How much lack of similarity in airliner flying?

Suppose *both* pilots in, say, a B-737, were to die in flight
due to some incredible, but unfortunate coincidence. For
instance, one could die of a heart attack, and the other, say,
of an aneurysm. Now, I'll admit the chances of this happening are
remote, but it could happen; stranger things have.

So, suppose it did happen. If there happened to be an airline pilot
on board who was certified in any of the other Boeing models, from the
717 up the 747 and 777, but having no experience flying the 737, would he
have much of a problem landing the plane?

How about if the on board pilot had no Boeing experience, but only experience
with, say, Airbuses, or DC-9s, or the later MD-xx models?

I've been flying more recently, and these thoughts sometimes pop in my head
during those moments sitting up there at 33,000 ft. Also, people sometimes
sit around and babble about "the computer flies the plane" and such, and I'm
sure computers play a significant role with airliners now, but just how much?
I would think that humans still take the controls at least during takeoff
and landing, yes? And sometime I tune into the communications, and hear
that pilots are regularly requesting altitude changes and such. So, how
much does "the computer" fly the modern airliners now?

Also, would a highly intelligent, quick-learner, who keeps his cool under
pressure (but with absolutely no flying experience) have any chance at all
of landing the plane without killing everyone, while taking good instructions
from someone on the radio?

--
O.M.

You watch too much TV. The chances of two healthy people dying from
unrelated causes at the same time is so remote as to be inconcievable. Have
you considered the posibility of the airplane being hit by a meteor?

Mike
MU-2


"Otis McNatt" wrote in message
om...
Suppose *both* pilots in, say, a B-737, were to die in flight
due to some incredible, but unfortunate coincidence. For
instance, one could die of a heart attack, and the other, say,
of an aneurysm. Now, I'll admit the chances of this happening are
remote, but it could happen; stranger things have.

So, suppose it did happen. If there happened to be an airline pilot
on board who was certified in any of the other Boeing models, from the
717 up the 747 and 777, but having no experience flying the 737, would he
have much of a problem landing the plane?

How about if the on board pilot had no Boeing experience, but only
experience
with, say, Airbuses, or DC-9s, or the later MD-xx models?

I've been flying more recently, and these thoughts sometimes pop in my
head
during those moments sitting up there at 33,000 ft. Also, people
sometimes
sit around and babble about "the computer flies the plane" and such, and
I'm
sure computers play a significant role with airliners now, but just how
much?
I would think that humans still take the controls at least during takeoff
and landing, yes? And sometime I tune into the communications, and hear
that pilots are regularly requesting altitude changes and such. So, how
much does "the computer" fly the modern airliners now?

Also, would a highly intelligent, quick-learner, who keeps his cool under
pressure (but with absolutely no flying experience) have any chance at all
of landing the plane without killing everyone, while taking good
instructions
from someone on the radio?

--
O.M.

"Otis McNatt" wrote:
Suppose *both* pilots in, say, a B-737, were to die in flight
due to some incredible, but unfortunate coincidence. For
instance, one could die of a heart attack, and the other, say,
of an aneurysm. Now, I'll admit the chances of this happening are
remote, but it could happen; stranger things have.

So, suppose it did happen. If there happened to be an airline pilot
on board who was certified in any of the other Boeing models, from the
717 up the 747 and 777, but having no experience flying the 737, would he
have much of a problem landing the plane?

No.

How about if the on board pilot had no Boeing experience, but only
experience
with, say, Airbuses, or DC-9s, or the later MD-xx models?

No problem. Anything he needed to know he could get over the radio.

I've been flying more recently, and these thoughts sometimes pop in my
head
during those moments sitting up there at 33,000 ft. Also, people
sometimes
sit around and babble about "the computer flies the plane" and such, and
I'm
sure computers play a significant role with airliners now, but just how
much?
I would think that humans still take the controls at least during takeoff
and landing, yes? And sometime I tune into the communications, and hear
that pilots are regularly requesting altitude changes and such. So, how
much does "the computer" fly the modern airliners now?

Depends on the airliner in question. All have autopilots, many have
autoland capability.

Also, would a highly intelligent, quick-learner, who keeps his cool under
pressure (but with absolutely no flying experience) have any chance at all
of landing the plane without killing everyone, while taking good
instructions
from someone on the radio?

Pretty good chance if the aircraft were well equipped with automation gear.
Not impossible but highly doubtful if it were a more primitive type.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

"Otis McNatt" wrote in message
om...
Suppose *both* pilots in, say, a B-737, were to die in flight
due to some incredible, but unfortunate coincidence. For
instance, one could die of a heart attack, and the other, say,
of an aneurysm. Now, I'll admit the chances of this happening are
remote, but it could happen; stranger things have.

So, suppose it did happen. If there happened to be an airline pilot
on board who was certified in any of the other Boeing models, from the
717 up the 747 and 777, but having no experience flying the 737, would
he
have much of a problem landing the plane?

