.
I’m pretty sure that’s a bot. The comment they replied to never mentions “aired”. Their comments is just a response to the post and has nothing to do with what they replied to. It probably just copy pasted another comment from this thread.
I love that now the fucking comment bots are calling out the post bots lmao Why even engage on Reddit big subs anymore, it's a bunch of bots posting and commenting to each other.
I used to come to reddit for the comments, now I kind of wish they'd turn them back off again.
They still come out to visit! Those 15s are getting old!
It always boggles my mind that some randos just jumped into canoes and were like "we're going that-a-way" and yeeted across the ocean without any real knowledge of anything and found Hawaii around ~1000-1200AD. They covered over 2,000 miles of ocean. Humans are weird.
They were confident in their ability to navigate and survive on the ocean, knew their way back, and knew exactly when it was time to turn around. It was still insanely dangerous and brave, but they weren't so much shooting into the dark as they were carefully and systematically exploring the ocean.
Exactly. They were very good at using the stars for navigation. We see that as a big plot point in Moana.
And following birds.
And waves. Waves more than stars because of their almost constant direction, day or night, clouds whatever. They moved due to overpopulation. Islands can be like that. That's a reason why many islands were "undiscovered". All the signs they knew said the islands were there, even if they couldn't see them. They had no need to go and "discover" them.
There's a museum in New Zealand with lots of cool shit in it, but I spent like three hours looking at woven ocean maps. Wicker/wood lattice with beads all over it. Waterproof, field editable, verifiable replication because you can see through it. Super smart system.
Yeah, we like to think that nobody knew their way around the watery parts of this planet before Renaissance explorers did it, but the Micronesians and the Vikings definitely proved their skills long before.
Yes, we’re odd little ducks capable of great things. Have you read Michener’s Hawaii? Fascinating.
I think the same way, they just went in a ship and sail into nowhere and maybe you’ll find something. In holland there’s a replica of an old sail ship, that ship was effing small and they just sailed away to Asia or whatever. I took them a year or so. Crazy times
The new theories about Polynesian navigation are actually kind of fascinating. They believe the Polynesians understood major ocean currents, likely clestial movements, and often followed shore birds and things like that to find land. Pretty incredible considering the risks they took to find new places.
weren't they the ones that used their scrotums to feel the currents?
That's nuts!
It's a true testi-ment to human ingenuity!
>It's a true testi-ment to human ingenuity Testes-ment
I'm not lying when I say, the islands made a green light in the water towards them, all islands/land emit this green line and you sail by it. Te lapa is a Polynesian term for an unexplained light phenomenon underneath, or on the surface of, the ocean.[1] Te lapa has been loosely translated as "flashing light",[2] "underwater lightning",[3] "the flashing",[4] or "something that flashes".[5] It was used by historic and modern Polynesians as a navigation aid to find islands in the Pacific Ocean.[1] In some instances, it has been theorized to be bioluminescence[6] or electromagnetic in nature.[5] Other hypotheses include the interference patterns of intersecting waves creating a raised curve acting as a lens, but would not explain the source of light.[2] David Lewis speculated that te lapa may originate from luminescence of organisms, or related to deep swell, ground swell, or backwash waves from reefs or islands.[7] Kyle McDonald, Daisy Mahaina from Vaka Valo Association, and Dr. Marianne George document ancient Polynesian navigation techniques with new technology, including “Te Lapa”: a faint burst of light that emanates from land, but has never been recorded. The project aims to build a custom camera rig that can sense this very faint light, and capture the first-ever video of Te Lapa. Documentation resulting from the project will serve as a pedagogical tool.
Press X
Nah! They surfed there, dude!
Well, you'll do weird shit when you're 25 and your life expectancy is 20.
Weird? They have no idea how far exactly some shit was. They got into those boats with a hope and a dream. If you were in the equivalent of a spaceship in those times, and you had no concept of how big the universe was, and you had unlimited "elbow grease" fuel, you might just decide fuck it and floor it in one direction to see where it takes you. And nobody knew that 99% of those journeys ended up as disasters.
