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Their decision to appeal certainly proves they had zero intent of letting the mandate expire after their latest two-week extension.

From the article “Here we are, trapped in the sky with our 8-month-old unmasked baby (you can’t actually mask a baby that young) under the supposition that everyone who can be masked would be masked, and the flight 325 crew has taken our choices away from us,” one Twitter user said. “Very very angry about this.” So apparently, if you give people the choice to wear masks or not, you’re actually “taking away choices” from others. This only makes sense if you’re a progressive.

My airline buddies say their jobs yield the most amount of money for the least amount of work. Wrong!…we found the actual winners.

What’s one more nail in the coffin?

Biden administration going to appeal the mask ruling. I hope this is political suicide for the democrats this fall

Having flown 6 different transport category aircraft (including the 75/76), I don't necessarily disagree that the G/A switch position is less than ideal. However, this jet has been flown free of major incidents like this for decades. Clearly the risk is easily mitigated by proper training/procedures. The bigger issue here is the complete lack of airmanship, which based on the FOs record, doesn't sound like it should be all that shocking. An inadvertent activation of the GA switches should have been a simple thing to recover from, AP/AT/FD - OFF, set known pitch/power setting, reestablish the automation at the level you want. That's basic airmanship shit right there! Linked below is an outstanding video series (might have to click through the recommended videos to get them all...I think 6 videos total). Very dated, but I feel most of his points are even more applicable today. Children of the Magenta

Need to keep Boeing in the fighter business

Here you go

Retro install 737 "thrust levers"* where the G/A button is on top. Cost category - MX, $$$$$. or Put your arm on top of the "thrust levers"* while using the speed brake from the right seat, removing the threat of inadvertent G/A switch engagement. Bonus, one can feel the throttles, er, I mean "thrust levers" move at level off/power up and stow the brakes. Training, $ or Don't hire people that should not be flying. High startle, low SA, overreacts with a crazy ivan vs a trained maneuver. Hiring, free; or Training, $ for starting and washing them out. * Boeing and its use of weird terms for airplane things.

Ukrainians bagged a couple more Russian helos today.

Concur with this. Go look up some of the threat missiles, CH-AA-10 specifically, and you'll see why having a missile truck with standoff is incredibly advantageous.

Agree to disagree😀. I think you’re on target that there is a perception about this but factually it’s not accurate. Few counter points based on Marty and my experience being both in the top 10 in country for VAs originated. 1) VA appraisers are independent appraisers who also do conventionals and guidelines are the same minus the inspection. They are just licensed/contracted by the VA to complete appraisals on the VA’s behalf. They don’t work for the VA and don’t have to take any VA appraisals if they don’t want to. The only GS appraisers the VA has work on the regional loan center staffs not in the field. 2) VAs are not just a zero down loan. Per the VA lender handbook page 3-9 veterans can choose to pay above the appraised value and can waive the appraisal valuation or write an appraisal gap just like a conventional. I know this reference because I educate realtors all the time on behalf of my clients on this. Just had a listing realtor with 25yrs of experience say she wasn’t taking VAs because she didn’t know this. I provided the references and my credentials and my clients were under contract later that day and are closing now. 3) The VA appraiser has more discretion on valuation than conventionals because they don’t go through a QC process like conventionals do. This can be a good thing or bad thing but considering the few low appraisals I see it is a good thing. 4) The VA has a review period and appeal process that conventioanls don’t have. If the appraiser does their initial review and can’t find sales data to support the price they issue a “Tidewater” notice and give the agents 48hrs to provide the comparable sales data to justify the value that the appraiser will use before issuing the final valuation. If it then still appraises low veteran can request a reconsideration of value through the staff appraisers. If after a tidewater and ROV it still is low then likely it’s over priced and many times it’s so late in the game the sellers negotiate. 4) Conventional loans max out at 95% loan to value not purchase price so assuming it also appraises low on the conventional not only would you have to still bring the 5% but you’d have to bring the difference between the appraised value and purchase price vs VA where you’d only have to bring the difference. This can also drive higher PMI on conventionals because it is also loan to value based. I believe any bias against VAs is due to a lack of education, experience or bad experiences in the past. I believe the reason people choose me to represent them isn’t just the rates and service. It’s that I will call up a listing agent and “educate” them so they feel comfortable with a VA and usually at the end of the convo they are all about it. Big banks and lenders miss this critical component and thus some agents remain ignorant to the value of VAs for their clients or potential buyers. It’s all about education and breaking the error chain upfront. Have a 15min convo on the phone with me about the value of VAs and I guarantee you’d never consider a different loan. Same with agents who I talk to. I’m not telling you you’re wrong or your stories aren’t accurate. I’m just saying they don’t need to be and posts like this only further the problem. I always answer my phone so happy to discuss it more if you’d like. Cheers! Jon 850-377-1114 jk@mythl.com

Yeah it was dumb. I hated it but as a Lt/Jr Capt at the time I didnt have a lot of sway to buck the system.

