Question re: Germanwings pilot

[KamaAina]

Why on Earth did he have to use the lavatory? It's only about 1400km (less than 900 miles) from Barcelona to Dusseldorf -- and that's driving distance!

http://www.travelmath.com/drive-distance/from/Dusseldorf,+Germany/to/Barcelona,+Spain

That's only about a two-hour flight. What kind of pilot can't hold it in for a two-hour flight?!

[cherokeeprogressive]

1. I can't pee until I have to pee... and when I have to pee, I have to pee NOW.

Getting old sucks.

[KamaAina]

2. But you'd think a veteran pilot would know to go beforehand

wouldn't you?

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. The key to my post was that even if I were a veteran pilot, my bladder tells ME when it's time to go

We used to leave L.A. on those epic road-trip vacations my Dad always took us on after being admonished to "go now, because we AIN'T stoppin'."

Even then, if I had to go I went. If I didn't have to go at that moment; we'd make it from L.A. to Barstow and then we were either stopping, or I was pissing in the back seat.

[jberryhill]

12. Imagine a lavatory right around the corner from your workstation

Why go beforehand? It's not as if there are a whole lot of interesting things to do after reaching cruising altitude and before descent.

[Yo_Mama]

27. Yeah, go before getting into the much more dangerous landing sequence.

I think you are being absolutely ridiculous about this. A flight scheduled to last two hours might easily involve the flight staff for four to five hours. Obviously you would not want to exit the cockpit while you were down circling, waiting to land, so I would find it highly rational that the pilot took the safe interval to unload, even if it were not a pressing need at the time.

I have been on more than one flight when we circled the airport waiting to land for longer than we flew in transit. I would much prefer that the pilots took a leak while everything was safe and calm.

One of the tips and tricks of shift work and occasional overnighters really works - stay well-hydrated. A lot of fatigue is borderline dehydration. Just drinking a few more cups of water will make you feel much more alert and rested, because it helps your kidneys to dump waste products that build up and make you feel tired. Since this was a night flight, the pilot may have been drinking extra fluids.

The rational approach, should this pilot somehow have suspected that his copilot was non-functional, would have been not to take off. Since he had no knowledge of a problem, and since the copilot is there for precisely this reason, leaving the cockpit for a minute or two to take a leak while the plane was at a very safe point in the flight made utter sense.

It's not like the copilot was sitting there gibbbering at the pilot - the recording was analyzed and everything was calm and normal up till then.

[JI7]

3. this is stupid

[KamaAina]

9. Thanks for the kick!

[gratuitous]

4. Not sure how old the pilot was

But I can tell you that when I reached a certain (ahem) age, I had passed the age of being able to bargain with my bladder. Time was when I would see a Rest Area sign, and the next one wasn't for 120 miles I wouldn't think a thing of it. Nowadays I'm wondering where I might have to stop between the Rest Areas and why do they space them so far apart?

As to the Germanwings situation, I think we're going to see another change in passenger planes in that each member of the flight crew (or at least both the pilot and the co-pilot) has a key to the cockpit.

[Kelvin Mace]

7. If I understand correctly

They doors have codelocks, so the pilot did have a "key", but the co-pilot overroad the code and locked him out.

[Kelvin Mace]

5. If he had to go pee

Why shouldn't he?

[KamaAina]

8. Well, he had no way of knowing what would happen, of course

but still, if only...

[Logical]

10. WTF back at you! Hindsight is perfect you know! I am sure he had pissed 1000s of times in is...

career!

Wow, weird question.

[jberryhill]

11. We don't know that's why he left, do we?

[KamaAina]

13. I thought I had read that somewhere

[jberryhill]

17. Well...

I haven't seen any reports for a while. My understanding is that the pilot had left the cockpit.

The usual reason the pilot leaves the cockpit is to go to the lavatory.

If that was it, then the co-pilot's actions were somewhat opportunistic and fortuitous (for him, anyway).

If there was some other reason, such as could have been arranged to have happened by the co-pilot and/or others, then that might be interesting.

