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Operating Experience for Two

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A check airman and a new 767 captain face numerous operational challenges on their inaugural flight, including an inoperative APU, a scorching cabin, and initial ground crew delays.
  • The flight is further plagued by significant taxi delays due to heavy traffic, severe weather, ATC confusion, and a strict airport curfew in Bermuda, leading to potential large penalties.
  • The flight crew demonstrates resourcefulness in managing these escalating issues, communicating with dispatch and ground control to secure priority and adjust fuel planning.
  • Despite their efforts, the flight remains severely delayed and is ultimately pulled from the departure queue due to persistent operational hurdles and fuel concerns, ending on a cliffhanger.
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One of the cool things about my new position with the airline is that the job is rarely routine. The trips are different. The people I fly with are different. The qualification requirements for each pilot are different. The side of the cockpit that I fly from is different. But what I hadn’t anticipated was the fact that my own learning experiences would be different.

In that regard, when I shook hands with Leon in Operations, neither one of us had a clue that the evening would become a learning experience for both of us. Leon was flying his first trip as a new international 767 captain. I was his check airman. We were beginning the first leg of a three-day sequence that was scheduled to depart JFK for Bermuda at 1720.

FLYING Staff

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