What'd Id really like to see is a Republican legislator come in that realizes we have given the executive far too much power for rulemaking, and retake their rightful constitutional powers to be the lawmakers in the country. Would be great to see some reforms passed to relimit executive power and thats something both parties could benefit from.

Same. I ended up going to my congressman after 3 different FSDO’s all disagreed and were overruled by the FAA main office. Wrote up an MFR and attached all pertinent documents and regulations and got what I wanted (Renewal of expired CFI via mil comp). BL - Have your ducks in a row when you show up and BPT endure a headache.

Happy to hear that shoe clerking isn’t just an AF pastime. /s

Not the answer you want, but call the specific FSDO you'll be asking for your type. I've found their understanding of the rules varies wildly and therefore so does their enforcement and application. i.e. Dallas FSDO didn't want to give me the CFII because the dude was ex-Army and didn't understand the scope of an AF IP Form 8.

The plane has been flying for decades without this being a significant issue. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s not a readiness issue, that’s a political issue…easily conflated.

TBro96, In hindsight, the location of the Go Around switches could be placed in a different location. However, the fact that the 767 and 757 have been flying for millions of hours over 40 years with few instances of pilots inadvertently engaging the GA switches should be testament of a good design.

You're thinking of these 737 mishaps... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_585 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAir_Flight_427

Just browsing through your report. Some good stuff in there...but I am curious you and your writing partners background. A lot of your "Why did this happen? This needs to be answered to explain why the events occurred" questions at the beginning are a little alarming if you and your writing partner need to ask. Is it formal for the FO to be pilot flying on takeoff? - Yes, generally 50% of the legs. Could this cause complacency in the pilots? - No, acft data burst messages back to dispatch is 100% invisible. Just like datalink while oceanic. It actually significantly alleviates pilot workload. Is it appropriate to talk about while flying? - Good think you didn't hear what we normally talk about. Is the FO allowed to monitor radios independent of Captain oversight? - That is an alarming question to not know the answer to. Is it normal for captain to go make everyone coffee? - Granted I have FA's for that sort of thing...but sounds like a great Capt. Could light chop have been severe in the vicinity of rain showers? - By definition...no light chop cannot be severe. Should the plane be configured for a go around? - A go around can occur in any configuration. Slightly more frowned upon up in the flight levels, but I've been told to G/A or had approach clearance cancelled well before I was in landing configuration. Etc etc. Why was there not a better indication that go around mode had been activated? There is...the FMA's cycle and the big obvious one is the throttles advance to GA N1. I've had plenty of C-17 turned 737 pilots I fly with TOGA instead of A/T disconnect due to negative transfer. Each one has been competent enough to hold the throttles back instead of letting them advance to GA N1...then say ooops...then proceed to correctly disconnect the A/T. A question you never appeared to ask was why didn't this accident pilot do that? Contributing Control Action: Improperly designed go around mode ergonomics that make it easy to accidentally turn on. - Making it harder to hit TOGA is NOT the answer. TOGA should be easy to turn on otherwise you will get a lot more airplanes slamming into the ground in an unsafe situation. Any who, just my $.02 as a student of Human Factors Engineering. Congrats on completing your capstone!

Pawn, I like you and I think you’re smart, so please indulge me in this long reply. There are three schools of thought with rule following: 1. Follow them all, all the time. They are right, rule breakers are wrong. 2. Follow only those which are right and just. I am the sole arbiter of deciding what is right. Those are two extreme and opposite sides. There’s a third, middle way: 3. Follow rules, but recognize those which don’t make sense and work to change them. Comply if you must, resist when & how you can. 1 is almost always wrong. Schools love it, because it’s blind obedience. Dictators love it too. I don’t love it, I don’t even like it when people obey my rules without critical thought, because eventually they hit a situation where following those rules leads to a worse outcome than the rule was designed to prevent. Example: stand in this line. Circumstance: now there’s a fire. Outcome: standing in that line is obviously a terrible idea; would we support yelling at people to get back in line under those circumstances? No. Judgment and critical thought are implied. 2 is interesting. At first glance it seemingly leads to chaos. Within the right cultural context though, it has historically been a common mechanism of governance in developing societies. “Lex iniusta non est lex” is the Latin expression for the ancient concept that an unjust law is no law at all. Surprisingly, even rule following early societies like feudal China had a similar concept. Once a ruler passed a threshold of capriciousness, he was said to have “lost the Mandate of Heaven” and a coup was justified. However I concede that in modern democratic societies, and certainly in the modern American military, 2 is an impractical way of operating. 3 covers the full gamut from “I will comply while working this lawsuit through the system using established legal means” all the way to “I will not comply with this specific thing but I will rigorously comply with everything else thereby convincing you that I’m not a rebel, this certain thing is just wrong.” Think about the civil disobedience mechanism Martin Luther King Jr utilized in championing the civil rights movement. Has there been a better example than 1960s America of people who were justified in noncompliance with laws, and conducted their noncompliance righteously? All that background to say this: the spectrum of 3 is where most of us were for COVID mandates, while you are stuck on 1 despite thinking we are advocating 2. Hopefully this long post adds clarity to these various reactions you’re observing. It’s easy to look at the situation and say, I am following a lawful order why is there even a discussion about this? Those discussions dance around the concept of questioning if the order itself was lawful. And of course the people giving it will say yes, but is it? There might be a deeper authority than the whims of dictates by transient management.

