September 15, 2024 • 44 mins
On the Daily Bespoke Podcast today, the fellas are joined by Retired Air New Zealand pilot Grant Walker as he helps the boys peel back the door/curtain to the cockpit…
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello friends, It's Matt Heath and I've started a substack
email newsletter called a Lifeless Punishing, just like my book.
It's weekly and full of stuff that might have made
my book if I'd thought of it at the time.
You can subscribe to it for free at Matthheath dot
substack dot com and one will appear in your inbox
once a week. That's Matthheath dot substack dot com. If
you really like it, there's a paid subscription model that
(00:22):
will support the thing as well as give you extra staff.
A Lifeless Punishing the substackmail out at Matdheath dot substack
dot com. Anyway you seem busy, I'll let you go. Bless, bless, bless.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That's get busy.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Decided about our guest today, Keptain Grant Walker speaking a pilot.
He joined the Air Force and his seventeen and he's
just retired from flying seven three seven seven six seven
A three twenty seven four seven seven eight sevens and
seven seven sevens. Yeah, sopped up twenty five thousand flying hours.
About a month ago, I think I shared a story.
I don't know if I shouldn't on the podcast. I
definitely would have on the Highlights podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
But I went to the States and flying home, and
as we were about to come in to land, the
hostess got on the mic and said, ladies and gentlemen,
this is a very special day for in New Zealand
because Captain Grant Walker, who you just heard speaking to
you there, is retiring. This is his last flight, this
is his last landing, and he's been flying with us
(01:42):
for twenty five years or was it twenty.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Five thousand hours? I can't remember, twenty five thousand hours.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, so it's been flying since he was a teenager. Amazing,
isn't he. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
So in terms of questions, though, can I just can
we just brainstorm a couple off?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
That's all right?
Speaker 5 (01:59):
Sure, I was thinking maybe I'd like to know if
you had fucked up the last one? But have you
gone one more?
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Often?
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Think that's about people who like retire early before a
game in sports matches if they get a duck or
something like that, And well, not that kind of bad.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
But what about just what about go backwards? Matched? What
about have you ever crashed a plane? Have you ever.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Have you ever died crashing a plane? Well, that's not
going to make a lot of sense toiary.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Well, you don't know. With some people that think that
we all died, and I know two people that both
have have suggested me that we all died in twenty
twenty in this and the Wads, And why the world
feels all off kilter at the moment is that we're
all living in a simulation that was fired up. So
the jab went into our arms. We all died and
we became a simulation. Here.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
I feel like I've died. He flew a fuck a
fuck of friendship. I want to ask him about the
fuck of friendships.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
So you see this on the radio show this morning,
and I didn't really you know, want to ask exactly
what a fuck of friendship is?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
But what is fun?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
It's a fuck of friendship. It's like a it was
like the ATR before the ATRS. It was like a
sort of an ATR style.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
And I spell on fucking friendship. If you see k.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
He fly the DoD he fly the bombardiers.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I don't know if he did fly the bombardiers. I
think by the stage he by the stage he got
to the bombardiers they came about. I think he was
probably in A seven eight seven before that. But I mean,
he's flying everything. Yeah, there's nothing, there's nothing that What
does he love? Captain Grant Walker speaking, Well, that's a
good question. You should ask him that first. Were do
you love?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Because I was I was once staying at a vineyard
with the mother of my children and the woman said
that her husband was a pilot and he was out
of the country and she she was making us breakfast.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Okay, have you ever made breakfast?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
No, I'll be like, do you We'll find out there
he is. Now, that's Captain Gruntwalk.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Please come on. So should we take a break and
come back?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We're welcome.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Oh yeah, yeah, we'll take a break and come back,
Captain Grunt. That all right, and we're back.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I want to check your headphones on there. Spent a
bit of time in front of those.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I s. I see, I see that you checked the
equipment there. That's because because of a pilot and a professional,
you had to look at the headphones and you check
which side was left and right.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Yeah. Well, I guess we sort of do that sort
of thing a bit funny like em.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yeah, this is Captain Grant Walker retired in New Zealand.
Captain and I was just saying earlier Grant that I
was on a flight coming back from.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
San Francisco, and as.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
We as we came into land, you you'd said, you know,
the the weather conditions, et cetera, et cetera, and thank
everybody for me on the flight. And then the and
then the air crew headed the air crew came on
and this is Captain Grant Walker's last flight, twenty five
thousand flying hours. And there was a round of applause
that went down the down the plane. It was a
(05:08):
triple seven, I think it was. Yeah, And I thought, well,
and I had I had been on a flight before
with you, because I remembered your name because there was,
of course the famous voiceover artist Kraft Walker speaking, and
you had great pipes, and I noticed that you had
particularly a particularly smooth, souding voice.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
Okay, well, I appreciate that, Jurrey from an icon of
the broadcasting community.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Is that a big part of it when you you know,
as a pilot your voice over the over the mic,
you've got to you've got to make people feel comfortable
and secure and safe, but also on them.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Yeah, I guess it is, Matte. It's something we don't
really I mean, there's not a lot of training for
it or anything like that. The company pretty much let
us loose. Some are obviously better than others, Some put
a little bit more importance on another's. I guess it's something. Yeah.
I spent a big part of my career based out
of Wellington. Yeah, so you know, I had some barely
(06:07):
interesting rides in and out of there, so I always
thought it was pretty important to try and inspire comments
in the passengers coming at it out of there, even
when it was going to be pretty wild.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I think I can't give too much information. I've been
on a plane before, well recently actually, and the pilot
was saying, we've had a software assume, and we've had
a bit of there's some trouble with the paper papers,
and we've also got some sick people on the plane,
and I'm like, just tell me that we're delayed.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I don't know. I don't.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I don't because I don't understand the software issue. No,
but I don't want to hear that there has been one. Yeah, yeah,
it's a tricky one. Obviously, we do a lot of
training for you know, non non normal events over our career.
Speaker 6 (06:49):
I mean it's just continual. I always say to people,
being a pilots that never leaving school because you're you're
always been tested and trained. Like in New Zealand, you know,
we're in the simulator every six month months for two
days and it's just continue ongoing training and checking your
whole career really, you know. And one of the things
we taught in the simulator, I mean, it's very realistic.
(07:11):
So if they simulate an emergency, you know, we go
through the whole thing. So we don't just sort of
deal with the emergency. We make pretend pas to the passengers.
The simulator instructor is the chief cabin crew person, they
are traffic control, they're everything. So they expect us to
hear the PA to the passengers, the briefing to the
(07:33):
you know, the chief flight attendant. And one of the
things we really stress, I mean I've been a trainer
for a large part of my career is yet you know,
don't tell lies is obviously the first thing, But don't
tell them too much information because the reality is about
ten or fifteen percent of people on an aeroplane shitting themselves,
let's be honest about flying, and probably think they're going
(07:55):
to die just about every time they get airborne. They
don't realize most of us pilots actually cow something if
it was if it was dangerous, we would.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I want to cow it.
Speaker 6 (08:04):
Yeah right, and we've all got wife and kids and
we want to go home there. So yeah, so it's like, hey,
you know, we've got a technical problem. The result of
this is we have to divert, we have to return.
We're going to jettison some fuel and get whatever it is.
But yeah, so yeah, it's it's something. Yeah, you don't
(08:26):
want to give them too much information the moment you say,
you know, we've got a problem, it's about here smell
a collective, you know, sort of over coming back.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
But I've noticed there's definitely a trend grant now amongst
pilots to say there's a little bit of weather.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
It's described as a little bit of weather. I mean
everything is weather.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
I mean that at the moment, overcast is weather, sunshine
is weather. But often coming into Wellington or Queenstown is
the other place that the pilots is just a little
bit of weather.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
A few bumps you go too, Yeah, yeah, a few
bumps as we see, right, you know, so that probably means,
you know, the wings aren't going to fall off, but
you might think they're about too.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
It seems to me that there's quite a lot of
bumps often between You're talking about San Francisco, but there's
there's it seems to be a lot of bumps between
Auckland and the United States of America. There's some kind
of weather system there that that I've experienced quite a
lot of turbulentce Yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
Well, you know, without getting into too much technical stuff,
we're going between sort of here and North America. We
fly through an area called the intratropical convergent zone to
all the metterolog just to be getting excited from talking
about that. Yeah, it's an area. It's sort of bad weather,
and it moves up and down in the seasons whatever
like that. A lot of the time we're going over
the worst of it. But yeah, I mean I always
(09:44):
sort of, you know, smiled to myself, and I'm sitting
down the back of an aeroplane and here the captain
come on aside, we're expecting a smooth flight, and I
sort of go here, right. You know, I can probably
count on one hand the amount of times I've flown
somewhere it's been perfectly smooth.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
The ways so that's.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Right, pretty rare of these tingyah and oftentimes as well
with that particular flight. You're right, man, is bumpy going
over the equator sort of zone. But it's in the
middle of the night, and I've noticed there's a different
threshold for the for the This is really really bumpy
put on your seatbelts at night time than what there
is during landing or a takeoff situation.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
Yeah, I guess it's totally different type of turbulence you're experiencing,
you know, because there's lots of types of turbulence out there,
somethings generated by thunderstorm activity, frontal activity, a lot of it.
