User Profile
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Ray Stark |
| Captain Ray Stark has been a pilot at Southwest Airlines since 1988. Before Southwest, he served in the US Air Force where he initially started as a Missile Combat Crew Commander sitting nuclear alert in a SAC ICBM silo in Tucson, AZ. When a pilot slot opened up, Ray jumped at the chance and following graduation from Undergraduate Flight Training (UPT) at Williams AFB, he flew T-43s (Boeing 737s) and later, C-130s. His hobbies include motorcycles, karting, and helping people overcome their fear of flying. Ray answers questions about commercial aviation at www.takingflight.us a site built by and for those who grapple with questions or concerns about airline travel. Ray is the author of, “This Is Your Captain Speaking: Flight Training For Passengers.” | |
News
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Flight Report: What We Up Front Are Thinking And Doing While Our Passengers Are Thinking: "What Are THEY Thinking up front"? |
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It is day two of a three-day trip. We are on our fourth and last flight of the day en route from Chicago Midway (MDW) to Long Island MacArthur (ISP). Weather observations for ISP are good, and the forecast is also fine. My partner, Bernie, and I are talking about what dinner options the hotel in Islip offers as he pulls up the ISP weather. Big surprise! |
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Fast approach in gusty weather... |
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Fast approach in gusty weather...
From a frequent flier: While landing in gusty winds it looked like we were going way faster than normal. We floated way down the runway and then pounded on the runway after which the pilots slammed on the brakes! Why would this happen? Categories: Flying, Under the hood Oct 21, 2008 |
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Applause--Not Needed but Appreciated |
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If you fly on Southwest Airlines regularly, chances are you’ve probably been on a flight where the cabin breaks into applause upon landing. This happens from time-to-time for various reasons. Often, it’s in response to a “sporty” approach in gusty winds or bad weather that has the Passengers who are not “comfortable fliers” clutching their armrests until touchdown. Categories: Flying, Working at Southwest Sep 29, 2008 |
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"I Just Want To Get To Chicago!" |
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Rich,
While SWA doesn't serve Milwaukee, some off-line alternates have accommodations for airstairs or jetway use for special occurrences. Some alternates are refuel-and-go locations that have pre-coordinated fuel arrangements where we plan to be refueled and airborne again in as little as 30 minutes. In those cases, no deplaning is required.
A SWA jet suffered an engine failure after takeoff from Midway. Rather than land a heavy jet on the shorter runways at Midway, the pilot elected to land at O'Hare and the passengers were taken care of once the plane arrived at O'Hare (Deplaned by jetway or airstairs and I believe by bus in this example -back to MDW).
Luke Air Force Base in PHX is another example. They don't mind if weather causes a few orange jets to drop out of the sky unexpectedly. (Many of our pilots are or were Luke based so it's familiar territory for them.) Commercial jets are parked on their generous ramp space as they await refueling and the weather improvements. Boeing Field in Seattle is a similar airport (gas 'n go) offline alternate for SEATAC.
Ray
Oakland to Chicago, July 2008. |
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"I Just Want To Get To Chicago!" |
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Oakland to Chicago, July 2008. |
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