Canada pilot in toilet trip drama

[scandium]

Just plain nutty if only it weren't true:

Passengers on a Canadian plane had an unsettling in-flight experience after the pilot found himself locked out of the cockpit after a trip to the toilet.

Instead of slipping back inside, the Air Canada Jazz pilot was seen banging on the door and talking to his first officer on an internal phone.

Crew members were forced to take the door off its hinges to let him back in.

An airline spokeswoman said the first officer could have landed the flight by himself, and there had been no danger.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5301172.stm

[tycho102]

I didn't get this one. No problem with the pilot taking a whizz, since the co-pilot was at the controls. However, they (the co-pilot and stewardess in the cockpit) couldn't get the door open. The door had JAMMED. What the heck?!

I find the problem with the mechanical failure of the door, not the pilot being away from the controls. Someone needs to take a close look at the repair logs for that plane. Or, as a secondary explanation, someone needs to take a close listen to the flight recorder to see if the co-pilot was getting a little.......extra-special flight service........at the time the door just couldn't be opened.

The manual inflation option for the co-pilot seat.

[Perilscope]

It doesn't surprise me that it was a "Bombardier". I always hated Bombardier planes and always will. I would not invest in that company even if you torture me. Too many accidents, from major disaster all the way to this little calamity... I feel ashamed it's made right here in Montreal.:oops:

They should give attention to their recreation division plain and simple, leave serious stuff to serious aero companies, I just do not trust the people behind it...:down:

How hard it is to make a dependable "simple" bathroom lock???:hmm:
---------------
Sorry I made a mistake there, I meant the cockpit door not the bathroom door, still the same dilemma!

[TteFAboB]

You don't have to, the government will invest in it so that they can compete with Embraer which also receives(ed) more or less uncompetitive subsidies.

I'd say these passengers are just sissy if this "drama" was indeed "unsettling". What were the conditions of the flight? Heavy turbulence? Strong cross-winds? Or not? If not, sissies they are.

I've had a "Kai Tak" style landing not long ago in an ATR-42. The airfield stands in a plateau. Winds were terrible and visibility was poor. The pilot tried to land twice but had to abort both times, the second after a 60 degree bank which almost got the tip of the wing to kiss the runway, and divert to another town to return 1 hour later when this bad front was gone.

Passengers: find a sailplane club and desensitize yourself with acrobatic sailplanes. Oh the door is locked, I don't wanna die! Let's cry! Pfft, get real, come enjoy the "Kai Tak" with me, I promise to hold your arm and rescue you first after we crash.
:hulk:

[The Avon Lady]

It could have been worse.

The door could have jammed before the pilot got up to go to the bathroom. :yep:

[Perilscope]

It could have been worse.

The door could have jammed before the pilot got up to go to the bathroom. :yep:
Now that is what we call a problem :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[Yahoshua]

Not really......just another small mess for the janitors to clean up after the firefighters cut the door out =).

[Sailor Steve]

What bothers me was that the pilot was too stupid to know how to unlock the door.