You know, heard about cat clear air turbulence. Closer to
the ground, it's more mechanical sort of stuff really like
Wellington Classic because of the sort of the shape of
(10:44):
the terrain around there and that little sort of valtex
it's formed. You know, it's quite interesting when you're coming
to land at Wellington, we have a continual display of
the wind direction of speed and you can be coming
across the Cook Strait, not that I fly there anymore,
but you know, and you'll see you know, sort of
a gentle westerly then as you as you come around
and sort of line up towards the runway in Wellington,
(11:05):
you'll just watch the vector swing round to you know,
like more sort of northwest, and the speed will just
up and double triple, you know, just just from the
fact of that all that air has been squeezed through
that narrow gap. So yeah, it's quite interesting to watch
it unfold in their eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Is sometimes I was talking about this before and you
when we were talking about you coming on board, and
sometimes you think the pilots had a rough landing and
say Wellington or Napier, but then it turns out that
actually they hit the ground hard to as part of
the landing because of the wind. Is that is that true?
Speaker 6 (11:39):
Not? Really, They're the important thing, really, I mean we're
always trying to do a good landing. Yeah eaarly honest,
whichever eraplane we're in. And it's always frustrating as a pilot.
You know, you can do a thirteen hour flight and
you're dealing with all sorts of issues on the way
that we wouldn't involve obviously the passengers or people with
but you know, all sorts of little sort of things
always happen along the way and then everyone bases the
(11:59):
whole flight on that on that last seconds. I mean,
when I did my last flight, I got back and
we went down to want for a few days to
sort of relax and celebrate the end of my career.
And and then a friend of mine alerted to the
comment that that during me had made on the show
(12:20):
you know about about my pa and whatever, and which
was very nice, and I thought, oh, okay, And and
you know, but I said to Joe, my partner, I said,
because she was on board my last flight, my son
and his partner that, you know, I said a little
bit disappointed he didn't comment on my landing because all
my colleagues at work said, oh, you know, what are
you going to do if you bury it on your
last landing? I thought, yeah, yeah, I was, I must
(12:45):
have been. I was trying pretty hard, you know, and
I thought, you know, I mean, what are you going
to do? You know? It's not like I can sort
of bring up the news and say, look, I want
to come in tomorrow, and haven't I just again?
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (12:59):
And then another guy's just do an auto land because
the auto land and the aeroplane does the beautiful job,
and just do that. And then then claim it as your.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Own planes can land them by themselves.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Now oh yeah, well that's that's what happens in fog, right,
So we when we land in fog, I mean we
we set it up for an auto land. So yeah,
it's got an involved procedure. But yeah, so and obviously
every airport we go to they don't have the capability
of auto land. So you need three sort of key
factors to for the aircraft land itself automatically. So so
(13:33):
the aeroplane has to be equipped, which most jet aircraft are.
Pilots have to be trained most of all trained for that.
But the third and really important, but it is the
equipment at the airport has to be sort of up
to a certain level, and they have extra things for
auto land for checking. They normally have ground based radar
(13:53):
because you know, once you land, that's that's one part
of it is you've got to find your way to
the gates and whatevern. Though also because no one can
see any things, make sure a plane don't run into
each other around which is always very embarrassing, I.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Think quite terrifying doing an auto land to just be
sitting there watching it happen as a.
Speaker 6 (14:08):
Yeah, yeah, the first time is you do it free
or is a bit scary? Obviously, It's another thing we
practice in the simulator and in fact every time. So
auto lands are captains only, and so every simulator that
I've done, you know, over my career since since I
became a captain in two thousand, you know, every six months,
(14:31):
part part of the training the simulator, we do what
we call loavers procedure training, So part of the simulator package,
over the two days we'll be practicing an auto land,
and of course with that we always have the something
will go wrong, so you're coming in all coupled up,
and then you know, at some point you'll get some
defect pop up, which nor means you have to go
round and then sort it out and then come around
(14:52):
and land again. So yeah, we practice that all the time.
So you know, if I was still working and had
to do an auto land and here tomorrow because the fog,
I mean, I've done it so many times. I mean,
you know, you're very focused, and you know we're not
just sort of sitting back there with our feet up things.
I was just job. We're both we've got things, got
a monitor and there's some things popping up on the screen.
(15:14):
We're watching the whole time, and obviously hands and feet
on in case something happens.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It does a beautiful I've got auto parallel park in
my car, so I sort of know what you mean.
So you sit there, you watch it, but you've got
to be very careful that you're going to run to
the cabin exactly.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
What's the freakiest moment that you've ever had in the air,
what's the time when your hearts started racing?
Speaker 6 (15:37):
Well, I know it's something but weird, but it was
actually my first ever flight when I started my training
in the Air Force, so I you know, as a
young seventeen, but I was younger than that. I got
this desire to sort of become a pilot, and one
of the pasts you could take was to join the
Air Force, and managed to get through their selection process.
(16:00):
But the reality was that when I fronted up there
hadn't really been up in an aeroplane very much at all.
I'd probably been on a commercial flight two or three times.
I'd been up in a light aeroplane two or three times,
so you know, certainly certainly pretty new to the whole thing.
And anyway, we the first flight after a whole training
on the ground for six months was a familiarization. So
(16:23):
that was when the Air Force had a base at
Wegram done in christ Church, so that's why I initially
did to fly. So the first flight was this familiarization.
You went out and the little air trainer with your
instructor and just getting used to wearing all the gear
being in the Air Force. You had your flame resistant overalls,
your you know, your life jacket, your helmet, you're wearing
(16:45):
a parachute. Part of what you sat on was your
life saving your dingy pack whatever I mean, you know,
you trust up like a turkey and all this weird
gear and you're wearing gloves. So I'm sitting there nervous
as anything, and you know we're flying on there instructures. Oh,
that's that's the university down there, walking all right. I've
got my little map, my China graph pen I'm putting
(17:06):
on and that's Lincoln Universe. I'll put a ring around
there and making it look as if I'm really you know,
and I'm sort of just about wetting myself going because
we've done all this like parachute training. I'm thinking, oh
my god, it's the bloody wings sell off, I might
have to jump out of you. And anyway, I'm still
all nervous and trying to listen to everything and whatever.
And then next thing, I drop my damn pencil, my
China graph pencry goes, oh what, what's what's the problem?
(17:29):
They're walking? I say, oh, sorry, sir, I've dropped my
pencil down there. And of course you trust up like
a turkey, and this can become a threat, right So this,
this pencil lying around the floor could get jammed in
the controls. So he goes, oh, okay. Then he says
to me, is your heart is nice and tight? And
I'm thinking, funny thing just as yeah, sure, And then
he rolls you're playing completely invertent, gives the stick a
(17:51):
bit of a wiggle, you know, the pencil drops into
the perspects, you know, a canopy. Both he reaches up,
grabs it, you know, rolls and you know up the
right way and hands the back to the mount. I'm
absolutely working myself with fear and thinking for us, you know,
this flying game certainly not to me. I'm just gonna
have to you know, once I get back in and
(18:12):
change your underwear and everything just go in and say, look,
I don't think I'm cut out your pilot. So that
that was probably the scariest moment. That's a that's a
great move from the instructor.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I'm just looking at at the planes that you've flown here.
The fuck of friendship?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Oh yeah, I think I don't know why that that
was a measurement.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Right of friendship which I've been on. Actually that the
old mount Cock actually in his zeeland, used.
Speaker 6 (18:37):
To fly, didn't they, Yeah, something similar Hawkidy seven for eight.
So the the Fokker Friendship was a high wing airplane
and the Hawk Sidy seven four eight that Mountain Cook
was low winged. Yeah, but similar similar.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Right name the friendship was the Foger Friendship kind of
like the a tr of its time.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
Yeah, it was, yeah, that that was. That's what I
started on a long, long time ago. I mean it was.
It was a great introduction to airline flying and we
loved it.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Loud, Yeah it was. Yeah, it was the bloody turbine.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
Well on the flight deck. I mean, you know, we've
had sort of didn't have noise canceling headsets in those days.
But yeah, if you ever took your headset off, yeah
it was one half deaf now I think so.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Yeah, and the Foker Friendship then in the seven three sevens.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Yeah, the original two hundred, the old.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Everyone who flies those said that they are a great
aeroplane to ply very they handled particularly well.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Yeah they Yeah, the old two hundred Friendship was it was.
It was like a sports car to fly. It was.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
It was just beautiful.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
I mean it wasn't particularly fast in the cruise, but
it did everything else really well. It was lovely.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
The seven six seven a bit of a peg. Not
a great.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Plane, it was. It was our first glass cockpit airplane.
We thought it was a rocket ship when we got it.
I mean, you know, like it was like we've gone
I mean, I'd gone from the old Friendship. It was
like wartime post wartime technology. The seven three seven we
thought was pretty smart. Then here we had this aeroplane
with sort of screens and a flight management compute, and
(20:08):
we just sort of, oh, my god, this is just amazing.
And and I had nine years on the seven six
and it was. It was a bit of a pig
of a thing to land, I must abmit, because the
undercarriage of hung the wrong way, so it was always
a bit of a blow to your ego when you
had you coming in there and everything gone beautifully well
and you check back then, But no, it was. It
was actually a great aeroplane, very flexible. I mean it yeah,
(20:31):
it could do just about everything.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
It was.
