Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Off Base Critique of Jeff Skiles

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    2,575

    Off Base Critique of Jeff Skiles

    Most of us know of the accident where Jeff Stiles and capt "Sully" went down in the Hudson river in an Airbus 320, after birds smashed the engines, and everyone Ive spoken to thought it was luck that the river was there, and that the pilots did an excellent job.The key was in 15 seconds Sully decided not to try to return to the airport, rather go in the river, and the landing was controlled and as good as possible. The key fact is ALL survived. I think all passengers were grateful to the pilots and thankful to have lived, not even injured.
    But not everyone agrees. The March 2017 SPORT AVIATION has a letter from Jeff Edwards critical of Stiles, ie "Stiles apparently misunderstands the fundamental nature of the NTSB inquiry." "All the NTSB, " "conducted themselves with utmost professionalism". "There is no adversarial role." But points out the obvious that when $$$$ is at stake the airline or aircraft or engine manufacturer has motivation to try to shift any blame on to the weakest cog, the pilots, who are especially vulnerable since they are not allowed counsel at the hearing. This is one of the Pilots Rights proposed by Sen, Inhofe. What do you think, could a little bias creep into a govt bureaucrat.? And Jeff Edwards is a small airplane pilot builderand has been employed by aircraft companies as an investigator. I haven't met Stiles, friends who have say he is a nice guy and unassuming.

    To add a bit of humor, I know of a Bonanza pilot whom the FAA gave a violation to for hitting a bird, The pilot protested until the FAA man pointed out all the pine needles on the nose of the plane and that the bird was not flying, but sitting in a tree, below the MDA.
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 08-16-2018 at 06:12 PM.

  2. #2
    FlyingRon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Location
    NC26 (Catawba, NC)
    Posts
    2,627
    Have you ever had to deal with the NTSB? There's a lot of behavior on their part that perhaps can be ascribed to adversarial to the pilot, they certainly aren't going to HELP the pilot. I've gotten stonewalled by the NTSB every step of the process on my crash and mine was comparatively minor to flight 1549. The NTSB operates with no oversight which is good when they are doing what they should be, but when they aren't the PILOT, OPERATOR, or whomever has little choice when they are the ones being screwed.


    Understand the FAA and the NTSB are two different agencies, with different missions.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •