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CX 777 Chief Pilot got sacked due B-KPF low fly by

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  • CX 777 Chief Pilot got sacked due B-KPF low fly by

    It is with some regret that I have to inform you of a Disciplinary Hearing related to the delivery flight of our latest B777-300ER. The operating crew conducted a low level fly past at Everett Airport in Seattle, prior to departure for Hong Kong, without having obtained the necessary approval or authorization.

    Please could I remind all crew to refer to Vol 2, Part 2, Page 1-8-8 section 21 prior to any non-scheduled flight including demonstration flights or fly pasts.
    The first stage of the D&G proceedings has taken place resulting in a decision to terminate the employment of the Pilot Flying and relieve the Pilot Monitoring of training duties for a period of 6 months. Both decisions are subject to the appeals process.

    N. P. Rhodes
    Director Flight Operations
    Also the Youtube video has been removed also! So sad....

    Similar discussion in other forum:
    http://blog.seattle-deliveries.com/2...-delivery.html
    Last edited by SQTalker; 26 February 2008, 06:24 PM.

  • #2
    Could be this wheels up flypast...?

    http://www.microvoltradio.com/kpae86.htm
    http://www.microvoltradio.com/kpae87.htm

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    • #3
      Originally posted by milehighj View Post
      Yep, it was mentioned that those pilots were got the permission of Boeing Factory Air Traffic Control (ATC) but they didn't file the paper & get the proper authorization from CX management & HK Civil Aviation Dept (similar to CAAS in SIN) ...& the flight was full of VIP like CX CEO Tony Tyler, Norman Lo, Jack So, etc... + the press, because of the altitude as low as 28ft so I think those VIP got scare & not ready for such low fly by, may be they were yelling "are we going to crash?" & CX CEO heard that while he was on board...!

      A couple years ago I seen CX 744 B-HOY Asia World City fly past over in Farnbourgh Air Show 2004 but those pilots didn't get sacked...?
      http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...ne_version=6.0

      More discussion here from airliners.net said that HK Civil Aviation Dept need to approve such fly past over the U.S. airfield...?
      http://www.airliners.net/discussions....main/3858371/

      So is that mean when UA 744 doing a fly past over Frankfurt, FAA needs to approve that...?
      http://youtube.com/watch?v=pskftuoYO4o
      Last edited by SQTalker; 24 February 2008, 12:58 PM.

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      • #4
        If it was not announced to the pax, I can understand the discomfort on board.

        Imagine the worried atmosphere in the cabin, especially for those VIPs seated in the claustrophobic herringbone J seats...

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        • #5
          has anyone got a link to the video of the offending fly-past?

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Greatfox View Post
            has anyone got a link to the video of the offending fly-past?
            Like I said unfortunately now the video had been removed:
            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9es4uTP94DQ

            Under the hkspotting.com forum, the 2nd post from Colin Paker:
            http://www.hkspotting.com/forum/view...&sd=a&start=75

            But you can still able to see the sequential pictures of the fly-past under the following link:
            http://blog.seattle-deliveries.com/2...-delivery.html

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            • #7
              Cool pictures. Thanks for the links, SQTalker.
              I can't help but feel sorry for the pilot. Still of course, he should have obtained the necessary approvals before he did this.

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              • #8
                Wow that really was a low level fly past.

                I do understand the need to follow rules where safety is concerned however in this case as he did have ATC approval so safety was not the major concern dismissal does seem a bit harsh.

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                • #9
                  When B-KPC took the delivery flight & fly past, no one got sack...?
                  http://blog.seattle-deliveries.com/2...-delivery.html

                  What Tex Johnson says it's safe to turn the commercial jet liner like 707 upside down:
                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ546BEps-M

                  From dailymail.co.uk
                  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1811

                  Hurtling along at 320mph, the passenger jet was just 28ft above the runway - with its landing gear raised.

                  However, this was no emergency, but a stunt by one of Britain's most senior pilots.

                  Captain Ian Wilkinson performed the astonishing "fly-by" manoeuvre to entertain VIP passengers on the maiden flight of the 230-ton Boeing 777-300ER.

                  The stunt was whooped and cheered by spectators at Boeing headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and the pilot was given a champagne toast after landing in Hong Kong.

                  But 55-year-old Captain Wilkinson was fired from his £250,000-a-year job with the Cathay Pacific airline after footage of the incident was posted on websites including YouTube.

                  An airline insider said: "He is a very senior captain nearing the end of a highly-distinguished career but he seems to have thrown it all away for a moment of madness."

                  Captain Wilkinson, who has lived in Hong Kong for 15 years, was the chief pilot for Cathay Pacific's Boeing 777 fleet and in charge of a team of hundreds. Among his 30 passengers on the fateful flight was the airline's British chairman, Chris Pratt, CBE.

                  After taking off from the Boeing plant, the captain wheeled the huge £100million jet around and swooped over the runway with undercarriage raised.


                  The celebration of the maiden flight in Hong Kong: Captain Wilkinson is second right, his co-pilot third from right and chairman Pratt back, centre

                  He was congratulated on arrival at Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong HQ and even pictured in the airline newsletter raising a glass with executives in celebration of the maiden flight.

                  After film appeared on the internet, Captain Wilkinson was suspended ahead of a disciplinary hearing last week when he was dismissed.

                  His British co-pilot Ray Middleton, 47, who is understood to have taken instructions from Captain Wilkinson and to have been unaware that the fly-by was unauthorised, was suspended from training duties for six months.

                  Captain Wilkinson did not return calls for comment yesterday. He is understood to be considering an appeal against his dismissal.

                  A spokesman for Cathay Pacific said that the fly-by had been approved by air traffic controllers in Seattle after a call from the pilot but not by the airline, which was the reason Captain Wilkinson had been sacked.

                  Another senior pilot with the airline said: "Wilkinson was very much one of the elite in Cathay Pacific and would have been very chummy with the airline executives he was flying that day.

                  "If no one else had found out about it, the incident would probably have gone no further. But once it began circulating on the internet and Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department got wind of it, that was the end of him.

                  "Maiden flights are treated as a bit of a jolly for executives with lots of champagne flowing and these fly-bys used to be done for a wheeze in the old days.

                  "But they are dangerous because however good the pilot thinks he is, he isn't trained for it and the planes aren't designed for it.

                  "Wilkinson was showing off, and most of the pilots might be sympathetic but they feel he got what he deserved when he was sacked."

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