Speaker 6 (20:33):
It was great. Oh yeah, not my favorite aeroplane, but it.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Was, it was.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
It was. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
I enjoyed the seven six.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
And you've also thrown the flown the A three twenty,
So it's your where do you sit on earbus versus bowing.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
Hey, they're both good, good aeroplanes. They're quite different philosophies,
and some people struggle moving from one to the other
because it's it's sort of you know, you're flying an aeroplane,
but it's quite different philosophies. Really, Airbus very very clever,
very smart. The A three fifty looks an amazing aeroplane.
I mean I did a number of years on the
(21:09):
seven eight, which is obviously Boeing's sort of latest machinery,
and it's a smart airplane. I believe the A three
fifty is sort of light years ahead. But yeah, I
mean it's a bit like cars. You know, whatever you have,
you you sort of say one that's that's great. But yeah,
I'm I'm I was happy to fly both. It was
nice to fly, you know, the airbus.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I would have thought that though, of all the planes
that you'd fly, seven four seven would I mean, they
are a great machine.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Everyone that flew the seven four loved it. It just
did everything so well. I mean it was a pretty
aeroplane too, but it just you know, the cabin crew
loved working on it. It was and it was beautifully
set up for long haul flying, you know, like from
our point of view, selfish point of view as pilots
like rest and whatever. We had two bunks straight and
behind the flight deck and then we went through the
(22:00):
other door into an area with two business class seats
and our own toilet, you know, and it was great,
it was. It was beautifully set up, whereas on the
Triple seven the seven eight you're fighting for the loo
with a la passengers and what which is it? Yeah,
you know, and then of course I always find it amazing,
you know, you're in an aeroplane with you know, three
(22:21):
hundred and fifty other people, and people sort of they
don't seem to be aware that, you know, that this
is not their home and they have to maybe share
the bathroom other people, and you know you've come out
through you know, you've sort of sitting there, I need
to go to the loom. With all the security protocols
since nine to eleven, you know, it's not just a matter.
In the old days, we just sort of said to
the other I'm just going back to Lee. Yeah, sure,
(22:42):
you know, went back. Now you know we're sitting behind
a bomb proof, bulletproof door. So the protocol we have
to ring you know, the front galley, get a flight
attend and say, oh, look, you know I need to
go to the loop whatever, and they go again grant.
But then you know, and then then they they had
to you know, they come up. We watch them on
the camera to make sure you know that there's no
(23:02):
one going to burst them behind them, and we unlocked
their triple locked door and they come in and sit
there and then you go out, and then of course,
normally as you step out through the door, someone's normally
just going into the loop, and then it's one of
those people that's decided to go in there before they
jump in their business class bunk and strip off to
the waist and wash themselves down and get their PJS
(23:23):
on and strip off their makeup and you're sitting there like,
oh god.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Sometimes it's two of them going there at once.
Speaker 6 (23:30):
Yeah, the call with the call button going all the time.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
So seven four would be you would be your favorite.
And also they just they just handle the bumps so nice.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Yeah, I mean it's so big and so heavy. I
mean in turbulance whatever, they just sort of plowed through.
The beautiful aeroplane to land was you had to work
hard to a crash a seven four on the ground,
and because you had eighteen wheels to sort of absorb
all the impact. So it was a lovely airplane.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Yeah, you never flew an eighth eighty.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
No, and you said, I've never operated the A three
eighty the I mean we had the seven four, and
about the time the three eighty, I think most airlines
were coming to conclusion that four engine just didn't really
stack up economically as fuel prices were climbing through the roof.
So I don't I don't think any airlines ever made
a dollar out of there. I mean I've never actually
been on one, which sounds a bit sad, but they
(24:21):
are bag yeah, well they are, but everyone says they're
lovely to fly. I'm very quiet, and I'm sure they are,
but yeah, I've never actually been on one, so I
have to put that on my sort of retirement list
of things to do.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yeah, so what happens when you're retired and you've flyn
for twenty five thousand hours and then you you know,
I guess I'm what I want to ask, is is
flying a completely different experience for you?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Like, is the zero join it?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Because the whole time you're thinking, you're going through checklists
of things yourself when you're flying as a passenger.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Yeah, it well, it was not quite like that. I mean,
you know, twelve or fourteen hours side, you'd be a
mental and physical records like that. It's sort of described
as you know, it's sort of ninety percent boredom and
ten percent terror. Obviously, long haul fly you've got the
real busy bits at the beginning and the busy bits
at the end, and then sort of long periods of
(25:14):
not a lot happening in the middle. But saying that
there's always something to do. We're not sitting there sort
of playing I Spy for ten hours in the middle
of flight. I mean, there's always something to do with
you know, checking whether it's on route holt and it's
monitoring systems moving fuel around. Invariably there's there's you know,
issues with passengers down the back, or there's always something
(25:36):
going on, you know. And then then of course on
long haul flights, there's normally three of us on the
longer haul flights four of us, so you know you're
changing over and going to rest in this hand over briefing,
so there's always sort of something going on. But yeah, look,
it's been a month since I retired. I think what
I'm missing most at the stage is the people that
(25:58):
you know, I've met and flying with and work with
over the years. But bouncing across the Pacific in the
middle of the night, I can't say I'm really missing that.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
How many But you talk about the people, how many
people are in a flight crew that can you know,
actually fly the plane on an international show.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
Okay, well, I mean I can only talk free in
New Zealand obviously, But on a trip with like a
normal long haul trip like going up to San Fran
or Rally, it depends a bit on how many Knights
are staying up there, Like to go to San fran
If we were staying there for one night, so it's
sort of minimum rest. They would have four pilots that
of normally be a captain, a first officer, and two
(26:38):
second officers. And if it was a couple of nights,
they'd probably just be three of us. First officer, captain,
first officer, and second officer. So everyone's trained. I mean,
they're all trained pilots. Not all airlines have second officers,
so they like sort of cheap labor. They've all qualified pilots.
(26:59):
Most of them have come from the link, you know, airlines,
so they experienced people. But the second officers, the rules
for us are they can only sit in an operating
seat above twenty thousand feet. They can't be in the
seat for the takeoff and landing. But saying that, they
trained in the simulator, so they go in the sim
(27:19):
more frequently than the rest of us. I think they
go in every three months and they'll do what they
call handling sims. Well, they'll get to land the simulator
and take off and do all that sort of thing.
So the idea being of something happens to me, you know,
being elderly and on my last legs, you know, pop
my clogs whatever like that, you know, they sort of
wheel me out and they throw the second officer in
(27:39):
the seat, and you know they are quite capable of landing.
There may not be pretty, but that they perfectly acceptable jobs.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
But it's not a situation where you'd use a landing
for training at all. So you not the second officers, No, no, no.
But so you said, there's a captain and then there's
a first officer. Yeah, so sometimes you let the first
officer land the plane.
Speaker 6 (27:58):
Oh no, most of it. I mean, like on a
like a standard sort of duty on the Triple seven
going up to like fan fram we bought during me
back from I mean for a duty like that. When
we fronted up at flight planning in Auckland, I'd normally
say to the first officer do you want to fly
up this triple or fly home? And give them a choice. So, yeah,
(28:19):
it's not like, you know, the captain does it all.
And you know, one day when when the first officer
is ready to you know, get us come onto wel congratulation.
Now you know there's your chance to show us, you know,
whether you whether you've paid any attention over the last
fifteen years. I mean, yeah, we swap it around. I
mean you know, the role of captain's really just to
you know, yes, it's like a management role really, so
(28:41):
I mean, yeah, off and on. I mean I know
when I first went to the Triple seven, I mean
I was flying with first officers who had been on
that particular airplane, but you know, seven or eight years,
so they were vastly experienced. You you know, so going
somewhere like, hey mate, you know, I haven't been in
here for a few years whatever, like, you know, tell me,
you give me a few time. I mean, you know,
you rely on them, and then they fly the airplane
(29:01):
very well, often better than we do.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Do you have a death on the flight.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Over the specific you're flying over it's got halfway to
New Zealand and someone pops.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Their clogs, Yeah, it's I mean, we were prepared for it.
We do carry kits on board to deal with that.
I mean, it does happen. Most of the in flight
incidents that.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
We have these days.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
I think about eighty to ninety percent are in flight
medical emergency. When the airplanes are ulter reliable, the chances
are going something wrong. I mean, we will have little
niggly things happen, but there's so much redundancy built into aeroplanes.
You know, I've got triple hydraulic systems, you know, a
whole lot of electrical system backup systems, So even if
you know some system goes down, it's not really a
(29:47):
major problem. But most of the issues we have these
days are medical issues. But no, I don't know, I
don't really I don't think I've ever ever I mean
I've had, you know, obviously, you know, people that are
get unwell, and I've had a couple of medical diversions.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
But anyone had the roof or anything like that, Like.
Speaker 6 (30:10):
No, Well, I mean I always you know, you hear
these incidents where where people get really badly injured in turbulence,
and as a pilot, I mean, the only time I
would ever undo my seat belt is to get up
and go to rest or go to the loo. I mean,
I still can't believe that there's people that when the
seat belts I and go off, you know, actually undo
their seat belts. I mean, hey, you know, if I'm
(30:31):
if I'm a passion down the back, you know, I'm
I suppose being a piled on sort of safety conscious.