All speculation on my part but I think having a non-stealthy fighter option in our inventory can have it's advantages. Additionally, according to the "4+1" plan if we want to match the WEZ of other countries A2A missiles (AA-37, etc) having a missile truck of a jet also has it's perks: "the F-15E/EX as a supplement to carry big weapons as a third." My thoughts, being constrained to the internal dimensions of an airplane designed 20-30 years ago before anyone would have thought/planned on needing 100+ mile WEZ's is a huge limiting factor. I'm sure there is a lot of political and industrial chess moves being called in also to keep the F-15 line open and continue to provide the FMS a heavy jet option.

The entire COVID mandates were absolutely tyranny. “Take this shot or lose your job.” Tyranny. the fact is this vax has been proven to NOT stop the spread of COVID. It has lowered the chance if you catch COVID it will be severe. For military members who are young and healthy they had a 99.998….% chance of having a very mild reaction. Why the need for a mandate? What a stupid order. much like the masks. What a stupid mandate that was PROVEN to do NOTHING. These mandates did nothing at all, and smart thinking citizens rightfully questioned them. It’s healthy and wise to maintain a level of skepticism when big government attempts to dictate terms to its citizens. it’s also healthy to question why big pharmacy is pushing their product on a population demographic who has been PROVEN to not be at risk from the disease.

I don't have a conviction to wear a mask. I'm thrilled the mandates are being dropped. But I also haven't tied my whole personality to the idea that mask mandates are tyranny.

I'm happy that this idiot who has equated getting the covid shot with a religion is gone, yes. I continue to be baffled that a group of military aviators seems to think lawful orders can be disregarded based on your personal opinions, but here we are.

Last Friday, Special Counsel Durham dropped court filings that state that five Clinton campaign staff have invoked 5th amendment regarding the Russia collusion matter while Durham is charging one lawyer already. In addition, court documents contain findings from the CIA, from early 2017, that the machine language supposedly between Trump, et al, and a Russian bank, was "user created," i.e., phony and manufactured by somebody. The indicted lawyer, Sussman, says he didn't lie to the FBI when he said he wasn't working for any client. Fusion GPS, hired by Clinton campaign, and the Clinton campaign itself, are trying to have the documents thrown out due to "attorney client privilege." So which is it? No client or attorney-client privilege? I still hope for some perp walks before I'm dead.

I’ll buy 90% of what you said above. But I do not ascribe to your earlier viewpoint that primary responsibility for an act so blatantly bad rests with entities other than the person who did it. You and jazzdude mention multiple contributing factors that should all be examined and rectified. Concur. But causal on this accident is pretty obvious: dude flew it straight into the ground. It’s necessary to state it so bluntly (because I’m not a fan of throwing spears at fellow aviators who made mistakes) to reinforce the importance of holding standards. Thank goodness so many flight evaluators had documented his behavior and poor performance; had HR caught it he may not have been allowed at the controls. I will also mention a thank you to the original poster. These are great discussions for a bunch of professionals to have, and much more useful than Covid and political discussions to me personally. Cheers🥃

Last year the dude literally said if he were a commander he would seeks out and look forward to giving out Art 15s to those members who weren’t wearing a mask but had not had the covid shot (back when that was a thing). Take this as you will…

The Air Force has not learned from this lesson unfortunately And is constantly pushing student pilots thru UPT (reinstating SPs who fail their 89 rides) and letting ticking time bombs graduate and spread all throughout the service. don’t be surprised to see situations like this in the future.

Bro, the CP flew the aircraft into the ground because he sucked. Despite any other culture/system failures, what can you add to the incident which contravenes my first sentence? Copy every accident has a chain, but this level of incompetence was a crash waiting to happen. I don’t like being a dick, but we shouldn’t be afraid to call a spade a spade. That dude was terrible, and stories like this help reinforce the importance of IPs & EPs holding the standard. That’s the single change which could have prevented this.

The casualties continue to mount and the numbers are staggering. In 60 days Russian has suffered 30,000 casualties, 10,000 of which are KIA. For context that is four time what the U.S. lost in Afghanistan in 20 YEARS. I read a report yesterday that said Russia has lost 25% of its combat power.

Not without the mandate. What a nerd, following aviation rules and regulations, right?