Grassstrippilot wrote:I just hope that the FAA doesn't have a knee jerk reaction and I find myself on a couch every 6 months talking about how I feel and the relationship with my parents!

How would that make you feel?

All I know is the interview with the head honcho at Jet Blue, where he said the pilot in question was rock solid, extremely professional, that he had known him well personally for years, that he never showed any symptoms whatsoever of anything but firing on all 8 cylinders, raised more questions in my mind then it answered. In a way, it would have been almost better if it would have came out that all who knew him said it was just a matter of time, he had a long history of erratic behavior etc. Of course this would not be tolerated but at least it would be more understandable.

My big question, if I was a passenger on that flight, and once the captain was taken down (and how weird was that, especially to another pilot, to see the PIC running down the aisle gibbering to himself, a real Twilight Zone moment) was how in the hell was the co-pilot feeling today??? I would have been thinking the flight crew was possibly dosed with a psychotropic drug of some sort, LSD comes to mind (pun intended).

I still think the co-pilot showed great judgement asserting his own authority in locking the door, that took some balls. An interview with him would be something to see. And what was the dead heading pilot who the co-pilot called to for help thinking, "what, you're saying the captain has flipped out and we have to lock him out of the cockpit"?! His first thought mmight have been it was the co-pilot having the problem, I wonder how they got it all sorted out between them?

^^^^ All very good/interesting points, cg.....
It would be a 'flight to remember' from any-and all-perspectives...

lc

People don't normally have a first psychotic break so late in life. That's usually the stuff of the late teens and early twenty somethings. It sure sounds like a psychotic break from all the reports.

Where is the guy now? Is he still in lockdown? Has he recovered or has he gone through the hedge forever? Not good.

This sounds a little like the UAL Captain that was removed from the cockpit at LGA 7-8 years ago. He started a fight with a gate agent and flight attendant in the airplane at the gate. Removed by the airport police.

Turns out that he was suffering from some kind of bi-polar disorder that he had been keeping from his FAA Doctor. Forgot to take his meds....

I vote for a brain tumor or something similar.

Stickman wrote:Turns out that he was suffering from some kind of bi-polar disorder that he had been keeping from his FAA Doctor. Forgot to take his meds....

The drummer in one of the bands I played in years ago went that route. No way he was hiding that from anyone, with or without meds. Don't you airline guys have check pilots and 6 month medicals and more or less constant scrutiny? I just have a really hard time believing that this guy had anything going on by way of a standard mental illness. Some variation of Porterjet or Flap's diagnosis seems more likely. I just don't think a guy gets to middle age with one of the standard brain disorders without somebody noticing. The comments by his supervisors indicate a straight arrow personality.

The reason I know? My brother went paranoid schizophrenic at age 19. My brother in law's step daughter went bi-polar at age 20. I was front and center witness to both cases. It's not like flipping a switch. There are signs that any idiot can spot. I can anyway.

I had an AME back in the '90s who had done the same job in the Marine Corps after flying F4s in combat during Veet Nam. The medical exam with him included about 45 minutes of cat and mouse. He was alternately rude, crude, obnoxious, and insulting and on top of all that, like most Marines a certifiable asshole. Hey, it's a requirement of the job I'm told. Gotta love 'em. After a couple of these sessions I asked him about it.....WTF doc? He told me he was testing whether I was mentally sound. It damn sure tested my anger management ability. He's still a friend though retired from that business. I would think there's some sort of rough equivalency with the airlines......aren't check pilots pretty much assholes??

Low blood sugar, brain tumor, aliens, demon possession,....something. Anyway, I feel sorry for the poor schmuck. I hope he managed his money well. He's done doing that job. Maybe he should run for congress?

EB

I knew a guy who was the adult advisor to my church youth group way back when, very mild mannered & soft spoken. Fast forward some number of years, all of a sudden he started beating up on his wife & getting into fistfghts with strangers-- really a 180 degree change. After a thorough physical exam (apparently not easy to get him to agree to that), it turned out he had some sort of hormonal imbalance. It was corrected via meds & he became his old lovable self again.

hotrod150 wrote:

Grassstrippilot wrote:I just hope that the FAA doesn't have a knee jerk reaction and I find myself on a couch every 6 months talking about how I feel and the relationship with my parents!

How would that make you feel?

Classic

And the average airline pilot didn't have it tough enough already... corporate nonsense, government regulations, irate passengers, TSA, huge loan payments to become an ATP in the first place. Now this added pressure, suspicion, and 99% probability of a knee-jerk reaction and a stack of new rules.