I mean, I never take my shoes off until I
know up through about ten thousand ft because you know,
i'd sort of know that they have something bad happened
and I had to sort of, you know, leave the
aeroplane and hurrying being in bear feet and your socks.
(30:52):
Not that I'll be sitting in bear feet, but you
know that that wouldn't be it, you know, I mean,
that's not going to be a good lock. So I'll
leave my shoes on whatever. But yeah, I guess I'm
a bit weird like that. Yeah, No, it's yeah, it's yes,
it's strange thing really, yeah, is a medical thing.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Who makes a decision because we we just had a
story in the show today and the about a plane
that was turned around because it was a drunk person
misbehaving and there it was, I think it was a
Jetstar flight out of Australia. I'm sure they will go
who makes that decision? Because you've got of course, they've
got the flight crew, you've got Stewart's and they're at
(31:33):
the cold face of it. And then they come through
and say you've got to call.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
Them flight attendants now mate to get told of Well, well,
obviously a security thing. I mean we we you know,
with SAT phones we can talk to head office from
anywhere in the world. So the protocols for us, and
I said, I command you talk for you a new
thing like medical. So if you have a medical on board,
(31:57):
all our capin crew are obviously first aid trains, so
that that's good. And a lot of them been around,
a lot of them are ex nurses and whatever, so
fair amount of experience there. And then of course the
next thing, if they think it's serious, you'll hear them
paging for a doctor, because you know, on a on
an aeroplane like the Triple seven with three hundred plus passengers,
the likelihood of a doctor or a paramedical or something
(32:19):
is pretty high. Whether they're prepared to put the hand
up or not can be the CAVIN crew are told.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
To someone they told friend they're a doctor, when they're not.
Speaker 6 (32:28):
Yeah yeah right, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, I'm a doctor
of philosophy. So anyway, so we'll try and then but
part of the protocol is we're not supposed to divert.
So there's a we have an organization that we contract
to where if we have a medical so we will
neven normally get a call up the front of the
(32:50):
light attends. Look, we've got someone who's collapsed down the
back head whatever. So then they have a form that
they fill in with the passengers, you know, their seat number,
their age, and the initial details. We'll get on the
SAT phone and call up this this outside provider and
just say, hey, look, this is you know, New Zealand
eight whatever. We're takingly along here and we've got this issue.
(33:10):
So we give them that initial information and then the
call taker then you know, sort of does a quick
appraisal and then they will they basically have doctors on calls.
It might be well, our last provider was based in
the US, the new, newer one is based in Australia.
So then you know, a couple of minutes later you'll
have you know, doctor Mattle pop up. There can impair
(33:32):
the game, you know what you got there, and so
you will sort of go yeah, and and with all
this information, they know the aircraft type, they know about
all the medical equipment. Were like, we've got we've got
a pretty good setup of stuff on board and dep
fibrillators and stuff like that, and a whole lot of
you know, medications and things. So they might go yep, okay,
(33:55):
well we're sort of thinking that this could be the case,
and maybe the doctor on board is given there obviously
you know, diagnosis, and then they might say, okay, we
recommend that you give them this, that and the other
and then and then then a lot often so what's
your nearest diversion airfield? So you might say we're going
past Guam or something like heading up the east or something,
(34:18):
or well like heading up to the US maybe you know,
Tahiti or Hawaii or something, and then they might say, okay, well,
our assessment is you need to divert there, so we
don't just go a look, you know, they've keeled over
and not looking well, you know, woulden might a couple
of nights and go there, because company don't really like
that very much. So yeah, we our protocol is that
(34:39):
that that we basically get there, say so before we divert,
because it becomes a major issue. I mean, you know,
not only I mean you're diverting in there, which is
a big deal. One of the side effects that you
can't just sort of kick them out and keep going.
We have duty time limitations, so it could be we've
(35:00):
diverted in there by the time the paramedics have got
them off. It's like, well, now we're running out of
duty time to get to la or San Franz, so
we're now stuck here. So you've got three hundred and
fifty people that thought they were going to San fran
and suddenly they're in Honolulu. And yeah, it's so it's
a big it's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Because because recently, there was that last year or not
that recently, but there was those flights out to New
York and if I remember rightly, they got very close.
There were a few hours out from New York and
then there was a problem with the gate and everyone's going, well,
why don't you just land in Chicago, But it doesn't
work like that. They had to turn around and come
all the way back.
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Yeah. Well yeah, I mean every case is that I
did the second of a flight out of New York
when I was just before I left the seven eight.
I mean, it's a long way. Yeah, there's issues like
that that have to be managed, and of course, you know,
I mean, as the captain, obviously you have an input,
but but something like that, I mean, you know, I
(35:56):
see there was one the other day, I think they
were going to Singapore or something, and had so Mihoe
around about Sydney and then came back and of course
all the keyboard warriors, who what are they going to
get a pict from Sydney, you know? And but but
what would happen in that case? You know what once
you've maybe dealt with the initial sort of issue, you know,
you be on the SAT phone like engineering and so
(36:17):
what we've got this whatever, and they'd be looking at well, okay,
you know, is this easily fixed by you lobbing into Sydney,
say or whatever. And they might contact our provider there
and say, hey, this we think this you have you
got the parts? Well, no we haven't, or yes we
have or whatever, and and for managing passengers and crew
and whatever. So it's it's not just a simple matter.
(36:38):
And so I'll go on land somewhere and call call
up you know, Joe's garrange and comes up there with
you know, lit of screwdriver and fixes it. So it
becomes a major logistical exercise for the company to manage.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Yeah, just a couple of couple of quick things before
we before we wrap up. Firstly, the hardest airport to
land in New Zealand.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
Well, obviously I was based in Wellington. I got pretty
good at I suppose I was there for years. Well
Wellington is you know, has a lot of wind there obviously,
and it's quite challenging. Queenstown. It can be very challenging
because it's in the mountain. One of the places I'm
you know, always was on edge was Dunedin because Dunedan
can suck you in because your beautiful sunny day with
(37:23):
five knots of wind on the ground, but there's a
howling westerly going over the top and the aeroplane just
you know, like really good. But yeah, yeah, so right, yeah, yeah,
and it's yeah, we've had some pretty wild rides in there.
So yeah, it's hard to say, but yeah, I guess
Wellington would be right up. Didn't really I didn't api
(37:43):
on the friendship a million years ago, Yeah, nope, didn't
really to remember it being an old friendship going up
on the leeward side of the sort of terror rus
and Rhins used to get some pretty wild bouncing away
up there.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Part of it I mentioned in New Zealand, we've got
some we've got a lot of wind, yeah, New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
So when these sort of a place in.
Speaker 6 (38:01):
Mountains effect, it does, it does.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Yeah, but we don't have to deal with some of
the things that I always imagine they've deal with. Say
you're flying out of Canada where you've got snow, and
that's a whole nother word.
Speaker 6 (38:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's something that we obviously, we we
have provisioned for and you know, we deal with it
a bit in various places. I mean, obviously were going
to Vancouver. But yeah, like dealing with snow and ice, Yeah,
it's not it's not an area that we do a
lot of and our procedures are quite cumbersome there. I know,
with training guys into Vancouver and they say, oh, you know,
(38:33):
because like this protocols, when do you think it should
be de icing? And I look, hey, you know, I'm
I'm a pretty simple sort of person, so I like
to keep things simple. My attitude is, look at what
the local operators are doing. If the local operators are
de icing, then yeah, they're the experts. They do this
on a daily basis, so that if the de icing
and whatever, then that's probably a good idea.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
To do it.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
I've been de iced out of Vancouver before and it's
quite a process. It's quite quite cool.
Speaker 6 (38:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, hey, church it's it's not uncommon obviously,
frost and stuff like that to cause I was.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Flying out of Tamaru once and the pilot got a
kettle out and was pouring that on thelens.
Speaker 6 (39:11):
It's on the wing, I feel about.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
That was water on there to the ice, and there
was a there was a there wasn't even a what's
the one smaller than a bombardier that we fly Q three?
Well three under the bomb bomb like smaller than that, Well,
we used to we used to do three four. Yeah,
I remember doing a chart.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
We did a lot of charters of the Japanese a
few years ago, and I did a flight into Sapporo
where I mean it's snow and ice for about three
months of the year, and yeah, like that was amazing.
We land in this huge snow drifts, you know, piled
up on both sides of the runway, and yeah, there
was spectacular. And then it was my leg I think
I was first off in those days, and it was
(39:52):
my league flying in there, and it was like getting
it when it was snowing, we think, okay, right, you know,
and then like it said, breaking actually on the runway
was good. It's a breaking action on taxiways nil. I thought,
what the hell? And as I as I came into
the terminal I was thinking about, you know, about half
a kilometer prower. I had this vision of like flying high,
putting my ft on the brakes and go into the
(40:15):
terminal building. But of course it stopped because the whole
aproniary was a wash and de icing for it, and
they had make a huge car wash thing. When the
d iced aeroplane, this huge gantry just went out. The
whole aeroplane did the whole seven six and about two
minutes flat. I mean it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
But do you know some of the other pilot do
you know, are you familiar with Captain Scott Buttery talk
about it before me great ATR pilot, I mean drives
it rams it in like a tent pole, especially around Napier.