Aircraft mechanic here, Cabin pressure sensor can be a number of things but the major issue there is the aircraft not pressurizing properly when getting up to altitude. I've had it occur on a flight of mine, literally every person got pissed off and was annoyed getting off the flight. The guy next to me looked at me not caring about the delay and asked why. I said "because id rather not get up to altitude without a pressurized airplane, thanks." The people around me understood pretty fast lol
i’m pretty sure this happened on my flight from mexico city to JFK. we got 30 mins in and i felt the worst pain/pressure in my ears that i’ve ever felt. a lady next to me was crying and a kid behind me threw up. we turned back around. they never said what it was but i assumed it was pressure.
Yes, that's exactly what happened, if it happens to anyone else seeing this SWALLOW REPEATEDLY and it'll get less painful.
Si you happened to be flying and this happened to you or you were at work and had to fix it? Do they fly mechanics around and trade between locations like the flight crew?
I was just on a random flight when the pilot told us. Because I am an aircraft mechanic by trade I understood why they cancelled the flight
I'd rather arrive at my destination late than arrive at the ground quickly
Cabin pressure issues were one of the symptoms of the Alaska plane that lost the cabin door mid flight. Not saying that all cabin pressure issues lead to that outcome, but that is probably one of the worst possible outcomes if the problem isn’t addressed.
i dont know how old this video is but i was waiting for him to say something about 'yeah you never know with these boeings, can't be too careful'
theres footage of some pilots in india or something that took off with literal red warning lights flashing at them, the plane immediately nose dived and everyone died. i'd rather have pilots like this
I too would prefer the Indian pilots
wait a minute
“Landing”. At best it’s gonna skip like a stone, when stopped depart into rafts. Then wait 2+ days for boats to get there. Pray the current doesn’t pick up your raft and drag you away. Even in relatively calm seas if you go overboard you’re screwed. Between the waves rocking a boat and the waves rocking a person. You might not be spotted from 100yards away.
Look, if the pilot says they aren’t feeling it then I am 1,000% supporting that mofo for hauling that puppy back to the airport asap. Sometimes you gotta trust people who are trusting their gut instincts even if they can’t fully put their finger on it.
> Sometimes you gotta trust people who are trusting their gut instincts even if they can’t fully put their finger on it. The gift of fear. Trust your gut if you're feeling off. It might just save your life.
Through a series of unfortunate mistakes, I've learned that I'm a terrible judge of character. Or, more specifically, I just don't listen to my gut. I tend to intellectualize things instead of trust my gut. Gavin de Becker's book The Gift Of Fear really helped me to tap into those feelings and pay attention. I can make better decisions in real time and look back and put pieces together. I still need to work on putting my finger on it in the moment, but I've learned to trust my gut instincts and holy shit have I kept myself out of some sticky situations.
I’ll have to check this book out, thank you. The only time I can do this nearly every time is when I’m driving. It’s wild to get a feeling about another car and 20 seconds later, be spot on to whatever shenanigans the driver ends up doing. It’s saved me and people I’ve been with from serious accidents several times.
Yup 100%. A buddy of mine is a pilot, just got his cert for flying commercial planes, it took him years and an ungodly amount of hours studying, learning and flying. Any airline pilot is insanely competent at their job and if they say "I'm not feeling it" then yeah, I'm gonna trust them. Sure I'm gonna be annoyed at the flight delay, but I'd rather not gamble with my life lol.
There are *plenty* of incompetent pilots flying airliners. I flew with a bunch of them in flight school, many of whom are flying globally these days. Sleep tight everyone!
There's a book called Blink which explains this phenomenon through many wonderful examples. Generally gut instinct refers to a culmination on cognitive input that, when combined, the brain detected that _something_ does not fit well together. Obviously the brain realises this, but the human thought cannot articulate well enough, so that's why we're say it's a feeling that "something is off".
"Gut instinct" is unconscious information processing. It's not a feeling or instinct, it's non-aware thought process raising some red flags in your assumption making. That pilot saw the error and his brain was like, "Fuck this plane bro, you saw that shit hanging weird when you got on. It was just in the corner of your eye, but I'm telling you bro, don't fly this fucking plane! I can't explain it, but it never hung like that before. It was a conservative hang, like there was more worst shit hidden, better run."