How about if the on board pilot had no Boeing experience, but only
experience
with, say, Airbuses, or DC-9s, or the later MD-xx models?

I've been flying more recently, and these thoughts sometimes pop in my
head
during those moments sitting up there at 33,000 ft. Also, people
sometimes
sit around and babble about "the computer flies the plane" and such,
and I'm
sure computers play a significant role with airliners now, but just
how much?
I would think that humans still take the controls at least during
takeoff
and landing, yes? And sometime I tune into the communications, and
hear
that pilots are regularly requesting altitude changes and such. So,
how
much does "the computer" fly the modern airliners now?

Also, would a highly intelligent, quick-learner, who keeps his cool
under
pressure (but with absolutely no flying experience) have any chance at
all
of landing the plane without killing everyone, while taking good
instructions
from someone on the radio?

--
O.M.

To answer your question realistically, it would depend on the caliber of
all parties involved, and this would be extremely individual specific.
The answer doesn't lend itself to generalities.

We actually have tried this from time to time in various simulators just
to see what would happen.
I've had student pilots with a little bit of training climb into an F14
simulator and a T33 simulator just to see how far we could take them
with verbal prompting. It was surprising how well they did. Some were
"killed" of course, but a few managed to get it on the ground in one
piece.
In a highly controlled experiment designed to demonstrate how effective
verbal prompting can be if done properly, I once took the young son of a
pilot on our field who had no flight experience at all other than
watching his father fly the family twin and put him into one of our
school airplanes with me.
In a 150 Cessna, with only verbal prompting , the young fellow took off,
flew a wide pattern with no other traffic involved, and made a fairly
good landing on our grass strip. I never actually had to touch the yoke
and throttle in the airplane, and only gave him a tiny shot of rudder
during the rollout.
In short, it's possible with the right person at the controls, AND the
right person giving the verbal prompting.
As for the airline scenario, even without a type rating, a rated pilot
in a like heavy would stand a very good chance in my opinion, of picking
it up on the fly (no pun intended :-) and landing the airplane
successfully.
Dudley Henriques
International Fighter Pilots Fellowship
Flight Instructor/Aerobatics/Retired

One of the Belvoir rags (I think it was probably IFR magazine), took three
pilots: one long time IFR pilot and controller (who I know personally), a student
pilot, and a third pilot and dumped them cold into a 737 simulator. While there's
a strong tendency to overcontrol, all three of them got the plane onto the ground.

In article ,
"Mike Rapoport" wrote:


Have you considered the posibility of the airplane being hit by a
meteor?


What do you think killed the two pilots? G

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

"Dale" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Mike Rapoport" wrote:


Have you considered the posibility of the airplane being hit by a
meteor?


What do you think killed the two pilots? G

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html

I thought one died of a heart attack and the other of an aneurysm. Upon
reflection, I suppose that, two people, one having a heart attack and the
other having an aneurysm is not that unlikely if they saw a big,
incandescent rock coming at them a 60,000mph, so perhaps the meteor did kill
them.

Mike
MU-2

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 14:15:11 -0400, "Ron Natalie"
wrote:

One of the Belvoir rags (I think it was probably IFR magazine), took three
pilots: one long time IFR pilot and controller (who I know personally), a student
pilot, and a third pilot and dumped them cold into a 737 simulator. While there's
a strong tendency to overcontrol, all three of them got the plane onto the ground.

Hell, *I* could get it on the ground ;0

"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message k.net...
You watch too much TV.

I actually watch very little TV.

The chances of two healthy people dying from
unrelated causes at the same time is so remote as to be inconcievable. Have
you considered the posibility of the airplane being hit by a meteor?

Please re-read the subject line of my post, which is the main question
I was curious about. If you are unable to answer it, then remaining
quiet might be a swell idea, don't you think? I just thought there
might be someone here who knows something about the big stuff.

--
O.M.

"Dan Luke" wrote in message ...
"Otis McNatt" wrote:
Suppose *both* pilots in, say, a B-737, were to die in flight
due to some incredible, but unfortunate coincidence. For
instance, one could die of a heart attack, and the other, say,
of an aneurysm. Now, I'll admit the chances of this happening are
remote, but it could happen; stranger things have.

So, suppose it did happen. If there happened to be an airline pilot
on board who was certified in any of the other Boeing models, from the
717 up the 747 and 777, but having no experience flying the 737, would he
have much of a problem landing the plane?

No.

How about if the on board pilot had no Boeing experience, but only
experience
with, say, Airbuses, or DC-9s, or the later MD-xx models?

No problem. Anything he needed to know he could get over the radio.

One would think so anyway. I remember reading something written by
an airline pilot once, in which he said in effect that when an airline
pilot begins training on a new aircraft, it can be almost as bewildering
as with his first aircraft. I was just curious about just how much trouble
an MD-88 pilot, say, would have with a 737, if he were just thrust into
the cockpit in an emergency situation, without ever having been there before.

--
O.M.