But what about I'm pretty sure I was on a
flight into Fiji in New Zealand flight and the pilot
(40:53):
was Captain David Bowie. Is there a David Bowie looking
for New Zealand? Or was a little more aware again
or I was just asked I might have imagine that
one there was a pilot with a sense of humor.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
Captain Grant walk thank you so much for coming in
great to chat to you, and congratulations on what was
a sterling career. Phenomenal flying all of those flying all
of those planes and flying safely for that period of
time and I mean no incidence.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
It's it's quite remarkable. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Free flights forever for you.
Speaker 6 (41:26):
No, it doesn't work that well. I mean it's a
great News New Zealand, your news on a great egalitarian
and things. So you're the same rules supply, no matter
what role. So no, I don't know. Someone said that
to me. Do you get free flights on? No? No,
don't sorry, I mean you get cheaper flights maybe as
a retired person employeer. I think you've got to do
(41:46):
at least twenty years, which obviously I have, and then
you know the retired thing kicks and but you're pretty
low priority.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
So the points, what are you got?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Well?
Speaker 6 (41:54):
I was when I was commuting out of Wellington, but
now that I don't, he's not getting the point for
flying the air I always jopen you go to the
souping or somewhere in the side. Do you want the
airpoints are? Like, I'm in a free flight, what's option be?
Speaker 5 (42:12):
Well?
Speaker 4 (42:12):
Thanks for coming.
Speaker 6 (42:13):
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
There was. That's fascinating stuff. Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (42:17):
Great, thank you, Keptain Grant Walker.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
Great news Islander and we're back. I love turning to
Captain Grant Walker speaking what.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
A great news. Islander is such a secret little world.
They run there up in the cockpit and what they're
doing and what they tell us and what they're done. Yeah,
and you think of them as superhumans, but they've got
I thought one thing he said that was really interesting
is he you know, he doesn't want to die, so
that I mean, of course the pilot is doing everything
they can to make it all work out.
Speaker 3 (42:50):
And I mean the planes nowadays are so technology is
so good. As you said, there's backups of backups of backups.
Speaker 6 (42:59):
So.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
There's not a lot of I mean, when was the
last time there was a major, major, excellent story.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
In the New Zealand is so good. Their safety record
and you know it's great, But he would have broken
some hearts in this time. We don't old Grant water
uniform absolutely yeah, has those stripes. Yeah yeah man, ye yeah,
I was sort of moistening up myself. Yeah I saw that. Yeah, yeah,
(43:26):
all right, Okay, there you go right right, okay, okay, okay,
all right, then you've seen busy. Let check go okay.
Then hello, I'm Matt Heath. You have been listening to
the Matt and Jerry Daily Bespoke podcast. Right now you
can listen to our Radio Highlights podcast, which you will
absolutely get barred up about. Anyway, sit to download, like, subscribe, right,
(43:50):
review all those great things. It really helps myself and
Jerry and to a lesser extent, Mesh and Ruder. If
you want to discuss anything raised in this pod, check
out the Conclave of Matt and Jerry face Facebook discussion group.
And while I'm plugging stuff, my book A Lifeless Punishing
Thirteen Ways to Love the Life.
Speaker 6 (44:05):
You've Got is out now get.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
It wherever you get your books, or just google the bastard.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
Anyway you seem busy, I'll let you go. Bless blessed, blessed.
Give them a taste of keyw from me,
Hello friends, It's Matt Heath and I've started a substack
email newsletter called a Lifeless Punishing, just like my book.
It's weekly and full of stuff that might have made
my book if I'd thought of it at the time.
You can subscribe to it for free at Matthheath dot
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you really like it, there's a paid subscription model that
(00:22):
will support the thing as well as give you extra staff.
A Lifeless Punishing the substackmail out at Matdheath dot substack
dot com. Anyway you seem busy, I'll let you go. Bless, bless, bless.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
That's get busy.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Decided about our guest today, Keptain Grant Walker speaking a pilot.
He joined the Air Force and his seventeen and he's
just retired from flying seven three seven seven six seven
A three twenty seven four seven seven eight sevens and
seven seven sevens. Yeah, sopped up twenty five thousand flying hours.
About a month ago, I think I shared a story.
I don't know if I shouldn't on the podcast. I
definitely would have on the Highlights podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
But I went to the States and flying home, and
as we were about to come in to land, the
hostess got on the mic and said, ladies and gentlemen,
this is a very special day for in New Zealand
because Captain Grant Walker, who you just heard speaking to
you there, is retiring. This is his last flight, this
is his last landing, and he's been flying with us
(01:42):
for twenty five years or was it twenty.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Five thousand hours? I can't remember, twenty five thousand hours.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Yeah, so it's been flying since he was a teenager. Amazing,
isn't he. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
So in terms of questions, though, can I just can
we just brainstorm a couple off?
Speaker 1 (01:58):
That's all right?
Speaker 5 (01:59):
Sure, I was thinking maybe I'd like to know if
you had fucked up the last one? But have you
gone one more?
Speaker 4 (02:03):
Often?
Speaker 5 (02:04):
Think that's about people who like retire early before a
game in sports matches if they get a duck or
something like that, And well, not that kind of bad.
Speaker 4 (02:11):
But what about just what about go backwards? Matched? What
about have you ever crashed a plane? Have you ever.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Have you ever died crashing a plane? Well, that's not
going to make a lot of sense toiary.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Well, you don't know. With some people that think that
we all died, and I know two people that both
have have suggested me that we all died in twenty
twenty in this and the Wads, And why the world
feels all off kilter at the moment is that we're
all living in a simulation that was fired up. So
the jab went into our arms. We all died and
we became a simulation. Here.
Speaker 4 (02:41):
I feel like I've died. He flew a fuck a
fuck of friendship. I want to ask him about the
fuck of friendships.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
So you see this on the radio show this morning,
and I didn't really you know, want to ask exactly
what a fuck of friendship is?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
But what is fun?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
It's a fuck of friendship. It's like a it was
like the ATR before the ATRS. It was like a
sort of an ATR style.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
And I spell on fucking friendship. If you see k.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
He fly the DoD he fly the bombardiers.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I don't know if he did fly the bombardiers. I
think by the stage he by the stage he got
to the bombardiers they came about. I think he was
probably in A seven eight seven before that. But I mean,
he's flying everything. Yeah, there's nothing, there's nothing that What
does he love? Captain Grant Walker speaking, Well, that's a
good question. You should ask him that first. Were do
you love?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Because I was I was once staying at a vineyard
with the mother of my children and the woman said
that her husband was a pilot and he was out
of the country and she she was making us breakfast.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
Okay, have you ever made breakfast?
Speaker 1 (03:42):
No, I'll be like, do you We'll find out there
he is. Now, that's Captain Gruntwalk.
Speaker 4 (03:48):
Please come on. So should we take a break and
come back?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We're welcome.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
Oh yeah, yeah, we'll take a break and come back,
Captain Grunt. That all right, and we're back.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I want to check your headphones on there. Spent a
bit of time in front of those.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
I s. I see, I see that you checked the
equipment there. That's because because of a pilot and a professional,
you had to look at the headphones and you check
which side was left and right.
Speaker 6 (04:27):
Yeah. Well, I guess we sort of do that sort
of thing a bit funny like em.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
Yeah, this is Captain Grant Walker retired in New Zealand.
Captain and I was just saying earlier Grant that I
was on a flight coming back from.
Speaker 4 (04:44):
San Francisco, and as.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
We as we came into land, you you'd said, you know,
the the weather conditions, et cetera, et cetera, and thank
everybody for me on the flight. And then the and
then the air crew headed the air crew came on
and this is Captain Grant Walker's last flight, twenty five
thousand flying hours. And there was a round of applause
that went down the down the plane. It was a
(05:08):
triple seven, I think it was. Yeah, And I thought, well,
and I had I had been on a flight before
with you, because I remembered your name because there was,
of course the famous voiceover artist Kraft Walker speaking, and
you had great pipes, and I noticed that you had
particularly a particularly smooth, souding voice.
Speaker 6 (05:28):
Okay, well, I appreciate that, Jurrey from an icon of
the broadcasting community.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Is that a big part of it when you you know,
as a pilot your voice over the over the mic,
you've got to you've got to make people feel comfortable
and secure and safe, but also on them.
Speaker 6 (05:44):
Yeah, I guess it is, Matte. It's something we don't
really I mean, there's not a lot of training for
it or anything like that. The company pretty much let
us loose. Some are obviously better than others, Some put
a little bit more importance on another's. I guess it's something. Yeah.
I spent a big part of my career based out
of Wellington. Yeah, so you know, I had some barely
(06:07):
interesting rides in and out of there, so I always
thought it was pretty important to try and inspire comments
in the passengers coming at it out of there, even
when it was going to be pretty wild.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
I think I can't give too much information. I've been
on a plane before, well recently actually, and the pilot
was saying, we've had a software assume, and we've had
a bit of there's some trouble with the paper papers,
and we've also got some sick people on the plane,
and I'm like, just tell me that we're delayed.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
I don't know. I don't.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
I don't because I don't understand the software issue. No,
but I don't want to hear that there has been one. Yeah, yeah,
it's a tricky one. Obviously, we do a lot of
training for you know, non non normal events over our career.
Speaker 6 (06:49):
I mean it's just continual. I always say to people,
being a pilots that never leaving school because you're you're
always been tested and trained. Like in New Zealand, you know,
we're in the simulator every six month months for two
days and it's just continue ongoing training and checking your
whole career really, you know. And one of the things
we taught in the simulator, I mean, it's very realistic.
