Military Pilots Have Extra Edge in The Air
The aging ranks and changing dynamic of airline pilots today suggests that in the future there might be fewer captains of commercial jets with military training like the cool-headed pilot of the US Airways flight who landed safely in the Hudson River this week. But pilots with military backgrounds say that doesn’t mean passengers should worry.
Approximately 28 percent of pilots hired by major U.S. carriers in 2008 had military backgrounds, compared to the approximate 90 percent in 1992, according to Kit Darby, a retired United Airlines captain.
One major reason for this decline is that the Air Force is now asking pilots to commit to much longer stints. As airlines are taking significant and consistent financial hits in recent years, some military pilots are deciding not to join a commercial carrier when they retire from the service.
The pool of available pilots with military backgrounds is limited, which means airlines have had to turn more often to the civilian ranks when they’ve hired on more pilots. The pilot who guided a crippled US Airways jetliner to safety into the river in New York on Thursday, saving all 155 people on board, flew F-4 fighter jets with the Air Force in the 1970s.
Sullenberger III was credited with staying incredibly calm when both engines failed after being struck by birds, and herding passengers of Flight 1549 to safety after splashing into the Hudson.
Military pilots are trained in simulators of aircraft they might fly and also go through classroom training. The difference for commercial pilots is their training might be more condensed than in the military, though it would still be similar.
Apparently, the most important thing for commercial airline pilots is to have enough experience flying and have mastered the required flying standards, things they can learn over time as seasoned civilian pilots.
Sullenberger is an exceptional pilot, with relative training and experience that led to last week’s great success. He has flown for US Airways since 1980, served on a board that investigated aircraft accidents and studied the psychology of keeping airline crews functioning in the face of crisis. He also had an experienced co-pilot at his side — Jeff Skiles, a US Airways veteran of more than 20 years. A law passed in 2007 increasing the mandatory retirement age for U.S. commercial airline pilots from 60 to 65 means airlines will be able to keep experience in the cockpit longer.
A retired Delta Air Lines captain, said even in the Air Force he wasn’t specifically trained on how to do a water landing — like the one Sullenberger pulled off — safely beyond being shown diagrams and pictures of what a plane should do under ideal conditions when it hits water.
Karen
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