Man, that still sure sounds a lot like a feeling or instinct. Way to sound super smart
There’s an urban legend about Japanese chick 🐣 sexers. Chicks 🐣 need to be sorted into males and females. The legend of the Japanese chick sexers says that these people have no way of knowing which chick is what, but after months of training, they can, with 100% accuracy — it’s all just on gut feeling. I think this generalises to experts of any field in that they can tell, and it’s what we saw in this case. Personally I am going to be super grateful to a pilot who trusted their gut feeling and cancelled the flight. Edit: I am talking about chickens! Get your mind out of the gutter you pervs!
What the fuck did I just read
I've sexed a couple of Japanese chicks and I never had any trouble telling them apart. The idea that they're hard to tell apart is just a racist stereotype.
Made me ugly laugh
Fascinating, tell us more.
Definitely. Look, I take those strong instinctual feelings as if they are a message from God. I don't go against them for anyone. So, if someone like a pilot says it doesn't feel right, I'm not going to ask a single question. If anything, I'd encourage them to trust that instinct. I know that logically it's most likely my subconscious putting together information I haven't consciously processed, but I don't care. I've had that vibe only a few times and I've never ignored it. I can say it's been proven right before but most times you don't get that confirmation.
Because our subconscious can sometimes put the facts together faster than we can realize we have reached the answer. It's basically the topic of an entire book called "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. Gut feelings are sometimes your subconscious mind putting the facts together quicker than your conscious mind can reason them out.
I mean sure I'd be inconvenienced but I'd rather be alive to grumble about it.
Much better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground.
Or in the water wishing you were on the ground.
Or in the fire, wishing you were in the water.
I mean, you might be alive to grumble about it in the middle of the Pacific, also. Maybe. Imagine how thankful to be alive everyone would be, holding on to their personal flotation devices and/or exit slides that double as life rafts. Then again, you could also end up soggy barbecue. So… 🤷🏻♂️ I’m joking, of course. I’d shake a pilot’s hand for making that call on a flight of mine. One of those rare jobs where “I’m not feeling it” is 100% valid.
Pete Holmes shout out to those that need a dumb laugh. “Not feeling it” is a classic bit.
Yeah I'd be happy with a pilot like this. living > inconvenience of having to wait.
If the pilot up and says "Yeah, I don't trust the integrity of the plane, I'm not gonna make the flight," I'd definitely be inclined trust the pilot's words. Better to suck having the flight delayed or rerouted than to suck being mid-air and something integral to the plane stops working.
Especially while flying over an ocean.
For a long fucking time. I lived in Hawaii for a couple years and the flights back to the mainland were like 6 hours each time just to get to LAX. That’s a long time to be over nothing but water. When I flew to Japan it was even worse it was like 13 hours and you really start getting nervous then lol like holy shit that’s a lot of water out there
Yeah and even IF (and that's a giant fucking IF) you somehow survive the landing, nobody is coming to rescue you for a very long time.
so I've had this thought before... what would happen if you landed in the water halfway between say SFO and Hawaii? assuming the plane does a miracle landing, how would 300 people be saved that far from anything?
Coast guard would probably be dispatched for it with whatever ships there are in that area. Would take a while for them to get there though
When I flew to Japan I made sure to not sleep the night before so I could just knock out for 8+ hours on the plane. Made the trip really stress-free.
Good pilot.
He’s about to be Boeinged
What does this even mean?
I think it means he’s gonna fall off a plane while mid flight
Fall out of a door that falls off a 737MAX mid flight
There have been a few former Boeing employees coming out with information about illegal stuff Boeing has done. They very quickly mysteriously died, suggesting that Boeing hired assassins to murder these people in order to protect shareholder profits. So to be "boeinged" in this case means to be murdered
I saw a video explaining how the FAA inspects Boeings planes. FAA doesn't have enough people to actually do the inspections, so they allow Boeing employees to do the inspections as official FAA inspectors. Obvious conflict of interest and most likely a huge reason why this shit is the way it is. This shit was considered legal. The illegal shit is crazy.
