Folks,

Check out this link: http://www.jjgrantham.net/Allegiant758.mp3

The pilot in the seaplane in this conversation is a well known seaplane instructor and Maule dealer in Florida.

Look up the tail number for ID. If you're looking for seaplane instruction, keep this guy in mind....

We really need this kind of nonsense representing general aviation. Not!

MTV

Nothing like being a prick to a couple of guys just trying to focus on the well being of some fellow aviators with passengers on board even in a "mild" emergency. Especially when a whole three to four gallons of fuel and eight minutes was at stake! At least he kept on keepin' on with the emergency still in progress!
Sanford was where I had that prop control failure in the 195 and had to turn it around on the end of the runway at 500 agl. Those cats were 1. professional, 2. on it, 3. not afraid to get everyone the hell out of the way for a minute to look out for me and the mechanic on board.
Like you said Mike, nothing like making friends for the already small and threatened seaplane community.
Even when I'm in the opposite direction lane with no other traffic to be seen I pull onto the shoulder when I see the flashing lights because I know someday it might be me in that ambulance needing somone to get out of my way before I bleed to death.

What an asshole.

lowflyin'G3 wrote:Nothing like being a prick to a couple of guys just trying to focus on the well being of some fellow aviators with passengers on board even in a "mild" emergency.

Reminds me of the story about a pack of Navy F-4's making a run into North Vietnam. Everyone's doing their thing quietly and professionally, when suddenly a voice comes over the frequency, yelling, high pitched and excited... "I got a Mig on my six! I got a Mig on my six! Somebody help me!" Over and over again.

This continues on until a deep, slow drawl comes over the radio and snaps... "Why don't you shut the f*** up, and die like a Naval Aviator!"

Ditto-ditto-ditto-ditto- My sentiments exactly. He should be charged with interfering or obstructing an emergency operation. When the controllers are conducting an emergency operation, thats not the time to be tying up airspace or airtime thats not yours.

The kicker with this one is that on initial check-in he states his position and then says "we would like to go through your airspace, or we can go around it...whatever you need...would would like to go through it though down low".

He obviously knows the situation ahead of time and tells the controller that he will do whatever they need. This makes his attitude / comments even that much more unprofessional, un called for, and asshole-ish. There is no room in aviation for that type of attitude...it will eventually get someone hurt or killed.

Kudos to ATC for maintaining a professional persona and handling the situation at hand.

I especially like how Sea-King bitched at them...then *silence* at which point he asked "do you copy?" Haha what a douche.

This is one of those viral things that ends up on everyone's computer who is into aviation and the internet. I'd hate to be him in a few weeks.

zane wrote:Sea-King

Now that is funny!

Yeah good old Richard Hensch of Florida Seaplanes...wonder how his business is doing after that little gem hit the internet? Makes me want to rush right in and sign up for a SES rating from that fellow. You can to if you go to his website http://www.flyfloatplanes.com/ and send him an email. Be sure you tell him how much you appreciate the good will that he is spreading for the rest of us in general aviation. I for one cannot wait to take instruction from him and help him pay for that extra gas he had to spend during his diversion for the emergency.

Nothing like providing the FAA with a shining example to support the user fee issue. I doubt he would have argued so much if he was having to pay for each transmission.

By the way...here is a shot of the Allegiant aircraft with the gear problem.

Click Here to view the photo that Airliners.net won't allow you to directly link to.

--Fixed it for ya -Z

Jeesh.
How could anybody tie up the fequency like that, at that time?

I like it when the controllers come back with some cute wit & humor.
Once, I heard a transient asking Las Vegas tower where he was at on the field. The tower came back and said, "You are at the threshold of your departure runway. If you turn 90 degrees to your left, and then push your throttles all the way forward, you'll see the houses start to get smaller.
A little later on, I heard another commuter, ready for departure, say to tower, "We're holding short, and we'd like to make the houses get smaller, too."
Hee Hee. I stayed on the frequency 'till over the mtns, just to see what other antics might come up.
These guys were adding to the collective fun, rather than subtracting like the fellow in the sound clip.
Enjoy, Berk

In rare cases the f-bomb is appropriate and I am sure that the tower would have liked to have used it.

Does anybody have that guy's e-mail address. We could set up a colective reward for it. I will anty up ten buck's.

As at sea, when there is an emergency in the air, you do as you are told by those with authority over you.

Tim

qmdv wrote:
Does anybody have that guy's e-mail address. We could set up a colective reward for it. I will anty up ten buck's.

[email protected]

I would like my check made out to the "Chris wants a T-6" fund. I need all the help that I can get with that one.

One good thing that's come from this is that I circulated this clip to all our aviation students, as an example of:

1) Just how professional most air traffic controllers are, generally speaking.

2) Just how bad you have to screw up before most controllers will violate you.

3) And finally, the fact that if you are a big enough jerk, you will have your 15 minutes of fame via the world wide web.

This is, if nothing else, a good clip to learn from.

MTV

qmdv wrote:In rare cases the f-bomb is appropriate ..........
Tim

Drop that f-bomb, Tim!

this happens more often than you'd like to think and it's always some grumpy old guy who thinks he knows everything about the situation as it's happening, yet fails to realize the pilot flying the emergency just might request a low altitude 360, which will be granted as requested and in this case since it's a heavy would have no problem blowing his little float plane out of the sky from 10 miles away... I know of a Lear that was inverted on final and crashed following a hvy with 7 miles separation as a result of wake turbulence at 3000agl...

sector,

Good point, but just as a point of clarification, the emergency a/c wasn't a heavy. It was an MD 80/DC 9

Does'nt change the valid point you make, however, and even a DC 9 may need some space. It was his airspace, not Florida Seaplanes'.

MTV

Although I don't know him, unfortunately, I know people like him. It has always amazed me how selfish people can become when they get behind the wheel. We've all been given unnecessary "penalty vectors" which can be frustrating, but in my experience it is the exception rather than the rule. This is one of the very rare times that I hope the FAA takes certificate action against the guy.

zero.one.victor wrote:

qmdv wrote:In rare cases the f-bomb is appropriate ..........
Tim

Drop that f-bomb, Tim!

Sent the guy an e-mail and it was on the tip of my toung or lets say finger tips.

The controlers at Sacramento area remember N numbers and I know a jerk that complains that they never seam to want to help him out. He hears that there load is to heavy and to stay out of the space.

Tim

I hope the day never comes when I hear my own dialog with ATC as a distributed mp3 on the internet. It would mean 1 of a few possible things, most of which are bad.

Haha I can't believe people are emailing him. He should be fit to be tied right about now.

Zane,

Believe me, this guy has already convinced himself that he didn't do anything wrong at all, and that everyone is out to get him. I'd bet he's currently marshalling his students and former students to vouch for his professional credentials.

He has quite a record of confrontations, by the way. All rather outrageous.

I'm stunned that the FAA will pull the medical on a guy with some relatively minor and treatable disease, but let some ego maniac with huge attitude fly around with an ATP.

MTV

I also e-mailed Mr. Rich Hensch of Florida Seaplanes, but have got no reply to date. As others have said, he has been so arrogant on the other forums in the past, this just seems to be keeping pace. I would certainly think there would be a better place to buy a Maule or get a seaplane training.