(07:11):
So if they simulate an emergency, you know, we go
through the whole thing. So we don't just sort of
deal with the emergency. We make pretend pas to the passengers.
The simulator instructor is the chief cabin crew person, they
are traffic control, they're everything. So they expect us to
hear the PA to the passengers, the briefing to the
(07:33):
you know, the chief flight attendant. And one of the
things we really stress, I mean I've been a trainer
for a large part of my career is yet you know,
don't tell lies is obviously the first thing, But don't
tell them too much information because the reality is about
ten or fifteen percent of people on an aeroplane shitting themselves,
let's be honest about flying, and probably think they're going
(07:55):
to die just about every time they get airborne. They
don't realize most of us pilots actually cow something if
it was if it was dangerous, we would.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
I want to cow it.
Speaker 6 (08:04):
Yeah right, and we've all got wife and kids and
we want to go home there. So yeah, so it's like, hey,
you know, we've got a technical problem. The result of
this is we have to divert, we have to return.
We're going to jettison some fuel and get whatever it is.
But yeah, so yeah, it's it's something. Yeah, you don't
(08:26):
want to give them too much information the moment you say,
you know, we've got a problem, it's about here smell
a collective, you know, sort of over coming back.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
But I've noticed there's definitely a trend grant now amongst
pilots to say there's a little bit of weather.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
It's described as a little bit of weather. I mean
everything is weather.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
I mean that at the moment, overcast is weather, sunshine
is weather. But often coming into Wellington or Queenstown is
the other place that the pilots is just a little
bit of weather.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
A few bumps you go too, Yeah, yeah, a few
bumps as we see, right, you know, so that probably means,
you know, the wings aren't going to fall off, but
you might think they're about too.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
It seems to me that there's quite a lot of
bumps often between You're talking about San Francisco, but there's
there's it seems to be a lot of bumps between
Auckland and the United States of America. There's some kind
of weather system there that that I've experienced quite a
lot of turbulentce Yeah.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
Well, you know, without getting into too much technical stuff,
we're going between sort of here and North America. We
fly through an area called the intratropical convergent zone to
all the metterolog just to be getting excited from talking
about that. Yeah, it's an area. It's sort of bad weather,
and it moves up and down in the seasons whatever
like that. A lot of the time we're going over
the worst of it. But yeah, I mean I always
(09:44):
sort of, you know, smiled to myself, and I'm sitting
down the back of an aeroplane and here the captain
come on aside, we're expecting a smooth flight, and I
sort of go here, right. You know, I can probably
count on one hand the amount of times I've flown
somewhere it's been perfectly smooth.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
The ways so that's.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Right, pretty rare of these tingyah and oftentimes as well
with that particular flight. You're right, man, is bumpy going
over the equator sort of zone. But it's in the
middle of the night, and I've noticed there's a different
threshold for the for the This is really really bumpy
put on your seatbelts at night time than what there
is during landing or a takeoff situation.
Speaker 6 (10:21):
Yeah, I guess it's totally different type of turbulence you're experiencing,
you know, because there's lots of types of turbulence out there,
somethings generated by thunderstorm activity, frontal activity, a lot of it.
You know, heard about cat clear air turbulence. Closer to
the ground, it's more mechanical sort of stuff really like
Wellington Classic because of the sort of the shape of
(10:44):
the terrain around there and that little sort of valtex
it's formed. You know, it's quite interesting when you're coming
to land at Wellington, we have a continual display of
the wind direction of speed and you can be coming
across the Cook Strait, not that I fly there anymore,
but you know, and you'll see you know, sort of
a gentle westerly then as you as you come around
and sort of line up towards the runway in Wellington,
(11:05):
you'll just watch the vector swing round to you know,
like more sort of northwest, and the speed will just
up and double triple, you know, just just from the
fact of that all that air has been squeezed through
that narrow gap. So yeah, it's quite interesting to watch
it unfold in their eyes.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Is sometimes I was talking about this before and you
when we were talking about you coming on board, and
sometimes you think the pilots had a rough landing and
say Wellington or Napier, but then it turns out that
actually they hit the ground hard to as part of
the landing because of the wind. Is that is that true?
Speaker 6 (11:39):
Not? Really, They're the important thing, really, I mean we're
always trying to do a good landing. Yeah eaarly honest,
whichever eraplane we're in. And it's always frustrating as a pilot.
You know, you can do a thirteen hour flight and
you're dealing with all sorts of issues on the way
that we wouldn't involve obviously the passengers or people with
but you know, all sorts of little sort of things
always happen along the way and then everyone bases the
(11:59):
whole flight on that on that last seconds. I mean,
when I did my last flight, I got back and
we went down to want for a few days to
sort of relax and celebrate the end of my career.
And and then a friend of mine alerted to the
comment that that during me had made on the show
(12:20):
you know about about my pa and whatever, and which
was very nice, and I thought, oh, okay, And and
you know, but I said to Joe, my partner, I said,
because she was on board my last flight, my son
and his partner that, you know, I said a little
bit disappointed he didn't comment on my landing because all
my colleagues at work said, oh, you know, what are
you going to do if you bury it on your
last landing? I thought, yeah, yeah, I was, I must
(12:45):
have been. I was trying pretty hard, you know, and
I thought, you know, I mean, what are you going
to do? You know? It's not like I can sort
of bring up the news and say, look, I want
to come in tomorrow, and haven't I just again?
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (12:59):
And then another guy's just do an auto land because
the auto land and the aeroplane does the beautiful job,
and just do that. And then then claim it as your.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
Own planes can land them by themselves.
Speaker 6 (13:08):
Now oh yeah, well that's that's what happens in fog, right,
So we when we land in fog, I mean we
we set it up for an auto land. So yeah,
it's got an involved procedure. But yeah, so and obviously
every airport we go to they don't have the capability
of auto land. So you need three sort of key
factors to for the aircraft land itself automatically. So so
(13:33):
the aeroplane has to be equipped, which most jet aircraft are.
Pilots have to be trained most of all trained for that.
But the third and really important, but it is the
equipment at the airport has to be sort of up
to a certain level, and they have extra things for
auto land for checking. They normally have ground based radar
(13:53):
because you know, once you land, that's that's one part
of it is you've got to find your way to
the gates and whatevern. Though also because no one can
see any things, make sure a plane don't run into
each other around which is always very embarrassing, I.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
Think quite terrifying doing an auto land to just be
sitting there watching it happen as a.
Speaker 6 (14:08):
Yeah, yeah, the first time is you do it free
or is a bit scary? Obviously, It's another thing we
practice in the simulator and in fact every time. So
auto lands are captains only, and so every simulator that
I've done, you know, over my career since since I
became a captain in two thousand, you know, every six months,
(14:31):
part part of the training the simulator, we do what
we call loavers procedure training, So part of the simulator package,
over the two days we'll be practicing an auto land,
and of course with that we always have the something
will go wrong, so you're coming in all coupled up,
and then you know, at some point you'll get some
defect pop up, which nor means you have to go
round and then sort it out and then come around
(14:52):
and land again. So yeah, we practice that all the time.
So you know, if I was still working and had
to do an auto land and here tomorrow because the fog,
I mean, I've done it so many times. I mean,
you know, you're very focused, and you know we're not
just sort of sitting back there with our feet up things.
I was just job. We're both we've got things, got
a monitor and there's some things popping up on the screen.
(15:14):
We're watching the whole time, and obviously hands and feet
on in case something happens.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
It does a beautiful I've got auto parallel park in
my car, so I sort of know what you mean.
So you sit there, you watch it, but you've got
to be very careful that you're going to run to
the cabin exactly.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
What's the freakiest moment that you've ever had in the air,
what's the time when your hearts started racing?
Speaker 6 (15:37):
Well, I know it's something but weird, but it was
actually my first ever flight when I started my training
in the Air Force, so I you know, as a
young seventeen, but I was younger than that. I got
this desire to sort of become a pilot, and one
of the pasts you could take was to join the
Air Force, and managed to get through their selection process.
(16:00):
But the reality was that when I fronted up there
hadn't really been up in an aeroplane very much at all.
I'd probably been on a commercial flight two or three times.
I'd been up in a light aeroplane two or three times,
so you know, certainly certainly pretty new to the whole thing.
And anyway, we the first flight after a whole training
on the ground for six months was a familiarization. So
(16:23):
that was when the Air Force had a base at
Wegram done in christ Church, so that's why I initially
did to fly. So the first flight was this familiarization.
You went out and the little air trainer with your
instructor and just getting used to wearing all the gear
being in the Air Force. You had your flame resistant overalls,
your you know, your life jacket, your helmet, you're wearing
(16:45):
a parachute. Part of what you sat on was your
life saving your dingy pack whatever I mean, you know,
you trust up like a turkey and all this weird
gear and you're wearing gloves. So I'm sitting there nervous
as anything, and you know we're flying on there instructures. Oh,
that's that's the university down there, walking all right. I've
got my little map, my China graph pen I'm putting
(17:06):
on and that's Lincoln Universe. I'll put a ring around
there and making it look as if I'm really you know,
and I'm sort of just about wetting myself going because
we've done all this like parachute training. I'm thinking, oh
my god, it's the bloody wings sell off, I might
have to jump out of you. And anyway, I'm still
all nervous and trying to listen to everything and whatever.