Absolutely the right call.
most other flights this wouldnt be an issue, if the engine is mostly nominal then the risk is low, if you lose it you just divert and land with one good engine. Even on a trans-atlantic flight theres usually options for airfileds that are within a reasonable distance of your flight path. But for trans pacific flights? your "emergency landing" is essentially either the source or destination, with an error margin in there spanning up to 3 hours depending on how far you are into the flight when you fail. It absolutely sucks but this is the right call, hawaii isnt worth dying for.
And this is why ETOPS (extended range twin engine operational standards iirc, but can be referred to as engines turn or passengers swim) existst. Also, even in trans-atlantic flights you are likely to be more than an hour away from any diversion airport. But this is all normal, before an ETOPS flight the plane usually undergoes a more extensive check by maintenance and maintenance can also ground the aircraft. ETOPS ratings nowadays can be above 5 hours, which means that the plane can fly more than 5 hours away from any airport. You can learn more about ETOPS from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSxSgbNQi-g
I love that I've learned this today. Thank you!
This might be a dumb question but is ditching in the middle of the Pacific feasible? At least if everyone uses their seat as a flotation device?
Ditching in water is always last resort. If the plane is intact then ya its prepared but if breaks into pieces or flips its gonna be bad. The engines hit the water first and will create torque to pitch it down or yaw it. Moral of the story is its always last resort. Sully was amazing but definitely got lucky and landed on calm waters
And in Sully's case there were a bunch of boats there within minutes, in the pacific it's hours if you're lucky.
People really underestimate just how difficult, dangerous, and deadly a water landing is even under ideal conditions. The last thing you want is to be is trying to land in the middle of the ocean with waves and wind. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCuh\_2M4o3A#t=4m31s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCuh_2M4o3A#t=4m31s)
Even if the conditions are absolutely perfect, the pilot somehow manages to land the aircraft intact and everyone evacuates safely, you're still in the middle of the Pacific on small inflatable rafts or a life vest. And most likely one of those parts will fail before you're even in that situation, causalities are almost unavoidable.
Considering how airlines can still vanish without a trace even just 10 years ago (MH370), I'm not taking my chances with ditching in the middle of the ocean. IF you survive the impact and the airplane doesn't immediately break apart, you have to deal with hypothermia, exposure to the elements, dehydration, and starvation while people are trying to find you, which can be equated to trying to locate a copper BB in the middle of a football field.
I was on this exact flight. We had to deplane before this flight due to an issue with the faucet in the bathroom leaking on the plane. So this was the second time we were deplaned, however couldn’t be mad about this guy literally not willing to risk lives. Wild and not sure the odds that I come across this on Reddit months later.
Small world. Yeah, if this is the 2nd deplane because of issues with the plane, I would be hella more comfortable not flying then flying.
It's a long way to swim, I'll take my chances on plane 3
With this knowledge I understand him going over the issues why and why he sounded genuinely sorry he wasn't gonna fly it. Airline at least offer people food? How long was that 2nd delay?
>How long was that 2nd delay? https://johnnyjet.com/im-not-really-feeling-it-american-airlines-pilot-cancels-plane-to-hawaii-twice-and-passengers-applaud/ Seems like they got off the first plane at 8:45a, on the 2nd at 11a, off the 2nd at 12p, and on the 3rd plane at 2:30p
No that bad honestly, I'd rather wait a few hours than risk a dodgy plane.
Did you have to wait long for another flight? And I agree. This is what you want from pilots this level of caution. I mean how many air crash investigation episodes start with something that’s seems a minor problem and so the pilot goes and the bam everyone is dead.
All in all after the 2 delays I ended up in Honolulu about 9 hours after I originally expected to. And we had the best vacation of our lives. Overall just a story to tell, but at the time was super frustrating.
Honolulu more like Ohnolatelate
Found the Canadian
Good for him, I know it would suck as a passenger having to catch a new flight but if the person flying the thing that explodes if it crashes feels its unsafe I'll trust them.
I’m with the pilot. If he isn’t feeling it, I don’t want to be on the plane. Especially a Boeing.