Because, figure, either this guy came up with the idea to crash the plane on the spur of the moment of finding himself alone in the cockpit, or he was waiting for the opportunity to do so, which may or may not have presented itself at random this time.

[cwydro]

14. The plane was delayed 30 minutes

on the ground.

Coffee can make itself known.

[KamaAina]

15. I did not know that.

</johnny-carson>

So a 30-minute ground delay might be the culprit.

[JI7]

16. no, this was intentional , the pilot who did this probably had other ways

if not this time maybe a future flight also.

this wasn't an accident where a few moments could have prevented the problem. the pilot would have most likely tried another time if this time didn't work.

[brush]

33. You mean the co-pilot. The pilot was the one locked out of the cockpit. nt

[cwydro]

20. I so miss Johnny!

[LiberalElite]

18. maybe they could in future

squeeze a potty into the cockpit somewhere.

[cloudbase]

26. Most of the gliders I fly

have pilot relief tubes.

[gollygee]

32. Might not work so well for women pilots. n/t

[Warpy]

19. Two hours in the air

but more time on the ground doing pre flight checks while the passengers are boarding.

I also don't know if it was a commuter flight or a connecting flight, which meant he likely didn't have time to duck out while the plane was emptying and reboarding.

Besides, when Nature calls, she tends to scream.

[madinmaryland]

21. Oh, fer fuck's sake, Barroid..

We all know that after doing lots of roids, you have to go...

Yeah.

[SoCalDem]

22. Probably because he had no reason to suspect that his co pilot

was a homicidal nut..

They had achieved altitude, and he expected that this would be a good time to go..

[digonswine]

23. Urine-gate

it was clearly planned!

I, personally, always assume that if I poorly plan a trip to the bathroom, my enemies will take full advantage. I only pee in my Depends-just in case.

If all else fails and nature calls-I piss my pants. Better that than let the bad guys win.

Also-always assume your coworker has nefarious plans--that's the ticket. I have no friends, but better safe than sorry, I say.

[Yo_Mama]

31. CAN YOU IMAGINE what a psychologist would say ---

when evaluating the poor pilot if he had told the psych that he never left the cockpit to go pee because he was afraid that the copilot might suddenly go nuts and crash the plane??

He'd have been yanked from duty so quickly bystanders would only have seen a blur.

[MicaelS]

24. I have an enlarged prostate.

When I have to pee, I have to go NOW! I can't wait 2 hours. Don't try to blame the poor pilot who had to go, this is nothing but the fault of some deranged individual.

[Yo_Mama]

25. Well, he probably made it a practice to go midflight while at cruise altitude where it's safe.

You never know actually when you are going to land until you are cleared to land.

I view it as probably a professional and rational habit - go while you know it's safe.

[cwydro]

28. 30 minute delay before takeoff.

Probably coffee or tea intake.

I don't find it odd at all.

[brush]

29. I don't get this thread at all.

It's not out of the ordinary during a flight for someone to have to go to the bathroom.

We see it ourselves all the time when we have to get up and let someone out to go.

The pilot is not at fault.

Who expects a co-pilot to be suicidal?

[KamaAina]

36. But that soomeone is usually not a professional pilot.

And that is why I always go for window seats.

And I -- and surprisingly, Mom -- have held it all the way from Newark to Honolulu -- a ten-hour flight. Guess how I greeted the sacred 'aina?

[brush]

37. Being a professional pilot does not stop . . .

one from having to go.

Do you actually think pilots never use the restroom during a flight?

Where did that notion ever come from? You can't be serious with that.

And I repeat from my earlier post, no pilot suspects his co-pilot is suicidal.

I'm sure if he/she did, he/she would make sure that the suicidal crew member was removed and replaced before takeoff.

[gollygee]

30. He might be very busy between flights

I don't know just what responsibilities pilots have between flights but I bet they have them.

[Cleita]

34. Developing prostrate problem?

This is not the problem though. Why are pilots with no previous flags as weirdos out there doing this?

If I were writing a mystery, the answer would be that the co-pilots are being blackmailed into doing this to protect a person or something very important to them.

[phil89]

35. I doubt he felt he had a reason to try

to hold it. What are you thinking with this silliness?