Tim Carr

“Don’t speculate. Wait for the investigation.” I could not disagree more. Years ago aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, my friend K9 went into the water right off the catapult on a night shot. Every one of us started asking what happened, immediately. Why? Because we were strapping into the same jets, off the same cats, the very next night. During a cat shot, we’d grab the “towel rack,” which meant our hand was off the stick. After K9, I stopped doing that for night cat shots. Hand on my lap, right next to the ejection handle, in case it happened to me. Same thing with the Palm Beach Learjet 60. There were thunderstorms in the area that day. If all we do is start asking right away whether weather played a major role, that alone tightens up every crew flying today who’s thinking about going over, through, or anywhere near a thunderstorm. And what if there’s an issue with the stabilizer that other Lear crews need to know about right now? It’s why the NTSB puts out a preliminary report as fast as it can. In the Navy, every time we lost a jet, we started talking right away, because nobody wanted to be next. If you want to wait six months to a year, that’s on you. I won’t. We speculate now so we can save lives now. Praying for the families of the nine souls lost. Watch full podcast here: youtu.be/VjnmRq1BB9E

I probably should say nothing, but…I was late to work today. As I’m trying to give you an honest view of what it’s like to be a pilot, I’ll share my embarrassment: The short version is that traffic was significantly worse than I forecasted. While that works as an excuse, it’s nevertheless a personal failure & I must accept responsibility. This is extremely embarrassing to me. Part of what I think makes me a decent pilot is that I’m always where I am supposed to be, when I’m supposed to be there, looking like I belong there. In fact, I’m usually very early…I usually get to my base more than an hour before I have to be there, just in case. I am downstairs at the hotel, ready for the crew van about 20 min early. I started thinking maybe an hour early at the start of a trip was excessive, so I made an attempt to adjust it down today. This was a blunder. I always use Google to navigate, even though I know the route, in case there are closures or crashes or whatever & a reroute will be faster. Even with reroutes, I’m always really early. When I started driving this morning & told Google to navigate to work, it said there was much heavier than usual traffic & that I would be late. I was taken by surprise. I was a little late once before, but then the flight got delayed for weather so it ended up being OK. I thought maybe as I drove, Google would update & I’d get closer to on time, and it did update some, but not close enough. So, after driving for a while hoping Google was wrong & about 1+20 before I was supposed to be there, I called scheduling to let them know I’d be late. I’ve never had this happen before, so I didn’t expect their reaction: they pulled me off the trip. They would find someone else. And they did; the flight was delayed less than an hour, but departed. I actually think the flight would have been less delayed if they had kept me on it, but that’s not up to me & they must do what is needed to protect the operation to the best of their judgement. It’s why I called them so early – I wanted to give them the biggest possible window to get that jet off the gate as close to on-time as possible. At that point, the best thing I can do is give them as much notice as possible, be humble & shut up. I don’t know how much trouble I’m in. I won’t lose my job, but I am expected to report for the beginning of a trip at a certain time, regardless of circumstance, and I didn’t meet that expectation. There was paperwork I had to fill out, and the Chief Pilot will call me. I’m certainly not getting paid, and I kind of needed the money…the party was more than I budgeted for. Other than the time I was saved by weather around 7 years ago, this is a first for me. It distresses me. Both the crew & the passengers expect an on-time departure. 160+ people most days. That’s not always possible, due to weather or ATC or whatever, but today it was because of me. I failed & it cost a lot of people their time. I think this post is my way of trying to apologize, to acknowledge responsibility & agree that it’s unacceptable. I took a chance to try & not be there so early, it backfired & I don’t take that lightly. I will of course recover & vow to never let it happen again, but my passengers & crew were let down & I am the one who let them down. That’s stings. I am genuinely sorry.

My wife’ll show you the candy station on your way up the driveway and you can have all the snickers you want. But you have to say trick or treat. You see, Jarquavious, I can deal with the pillow case candy buckets and the faint odor of weed and the Bluetooth speaker playing in your mom’s Kia Sportage. I don't want money and I don't want medals. What I do want is for you to stand there in that faggoty Black Panther costume and with your public school mouth extend me some fucking courtesy! You gotta say trick or treat.