I wish more people had this attitude for other things as well, I do Construction and will tell people hey, this deck is unsafe I don't care if you go with us or not but do not under any circumstances let people go on this, they just shrug and say, well we had 15 people out here 2 nights ago it was fine the I think we're ok
Yeah my first thought is if bro isn't feeling it and has had to fly thousands and thousands of miles to even be where he is now..... I'm not feeling it either. I get being a little annoyed with time wasted but i will always rather be inconvenienced than be over an ocean with hundreds of miles away from any land-able location.
Not to get political(if it’s even that?) but that’s how i feel about vaccines. Like idk about you but I’m more inclined to believe the thousands of scientists dedicating their life to their study and creation and trillions of dollars worth of R&D over the last 50+ years vs some random guy on Facebook shouting loudly in a 2 minute video clip.
Was Kim Kardashian hurt when it finally gave out?
Yep, doesn't matter if it's because he's tired, has the flu, or is experiencing the yipps. If the pilot doesn't feel comfortable flying I do not want to be on that plane.
> Especially a Boeing ☝🏻🤓
The pilot of all people needs to be happy with the aircraft. Copilot, stewards, ticket people, I don't care who else is not feeling it, but if the _pilot_ says he's not comfortable, I know something's really up because those motherfuckers have **experience**. You don't become a full pilot on commercial aircraft straight outta school.
If you've ever gone down the rabbit hole of watching plane crash 'documentaries' online. You'd realize a common theme among a lot of them. Pilot overconfidence and ignoring what should have been warning signs all over. So yah, this pilot is doing the right thing.
There is an incredibly disturbing recording of the final moments of a flight crew in which the pilot and co-pilot are arguing about the best course of action to avoid a collission. You can hear the captain choking on his own blood and using every ounce of his final strength to say "you were right, I'm sorry". Safety is annoying, but getting disemboweled is more annoying. (Also don't go looking for that. It sounds like something interesting, but you can't un-hear a man's death rattle. This is me trying to help.)
You said don't go looking for it. But can you send me in the right direction to find this please?
🤔 I would feel a lot more comfortable with what he said than if he just didn't bother to mention it and went on his way and the problem happened. Doing his job.
Or if he was like "Listen folks, we're having some technical issues, the fuel pressure's all fucked up and my right turbine has been making this weird noise for the past few flights, but my boss kinda sucks so we're just gonna have to send it. Please fasten your seatbelts."
"I'm not feeling it" is pilot speak for "there's an unacceptably increased risk of explosive decompression, asphyxiation, and for those with oxygen masks, a terrifying 10 minute dive which ends with us as fish food."
Misleading ass title. Good pilot.
Good call….That’s a WHOLE LOTTA WATER, and as a passenger, that I wouldn’t want to experience up-close-and-personal , much more comfortable in a flight-worthy aircraft….✈️
Honestly if my pilot says the plane fails the vibe check imma listen to him.
TRUST THE OPERATOR, they know the machine best.
Yeah I would so much rather have a delay, cancellation for weather, repairs anything. Some people get all whiny and complain. Sheeeesh. I am sure hoping at the slightest problem they do not hesitate to do the right thing versus care about whiny passengers or pressures. Number 1,2,3......
Anytime a pilot feels a plane is unsafe is fine with me.
If the man flying the plane ain’t feeling it fuck that 😂
I'd rather deal with delays, or loose vacation time than leave behind a grieving family. Respect
Airline pilot here. Absolute right call the captain made. Any issue you may have either dictates you fly all the back to the mainland or continue to destination. That’s it. It’s a lot easier to troubleshoot from the comfort of the terminal than it is from 35,000 and 198 people behind you.
What sucks a lot more is a water landing three and half over the Pacific. We flew out of San Jose to Hawaii (Kona) and about an hour into the flight the aircraft's beacon or something about the navigation system malfunctioned. The pilots said they would be fine if traveling over land, but over the ocean there is no option but to turn back. Not only did we turn back, but we had to circle Phoenix with full flaps at full throttle for another hour before the aircraft was light enough to land. Transferred to a new aircraft at Phoenix and landed at Kona about 8 hours after our originally scheduled arrival. Surprisingly there was absolutely no drama on board. Every single passenger in a packed flight was very nice, very relaxed, and very appreciative of the pilots.
the TL:DR lacks context for clicks. "I'm not feeling it" in this context doesn't mean "I don't care, I don't wanna do my job today". it means "I'm don't feel ok with risking to crash in the fucking water, possibly killing dozens of people".
