After publishing my story this morning on the American Airlines pilots who have refused to allow the NTSB investigatory team to record their interview, I received a text message from 121pilot, a commercial airline pilot for a major U.S....
A Veteran Commercial Airline Pilot Analyzes American – Delta Runway Incident At JFK
121pilot, our resident pilot on Live And Let’s Fly and captain for a major US airline, has graciously offered his thoughts on the near collision between an American Airlines 777 and a Delta Air Lines 737 at New York...
Airmanship: What Pilots Need Most
Editor’s Note: In light of the recent American – Delta ATC incident at New York JFK, we are featuring this story again by 121pilot. It is chillingly prescient. In part two of this series, we looked at some of...
The Problems Pilots Face Today
This is the second in a three-part series that talks about flying airliners and some of the challenges this pilot sees for the profession. If you read part one of this series, you will hopefully recall how I discussed the...
The Ups And Downs Of Being A Commercial Pilot
This is the first in a three-part series that talks about flying airliners and some of the challenges this pilot sees for the profession. In Part 1 we’ll discuss ups and downs of being a commercial pilot. In part...
An Airbus Captain Weighs In On American Airlines A321 Takeoff Incident
Our resident pilot, 121pilot, offers his commentary on the American Airlines flight 300 incident, a takeoff mishap in 2019 that led to the scrapping of an Airbus A321. A final investigation has now been published, blaming the issue on...
A Battle For Control On Air France 11
Our resident captain, 121pilot, brings us expert analysis on the recent Air France 11 incident, which we first covered here. What Really Happened Onboard Air France 11? As regular readers of Live and Let’s Fly will recall, on April...
Why Do Airlines Use Knots Instead Of Miles Per Hour?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
How Should A Teenager Prepare To Be A Pilot?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
How Different Is It To Fly A Narrowbody Versus Widebody Airplane?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
Do Pilots Have To Make Cockpit Announcements?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
Must A Captain Always Side With A Flight Attendant?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
Why Does The Airbus A320 Make Noises Like A Barking Dog?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
“Is There Anyone Onboard With Flying Experience?”
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
Can Ignoring Airplane Mode Rule Put An Aircraft In Danger?
Resident pilot 121pilot, a captain for a major U.S. airline, authors a new column on Live and Let’s Fly called Ask Your Captain. His mission: demystify the flight deck and an answer any question you may have on the...
A Captain Explains Why Few Pilots Wear Masks In Cockpit
121pilot, our resident airline captain on Live and Let’s Fly, returns today to discuss pilots wearing masks inside the cockpit. In light of a controversial recent decision by American Airlines to dock pay from a captain who forced his...
Airline Pilot: We Won’t Bother To Be Peacemakers Onboard When We Are Unfairly Mocked
121pilot, our resident commercial pilot on Live and Let’s Fly, sent me his thoughts on the controversy involving a Delta captain and a passenger who refused to affirm that she would leave off her obscene hat during the flight. -Matthew It’s as simple...
Review: Westin Bonaventure Los Angeles
121pilot, our resident pilot on Live and Let’s Fly, recently stayed at the Westin Bonaventure during a crew layover in Los Angeles. He graciously composed the review below, which gives insight into how full-service hotels are dealing with the...
An Airline Pilot Explains Why Full Automation Will Never Happen
121pilot, a U.S. commercial airline pilot and contributor to Live and Let’s Fly, writes about automation. Automation Of Commercial Airlines? It’s Not Going To Happen… Matthew’s recent blog entry about Boeing’s desire to cut pilots out of flying is just...
How To Save Big On Uber And Lyft At LAX
As Matthew recently wrote, LAX shared ride pickups have been a mess since the switch to a central pick-up zone. But you can save money and perhaps even time on your next Uber or Lyft ride with a little...