And then next thing, I drop my damn pencil, my
China graph pencry goes, oh what, what's what's the problem?
(17:29):
They're walking? I say, oh, sorry, sir, I've dropped my
pencil down there. And of course you trust up like
a turkey, and this can become a threat, right So this,
this pencil lying around the floor could get jammed in
the controls. So he goes, oh, okay. Then he says
to me, is your heart is nice and tight? And
I'm thinking, funny thing just as yeah, sure, And then
he rolls you're playing completely invertent, gives the stick a
(17:51):
bit of a wiggle, you know, the pencil drops into
the perspects, you know, a canopy. Both he reaches up,
grabs it, you know, rolls and you know up the
right way and hands the back to the mount. I'm
absolutely working myself with fear and thinking for us, you know,
this flying game certainly not to me. I'm just gonna
have to you know, once I get back in and
(18:12):
change your underwear and everything just go in and say, look,
I don't think I'm cut out your pilot. So that
that was probably the scariest moment. That's a that's a
great move from the instructor.
Speaker 3 (18:20):
I'm just looking at at the planes that you've flown here.
The fuck of friendship?
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Oh yeah, I think I don't know why that that
was a measurement.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Right of friendship which I've been on. Actually that the
old mount Cock actually in his zeeland, used.
Speaker 6 (18:37):
To fly, didn't they, Yeah, something similar Hawkidy seven for eight.
So the the Fokker Friendship was a high wing airplane
and the Hawk Sidy seven four eight that Mountain Cook
was low winged. Yeah, but similar similar.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
Right name the friendship was the Foger Friendship kind of
like the a tr of its time.
Speaker 6 (18:57):
Yeah, it was, yeah, that that was. That's what I
started on a long, long time ago. I mean it was.
It was a great introduction to airline flying and we
loved it.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Loud, Yeah it was. Yeah, it was the bloody turbine.
Speaker 6 (19:09):
Well on the flight deck. I mean, you know, we've
had sort of didn't have noise canceling headsets in those days.
But yeah, if you ever took your headset off, yeah
it was one half deaf now I think so.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
Yeah, and the Foker Friendship then in the seven three sevens.
Speaker 6 (19:24):
Yeah, the original two hundred, the old.
Speaker 3 (19:27):
Everyone who flies those said that they are a great
aeroplane to ply very they handled particularly well.
Speaker 6 (19:33):
Yeah they Yeah, the old two hundred Friendship was it was.
It was like a sports car to fly. It was.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
It was just beautiful.
Speaker 6 (19:39):
I mean it wasn't particularly fast in the cruise, but
it did everything else really well. It was lovely.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
The seven six seven a bit of a peg. Not
a great.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Plane, it was. It was our first glass cockpit airplane.
We thought it was a rocket ship when we got it.
I mean, you know, like it was like we've gone
I mean, I'd gone from the old Friendship. It was
like wartime post wartime technology. The seven three seven we
thought was pretty smart. Then here we had this aeroplane
with sort of screens and a flight management compute, and
(20:08):
we just sort of, oh, my god, this is just amazing.
And and I had nine years on the seven six
and it was. It was a bit of a pig
of a thing to land, I must abmit, because the
undercarriage of hung the wrong way, so it was always
a bit of a blow to your ego when you
had you coming in there and everything gone beautifully well
and you check back then, But no, it was. It
was actually a great aeroplane, very flexible. I mean it yeah,
(20:31):
it could do just about everything.
Speaker 4 (20:33):
It was.
Speaker 6 (20:33):
It was great. Oh yeah, not my favorite aeroplane, but it.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Was, it was.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
It was. Yeah.
Speaker 6 (20:36):
I enjoyed the seven six.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
And you've also thrown the flown the A three twenty,
So it's your where do you sit on earbus versus bowing.
Speaker 6 (20:49):
Hey, they're both good, good aeroplanes. They're quite different philosophies,
and some people struggle moving from one to the other
because it's it's sort of you know, you're flying an aeroplane,
but it's quite different philosophies. Really, Airbus very very clever,
very smart. The A three fifty looks an amazing aeroplane.
I mean I did a number of years on the
(21:09):
seven eight, which is obviously Boeing's sort of latest machinery,
and it's a smart airplane. I believe the A three
fifty is sort of light years ahead. But yeah, I
mean it's a bit like cars. You know, whatever you have,
you you sort of say one that's that's great. But yeah,
I'm I'm I was happy to fly both. It was
nice to fly, you know, the airbus.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I would have thought that though, of all the planes
that you'd fly, seven four seven would I mean, they
are a great machine.
Speaker 6 (21:38):
Everyone that flew the seven four loved it. It just
did everything so well. I mean it was a pretty
aeroplane too, but it just you know, the cabin crew
loved working on it. It was and it was beautifully
set up for long haul flying, you know, like from
our point of view, selfish point of view as pilots
like rest and whatever. We had two bunks straight and
behind the flight deck and then we went through the
(22:00):
other door into an area with two business class seats
and our own toilet, you know, and it was great,
it was. It was beautifully set up, whereas on the
Triple seven the seven eight you're fighting for the loo
with a la passengers and what which is it? Yeah,
you know, and then of course I always find it amazing,
you know, you're in an aeroplane with you know, three
(22:21):
hundred and fifty other people, and people sort of they
don't seem to be aware that, you know, that this
is not their home and they have to maybe share
the bathroom other people, and you know you've come out
through you know, you've sort of sitting there, I need
to go to the loom. With all the security protocols
since nine to eleven, you know, it's not just a matter.
In the old days, we just sort of said to
the other I'm just going back to Lee. Yeah, sure,
(22:42):
you know, went back. Now you know we're sitting behind
a bomb proof, bulletproof door. So the protocol we have
to ring you know, the front galley, get a flight
attend and say, oh, look, you know I need to
go to the loop whatever, and they go again grant.
But then you know, and then then they they had
to you know, they come up. We watch them on
the camera to make sure you know that there's no
(23:02):
one going to burst them behind them, and we unlocked
their triple locked door and they come in and sit
there and then you go out, and then of course,
normally as you step out through the door, someone's normally
just going into the loop, and then it's one of
those people that's decided to go in there before they
jump in their business class bunk and strip off to
the waist and wash themselves down and get their PJS
(23:23):
on and strip off their makeup and you're sitting there like,
oh god.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
Sometimes it's two of them going there at once.
Speaker 6 (23:30):
Yeah, the call with the call button going all the time.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
So seven four would be you would be your favorite.
And also they just they just handle the bumps so nice.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (23:42):
Yeah, I mean it's so big and so heavy. I
mean in turbulance whatever, they just sort of plowed through.
The beautiful aeroplane to land was you had to work
hard to a crash a seven four on the ground,
and because you had eighteen wheels to sort of absorb
all the impact. So it was a lovely airplane.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
Yeah, you never flew an eighth eighty.
Speaker 6 (24:00):
No, and you said, I've never operated the A three
eighty the I mean we had the seven four, and
about the time the three eighty, I think most airlines
were coming to conclusion that four engine just didn't really
stack up economically as fuel prices were climbing through the roof.
So I don't I don't think any airlines ever made
a dollar out of there. I mean I've never actually
been on one, which sounds a bit sad, but they
(24:21):
are bag yeah, well they are, but everyone says they're
lovely to fly. I'm very quiet, and I'm sure they are,
but yeah, I've never actually been on one, so I
have to put that on my sort of retirement list
of things to do.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
Yeah, so what happens when you're retired and you've flyn
for twenty five thousand hours and then you you know,
I guess I'm what I want to ask, is is
flying a completely different experience for you?
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Like, is the zero join it?
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Because the whole time you're thinking, you're going through checklists
of things yourself when you're flying as a passenger.
Speaker 6 (24:53):
Yeah, it well, it was not quite like that. I mean,
you know, twelve or fourteen hours side, you'd be a
mental and physical records like that. It's sort of described
as you know, it's sort of ninety percent boredom and
ten percent terror. Obviously, long haul fly you've got the
real busy bits at the beginning and the busy bits
at the end, and then sort of long periods of
(25:14):
not a lot happening in the middle. But saying that
there's always something to do. We're not sitting there sort
of playing I Spy for ten hours in the middle
of flight. I mean, there's always something to do with
you know, checking whether it's on route holt and it's
monitoring systems moving fuel around. Invariably there's there's you know,
issues with passengers down the back, or there's always something
(25:36):
going on, you know. And then then of course on
long haul flights, there's normally three of us on the
longer haul flights four of us, so you know you're
changing over and going to rest in this hand over briefing,
so there's always sort of something going on. But yeah, look,
it's been a month since I retired. I think what
I'm missing most at the stage is the people that
(25:58):
you know, I've met and flying with and work with
over the years. But bouncing across the Pacific in the
middle of the night, I can't say I'm really missing that.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
How many But you talk about the people, how many
people are in a flight crew that can you know,
actually fly the plane on an international show.