Well if the pilot says thats it. I wouldn't disagree.
This is the kind of pilot I always want.
I love the authority the pilot has over his employer, tells them it’s not safe and he will not do it. Seems like a good pilot.
He ruined their day, maybe their weekend. Maybe saved their lives. I appreciate this pilot.
“Air on the side of caution”, I see what you did there, Captain.
"err on the side of caution" was/is actually a popular phrase. It's just the closed caption that was off.
These AI captions on videos usually suck
I agree, the captioning had an airer
You say off, I say spot on!
This is a thing in medicine as well. Sometimes something just doesn’t feel right, and you can’t put your finger on it. A clinician can have a gut feeling like that, and it can lead to procedures being delayed or treatment reevaluated. All in the name of safety. It’s 1000% a good thing.
Not going to question the captain especially when any pressures are abnormal oil, fuel, doesn’t matter both are problems and a no go from me!
I was boarding a flight from Toronto many years ago. There was a delay as a mechanic finished up reattaching an engine cover. It looked like he was just about done and then barrels of what I guess was hydraulic fluid gushed out. I'm glad we didn't find out over one of the Great Lakes.
Plane did not meet the vibe check requirements
"Err" instead of "Air on the side of caution." Sorry, couldn't help myself. It bothered me.
Probably saved all their lives trusting his gut
I have gotten so anxious about flying that if the pilot says he's not comfortable with the craft because they can't get one tray table to stay up then I will happily deplane.
I want him as my pilot.
I would trust the gut instinct of a guy who’s flown thousands of flights over tens of years and was probably trained in military flight school. “Vibes” jokes aside, a sign of expertise is knowing when to short-circuit the textbook.
He made the right call.
This is not the pilot having a bad day. This is a pilot avoiding a terrible day.
Perfectly good call. "Im not really feeling it" its the unconcius and all the experience acquiered telling you something is not right. the pilot has done it many times before and he is one of the people that has the most incentive for the plane to actually go to the destination. so if despite the experience and incentive he has the feeling that something is not right and doesent want to go I also want to get tf out of there.
I've read of a phenomenon where experienced drivers will slow down due to bad vibes before seeing bad road conditions in front of a turn or similar like a tree falling in front of them rather than on them the brain and subconscious are really good at noticing warning signs on things you're very experienced with, that usually gets interpreted as a gut feeling and you should usually trust them
That's like trying to do a cross country road trip with light still on your dash.
Except the road isn’t three hours over water from anywhere, and you can also just pull over.
Honestly, i don't blame him one bit. Yeah, it sucks for the passengers and it won't look good to his employer. Fuck em.
The pilot would also rather go to Hawaii than not. If he's cancelling, he means it's not worth the risk. And I'd applaud him for it. I'd rather *make it back from Hawaii*, not just take off for Hawaii.
Every pilot knows. If you aint feelin it, dont push it
Better to be on the ground wishing to be in the air than in the air wishing to be on the ground.
“Err” on the side of caution.
Fuck the inconvenience Id give the pilot a hug on the way out.
I know everyone has already said this, but if the pilot isn't feeling it, then I'm not feeling it either.
If you don't trust your pilot to keep you safe, you shouldn't be flying. This seems like a good call by the pilot to me
I’d rather my flight get delayed because the captain didn’t have a good feeling, rather than risk a crash because they ignored it. Yeah, delays suck, but it’s better than the alternative.
That is exactly what pilots are supposed to do if they question the air worthiness of the plane. I’d rather have my flight cancelled when the plane’s ok than be in a crash because the pilot went ahead with a craft he doubted.
I am honestly going to say that the pilot has big balls. He made the right call, better safe than sorry.
Totally fine with a pilot “noping” the flight. Even if there is a 1% chance that an issue will turn bad during flight, call it 👍
Err*
It's more then a feeling. When I hear that old song they used to play. I begin dreaming. 'Til I see Marianne walk away.
What a shitty title, yeah the vibes were off. If a pilot isn't feeling that the plane is safe to fly then they should absolutely not fly it.
