Southwest Captain Incapacitated After HUD Smacked Him In The Head During Takeoff
Posted by how_do_i_land@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 39 comments
TheIronPilot@reddit
Captain started throwing up, that’s a concussion.
railker@reddit
Those projectors are over 20 lbs, that ain't no joke landing on your head. Hurts bad enough hitting your head on it when you don't duck low enough getting into the cockpit.
Stoney3K@reddit
Yikes, so the entire projector smacked him in the head, not just the beam splitter that flips down? Or does the entire projector pivot down and it wasn't stowed/locked properly?
CaptainMundane893@reddit
Good question. The article never clarifies. Not sure if the pilot just bumped his head, or if maintenance neglected to tighten the mounting bolts. (Unlikely, IMO.)
railker@reddit
The projector's fixed, bolted into the ceiling and gets a nice little plastic fairing around it, only the glass 'combiner' flips up or down.
To be super clear, I don't know that's the case, strictly guessing based on how severe the Captain was incapacitated and the words from the FO after landing, "Yeah, the heads-up display, it's a big unit, came down and smacked him on the head and uh, made him see stars, started throwing up."
how_do_i_land@reddit (OP)
Concussions suck.
fwankfwort_turd@reddit
Tell me about it. My partner fell off of her bike 15 months ago and she still cant work or study. One day overdoing it (ie, going to the shops for too long) means two days lying in bed doing nothing. Its pretty miserable.
Various-Blood-3902@reddit
That sounds like it’s doctor time
Random-Cpl@reddit
At first read I was confused why the Department of Housing and Urban Development attacked this guy
Gadshill@reddit
Just a smidge
mike-manley@reddit
Not a doctor but I would think this is more of a binary description
Gadshill@reddit
Yes, sort of like a little bit pregnant.
mike-manley@reddit
Is pilot incapacitatation a pan-pan or mayday?
ContributionEasy6513@reddit
Mayday, loss of redundancy.
Same deal as a single engine failure on a twin.
mike-manley@reddit
Got it. Isn't "emergency" added to their readback? Or is this an airline-to-airline policy thing?
Apprehensive_Cost937@reddit
Outside of USA, it's usually a mayday, depending on how severe the incapacitation is.
In the USA, it's probably "declaring an emergency".
ContributionEasy6513@reddit
Damn! This must be a first.
Glad his first officer got him back.
Goodspeed137@reddit
Lol, you should listen to the recording. The guy even specified it wasn’t an emergency, just casually asked for priority handling.
Golden_Hour1@reddit
One of only two people who can fly the plane being incapacitated is an emergency. What do you suppose happens in the event the first officer also becomes incapacitated?
Moshjath@reddit
In that scenario I step up. Microsoft flight sim enthusiast, PPL student, I stride confidently to the cockpit knowing a Cessna 172 and 737 really can’t be that different…
….and we end this scenario with metal getting bent, toss up as to how catastrophically.
railker@reddit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIcpn_zRUUk#t=2m38s
"Southwest 568 wilco, we'd like to declare an emergency as well."
ContributionEasy6513@reddit
I've listened to the recording, an 'Incapacitated' captain is very much emergency in every sense and ATC declared the emergency for him.
What you are hearing in his calm tone is years of training and simulator training on this very scenario.
Pol_Potamus@reddit
Guess nobody gave him a heads-up
class_rando_fxx@reddit
Why you son of a
Stoney3K@reddit
HUD stands for "head-up display" (meaning you can view it with your head up instead of looking at the instruments), not "heads-up display".
CessnaBandit@reddit
Seriously?
Born_Establishment14@reddit
I always think of it as head's up for some reason
NarrMaster@reddit
Head-up, apply directly to the forehead.
Head-up, apply directly to the forehead.
Head-up, apply directly to the forehead.
Just-Smart-Enough@reddit
Well, now the joke isn't funny anymore. Thanks.
vtigerex@reddit
Wow good thing you corrected them, that changes everything!
ContributionEasy6513@reddit
His call-sign at the airline is now 'heads!'
Dominus_Redditi@reddit
I think the plane did, just not in the way he was expecting!
theredmokah@reddit
I first read this as decapitated.
civilized_starfish@reddit
Pretty poor design choice to have a hud that can knock a pilot out if not properly secured.
cheetuzz@reddit
wait, what part of the HUD hit the pilot in the head? The glass piece or the projector?
Triumph807@reddit
You see that’s the problem. It’s supposed to be a heads up display, now a heads down display. It’s not supposed to make you unconscious
/s
Trallalerotralalala@reddit
Was the HUD wasn’t stowed away properly and it ended up smacking him or was he using the HUD when it happened?
Cumulus-Crafts@reddit
I mean, they don't call it a 'heads up' display for nothing
post-explainer@reddit
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