Page 34 - Volume 17 Number 11

by David Miller Passenger BriefHow well do you really prepare your passengers for a flight? I am as guilty as anyone. Sure, I do the basic brief--emergency exits, seat belts, masks, etc. But, what about the myriad other unlikely events that just might happen? Do you worry that too much information can be a bad thing? Is it possible to scare your passengers right off the airplane?Something I learned from flying with a Fortune 500 flight department is the use of a “lead passenger.” This is a frequent flyer who has attended advanced briefings and, in the event of a problem, is the “go to” person in the cabin. He or she is introduced to the passengers during boarding, so there is no doubt who is in charge in the back end. In my case, this is usually Patty and she could be extremely helpful, especially if I am up to my you-know- what as a single pilot.But, how often should I brief Patty? As pilots, we tend to take the emergency procedures for granted, because we often train for them during recurrent exercises. Then, we go on with our business, thinking that our passengers will remember something we told them three years ago. That’s not good planning.For instance, although I have pointed out to Patty how to open the emergency exit and toss it out of the airplane, we have never actually done it together. I wouldn’t want to be her, doing it for the first time in a smoke-filled cabin. We will practice tossing it gently.Speaking of smoke, nothing gets the attention of passengers like a little reduction in cabin visibility. During a Falcon 50 flight I was on, it got bad enough that they were crouching on the floor to breathe easier. And electrical smoke has a distinct odor, as I found out on my Falcon 10 one morning just after departure. Turns out, it was an overheating on/off light above the coffee maker. Decaf. Go figure.Have you ever dropped the masks and had your passengers try them on? How about the big scary one behind the co-pilot’s seat? It looks like something Darth Vader would wear. And you might want to do the exercise at FL350 to make it more real. When IWith 5,000-plus hours in his logbook, David Miller has been flying for business and pleasure for more than 40 years. Having owned and flown a variety of aircraft types, from turboprops to midsize jets, Miller, along with his wife Patty, now own and fly a Citation CJ1+. You can contact David at davidmiller1@sbcglobal.net.fly my senior mom to Shreveport each month to gamble away my inheritance, she takes another senior friend. I always take another passenger to handle any in-flight medical needs, especially if I am single pilot. Passengers can get emotional too. Patty once cried for 3.5 hours on a flight from Ithaca, NY to Dallas, after leaving her first-born son at Cornell for his freshman year.Which brings me to Zelda’s story.Zelda was my office manager during our Sabreliner days. In the 80’s, it was customary to “initiate” employees on their first ride in the company airplane. Prior to engine start one sunny morning, I asked Zelda to come up to the cockpit. “Zelda,” I said, “we have a small problem. One of the warning lights is lit on our annunciator panel. It’s probably not a big deal, but we are not exactly sure what it means. I think my airplane owner’s manual is back there under a seat. Could you find it for us?”You have never seen Zelda move so fast.The rest of the passengers bit their lips, held their breath, and finally laughed hysterically. They had all been through this before. Zelda, however, didn’t think it was very funny.Until we hired the new guy. Fly safe.ON FINAL32 • TWIN & TURBINE NOVEMBER 2013