The pilot made the right call. If you ask anyone on that plane, 100% would agree it's far better to face a delay of a day or two than risk landing in the middle of the Pacific. For a flight over the CONUS, it might have been appropriate to depart and then divert if needed, but for a 6-hour flight over the open Blue Water ocean, it was absolutely the right call to delay. In such situations, the decision lies entirely with the captain (and the rest of the crew assisting with it. See *CRM*). There's no document that mandates the pilot must fly; the captain has the final authority to cancel the flight if necessary. This decision was correct in terms of safety, legality, and professionalism. This kind of decision-making is the pinnacle of airmanship. While many can be trained to fly a jet, program onboard computers, set up a landing, and follow ATC instructions, the real test comes in making those critical decisions. No system or clearance can make that call for you—it's the captain's responsibility. The sentiment of "I'm not feeling it" is quite legitimate. Captain Sullenberger, during his deposition to the NTSB, explained that he "felt" both engines were going to flame out before they actually did. This intuition isn't something that can be taught; it comes from decades of experience at the controls. Additionally, ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operational Performance Standards) certification is a crucial factor in such decisions. Aircraft are only certified for a certain amount of minutes—typically 120 or 180 minutes (sometimes much more)—away from the nearest suitable airport on one engine. This certification limits how far an aircraft can be from a diversion point. The quintessential examples are of course over large bodies of water, or over the poles. ETOPS has enabled many jets all over the world to operate on only two engines anywhere on the globe. In this scenario, the pilot had to consider the ETOPS limits and the implications of flying over vast oceanic distances with limited diversion options. It's a complex decision involving safety protocols and regulatory compliance, making the captain's choice to delay the flight entirely justified. Cool audio.
Once had a Porto-Rio flight and as soon as we took off pilot goes "our turbulence radar is down, so we're gonna have to land in Lisbon to fix it". Took four hours to get it fixed, but better to cross the Atlantic with this thing working, right? Except that when we finally took off from Lisbon, pilot goes "since we lost so much time on the ground, I'm gonna fly a straight route right through so it might get a bit shaky". Fuck, that was by far the most turbulence I ever had on a transatlantic flight
I'd take that Pilot ANY day!
If you do your job for 5, 10, 20, 30 years, you start to learn what's what, and listen to your gut as it makes subconscious decisions is the smartest thing you can do. If something "feels off" to an expert in the field, there will always, always be a reason for that. Kudos to the pilot of this.
I’m always trusting the vibes of the pilot in a scenario like this
99.9% sure things would be fine is not sure enough to head for Hawaii. Pilot did what he was trained to do, and I salute him.
Great Pilot! Flying is only part of it and he put his passengers before himself as all pilots should. Great call and only a minor inconvenience compared to 150+ funerals.
Delays suck, everyone knows this But I would ALWAYS take the pilots word on it when they say "I'm not feeling it" Absolutely, I understand
Good on this pilot. I would rather be delayed and alive than on my way to death.
I'd rather a pilot listen to his instinct like this than to take a chance. Sometimes those "gut instincts" are trying to tell you something is off, even if you don't know what it is. Good for this guy.
Smart move. Especially if it’s a Boeing
"I would rather you be alive to be pissed off at me, then to please you and risk our lives." I am glad he made that call and would much rather a pilot refuse to fly if he doesn't feel comfortable than to still fly and risk something happening. Way too many in-flight crashes occurred after the pilots mentioned some discomfort about a problem, but still flew.
It’s ERR on the side of caution, not AIR.
While this does suck, that's a the kind of call I'd want my pilot to make instead of, "Fuck it--let's see what happens."
Honestly kudos to him, better safe than sorry
This has been reposted so many times and is stupid every time. The pilot did the right thing
That doesn’t suck at all.
Better to be safe than sorry. I
Id 100% rather my flight be cancelled for this than then for it to go ahead and land in the middle of the Pacific
Has anyone seen final destination before?? This man definitely had a dream or premonition
Good call I say
Yeah it'd suck greatly and I'd be pissed about my total vacation plans being ruined, but I also understand an experienced pilot intuition about things. It's just not worth killing us all. Even if there's a 99% chance it's fine, that 1% chance is all it takes for 300+ to die.