Page 40 - Volume 16 Number 5

38 • TWIN & TURBINE MAY 2012From the Flight Deck by Kevin R. DingmanBLettuce And TornadoLT – what a wonderful sand- not for this guy. While waiting in the wich. Not so good for you, hold pad for runway 9 at Houston though; all that bacon, Intercontinental (IAH), I watched anof us that carry passengers (and who doesn’t?), here is the description of severe turbulence: “Occupants are forced violently against seatbelts or shoulder harnesses. Unsecured objects are tossed about. Food service and walking are impossible.” And the effect on airplanes: “Turbulence that causes large, abrupt changes in altitude and/or attitude. Usually causes large variations in indicated airspeed. AIRCRAFT MAY BE MOMENTARILY OUT OF CONTROL.”I could imagine the manager’s conversation in the tower as another bout of silence ensued. Then tower announced the airport was closed and added: “who was it that had something for our planning purposes?” I repeated what I had said about not taking off into the weather. With our nose still pointed in the takeoff direction, monitoring the onboard weather radar, we shut down our engines to wait out the storm. The radar view accompanying this article was about 10 minutes after the RJ’s takeoff. Notice how the storm had moved north and note the heading bug for the right turn after takeoff we used for departure.Pilot JudgmentA few years ago, I remember being offended when tower prevented us from taking off due to weather. I didn’t like them usurping the authority of the Pilot In Command. Over the last fifteen years, ATC, tower in particular, has developed the authority to “close the airport”, as opposed to letting pilots decide whether to land or take off in adverse conditions. It used to be airports were literally never closed. If the tower closed, the airport remained open and became an uncontrolled field. If the runways were unsuitable for takeoff or landing, it was the pilot’s call. A thing called a “ground-stop” has been created by ATC to prevent you from even leaving the ground from your departure airport, then, once you depart formayonnaise and butter. But, hey, the tomatoes and lettuce are vegetables, and if you use wheat toast that makes up for it, right? Surely, Mom and Dad wouldn’t feed you something that would clog up your arteries and lead to obesity, blindness and hair loss over the years. How about those cereals we ate as kids that were 80% sugar, all the eggs fried in bacon grease or butter, and the famous powdered drink in a packet that you add to water with not one, not two but THREE cups of sugar! BIFF, BOOM! ZOWIE! Holy irresponsible parents and diabetic-coma, Batman!The government wouldn’t allow you to buy something if it would cause you ill health or death, would it? Let’s not get started on the cigarette issue – before the surgeon general warning was added, they were advertised on Saturday mornings; we’re still breathing car exhaust, by the way. Here’s a notion: we figure out for ourselves what is healthy and what is not, instead of assuming others have our best interest at heart. Let’s take responsibility for eating healthy and recognize that just because someone may let us do something, that doesn’t make it healthy or safe. I hope you assert your PIC authority when necessary and that this little ditty helps to strengthen your decision- making confidence.Dumbest Thing I’ve Ever SeenI’m still in disbelief over what I saw happen in Houston this month. I witnessed what I hope is the dumbest thing I will ever see a captain do. If you’ve noticed in my previous articles, I usually use a capital C when I write Captain....RJ pilot intentionally take off directly into the center of a thunderstorm just four miles off the end of the runway. Not toward the edge, and not asking for an immediate turn on takeoff to avoid it. More astonishing, the pilot had received reports of hail from a previous departure that had tried to go around the cell on takeoff but clipped the edge. Still more startling, after flying through the cell (without killing himself and his passengers) he calmly reported that, yes, indeed, the hail started at 2,300 feet.Out Of ControlIn the meantime, a 737 moved into the line-up-and-wait position on the same runway. The captain was no doubt looking at his radar and analyzing the situation, just as I had been for the last fifteen minutes, sitting in the hold pad, my radar sweeping the takeoff path. I was next to go after the 737; I called tower and said: “Houston Tower, (our call sign) – for your planning purposes, we will not be taking off and flying through that weather that everyone else is.” There was some silence on the radio. A moment later the hail-dented regional pilot called back and reported severe turbulence on departure. For those