Speaker 6 (26:16):
Okay, well, I mean I can only talk free in
New Zealand obviously, But on a trip with like a
normal long haul trip like going up to San Fran
or Rally, it depends a bit on how many Knights
are staying up there, Like to go to San fran
If we were staying there for one night, so it's
sort of minimum rest. They would have four pilots that
of normally be a captain, a first officer, and two
(26:38):
second officers. And if it was a couple of nights,
they'd probably just be three of us. First officer, captain,
first officer, and second officer. So everyone's trained. I mean,
they're all trained pilots. Not all airlines have second officers,
so they like sort of cheap labor. They've all qualified pilots.
(26:59):
Most of them have come from the link, you know, airlines,
so they experienced people. But the second officers, the rules
for us are they can only sit in an operating
seat above twenty thousand feet. They can't be in the
seat for the takeoff and landing. But saying that, they
trained in the simulator, so they go in the sim
(27:19):
more frequently than the rest of us. I think they
go in every three months and they'll do what they
call handling sims. Well, they'll get to land the simulator
and take off and do all that sort of thing.
So the idea being of something happens to me, you know,
being elderly and on my last legs, you know, pop
my clogs whatever like that, you know, they sort of
wheel me out and they throw the second officer in
(27:39):
the seat, and you know they are quite capable of landing.
There may not be pretty, but that they perfectly acceptable jobs.
Speaker 1 (27:46):
But it's not a situation where you'd use a landing
for training at all. So you not the second officers, No, no, no.
But so you said, there's a captain and then there's
a first officer. Yeah, so sometimes you let the first
officer land the plane.
Speaker 6 (27:58):
Oh no, most of it. I mean, like on a
like a standard sort of duty on the Triple seven
going up to like fan fram we bought during me
back from I mean for a duty like that. When
we fronted up at flight planning in Auckland, I'd normally
say to the first officer do you want to fly
up this triple or fly home? And give them a choice. So, yeah,
(28:19):
it's not like, you know, the captain does it all.
And you know, one day when when the first officer
is ready to you know, get us come onto wel congratulation.
Now you know there's your chance to show us, you know,
whether you whether you've paid any attention over the last
fifteen years. I mean, yeah, we swap it around. I
mean you know, the role of captain's really just to
you know, yes, it's like a management role really, so
(28:41):
I mean, yeah, off and on. I mean I know
when I first went to the Triple seven, I mean
I was flying with first officers who had been on
that particular airplane, but you know, seven or eight years,
so they were vastly experienced. You you know, so going
somewhere like, hey mate, you know, I haven't been in
here for a few years whatever, like, you know, tell me,
you give me a few time. I mean, you know,
you rely on them, and then they fly the airplane
(29:01):
very well, often better than we do.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Do you have a death on the flight.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Over the specific you're flying over it's got halfway to
New Zealand and someone pops.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
Their clogs, Yeah, it's I mean, we were prepared for it.
We do carry kits on board to deal with that.
I mean, it does happen. Most of the in flight
incidents that.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
We have these days.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
I think about eighty to ninety percent are in flight
medical emergency. When the airplanes are ulter reliable, the chances
are going something wrong. I mean, we will have little
niggly things happen, but there's so much redundancy built into aeroplanes.
You know, I've got triple hydraulic systems, you know, a
whole lot of electrical system backup systems, So even if
you know some system goes down, it's not really a
(29:47):
major problem. But most of the issues we have these
days are medical issues. But no, I don't know, I
don't really I don't think I've ever ever I mean
I've had, you know, obviously, you know, people that are
get unwell, and I've had a couple of medical diversions.
Speaker 4 (30:06):
But anyone had the roof or anything like that, Like.
Speaker 6 (30:10):
No, Well, I mean I always you know, you hear
these incidents where where people get really badly injured in turbulence,
and as a pilot, I mean, the only time I
would ever undo my seat belt is to get up
and go to rest or go to the loo. I mean,
I still can't believe that there's people that when the
seat belts I and go off, you know, actually undo
their seat belts. I mean, hey, you know, if I'm
(30:31):
if I'm a passion down the back, you know, I'm
I suppose being a piled on sort of safety conscious.
I mean, I never take my shoes off until I
know up through about ten thousand ft because you know,
i'd sort of know that they have something bad happened
and I had to sort of, you know, leave the
aeroplane and hurrying being in bear feet and your socks.
(30:52):
Not that I'll be sitting in bear feet, but you
know that that wouldn't be it, you know, I mean,
that's not going to be a good lock. So I'll
leave my shoes on whatever. But yeah, I guess I'm
a bit weird like that. Yeah, No, it's yeah, it's yes,
it's strange thing really, yeah, is a medical thing.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Who makes a decision because we we just had a
story in the show today and the about a plane
that was turned around because it was a drunk person
misbehaving and there it was, I think it was a
Jetstar flight out of Australia. I'm sure they will go
who makes that decision? Because you've got of course, they've
got the flight crew, you've got Stewart's and they're at
(31:33):
the cold face of it. And then they come through
and say you've got to call.
Speaker 6 (31:36):
Them flight attendants now mate to get told of Well, well,
obviously a security thing. I mean we we you know,
with SAT phones we can talk to head office from
anywhere in the world. So the protocols for us, and
I said, I command you talk for you a new
thing like medical. So if you have a medical on board,
(31:57):
all our capin crew are obviously first aid trains, so
that that's good. And a lot of them been around,
a lot of them are ex nurses and whatever, so
fair amount of experience there. And then of course the
next thing, if they think it's serious, you'll hear them
paging for a doctor, because you know, on a on
an aeroplane like the Triple seven with three hundred plus passengers,
the likelihood of a doctor or a paramedical or something
(32:19):
is pretty high. Whether they're prepared to put the hand
up or not can be the CAVIN crew are told.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
To someone they told friend they're a doctor, when they're not.
Speaker 6 (32:28):
Yeah yeah right, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, I'm a doctor
of philosophy. So anyway, so we'll try and then but
part of the protocol is we're not supposed to divert.
So there's a we have an organization that we contract
to where if we have a medical so we will
neven normally get a call up the front of the
(32:50):
light attends. Look, we've got someone who's collapsed down the
back head whatever. So then they have a form that
they fill in with the passengers, you know, their seat number,
their age, and the initial details. We'll get on the
SAT phone and call up this this outside provider and
just say, hey, look, this is you know, New Zealand
eight whatever. We're takingly along here and we've got this issue.
(33:10):
So we give them that initial information and then the
call taker then you know, sort of does a quick
appraisal and then they will they basically have doctors on calls.
It might be well, our last provider was based in
the US, the new, newer one is based in Australia.
So then you know, a couple of minutes later you'll
have you know, doctor Mattle pop up. There can impair
(33:32):
the game, you know what you got there, and so
you will sort of go yeah, and and with all
this information, they know the aircraft type, they know about
all the medical equipment. Were like, we've got we've got
a pretty good setup of stuff on board and dep
fibrillators and stuff like that, and a whole lot of
you know, medications and things. So they might go yep, okay,
(33:55):
well we're sort of thinking that this could be the case,
and maybe the doctor on board is given there obviously
you know, diagnosis, and then they might say, okay, we
recommend that you give them this, that and the other
and then and then then a lot often so what's
your nearest diversion airfield? So you might say we're going
past Guam or something like heading up the east or something,
(34:18):
or well like heading up to the US maybe you know,
Tahiti or Hawaii or something, and then they might say, okay, well,
our assessment is you need to divert there, so we
don't just go a look, you know, they've keeled over
and not looking well, you know, woulden might a couple
of nights and go there, because company don't really like
that very much. So yeah, we our protocol is that
(34:39):
that that we basically get there, say so before we divert,
because it becomes a major issue. I mean, you know,
not only I mean you're diverting in there, which is
a big deal. One of the side effects that you
can't just sort of kick them out and keep going.
We have duty time limitations, so it could be we've
(35:00):
diverted in there by the time the paramedics have got
them off. It's like, well, now we're running out of
duty time to get to la or San Franz, so
we're now stuck here. So you've got three hundred and
fifty people that thought they were going to San fran
and suddenly they're in Honolulu. And yeah, it's so it's
a big it's a big deal.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Because because recently, there was that last year or not
that recently, but there was those flights out to New
York and if I remember rightly, they got very close.
There were a few hours out from New York and
then there was a problem with the gate and everyone's going, well,
why don't you just land in Chicago, But it doesn't
work like that. They had to turn around and come
all the way back.
Speaker 6 (35:35):
Yeah. Well yeah, I mean every case is that I
did the second of a flight out of New York
when I was just before I left the seven eight.
I mean, it's a long way. Yeah, there's issues like
that that have to be managed, and of course, you know,
I mean, as the captain, obviously you have an input,
but but something like that, I mean, you know, I
(35:56):
see there was one the other day, I think they
were going to Singapore or something, and had so Mihoe
around about Sydney and then came back and of course
all the keyboard warriors, who what are they going to
get a pict from Sydney, you know? And but but
what would happen in that case? You know what once
you've maybe dealt with the initial sort of issue, you know,
you be on the SAT phone like engineering and so
(36:17):
what we've got this whatever, and they'd be looking at well, okay,
you know, is this easily fixed by you lobbing into Sydney,
say or whatever. And they might contact our provider there
and say, hey, this we think this you have you
got the parts? Well, no we haven't, or yes we
have or whatever, and and for managing passengers and crew
and whatever. So it's it's not just a simple matter.
(36:38):
And so I'll go on land somewhere and call call
up you know, Joe's garrange and comes up there with
you know, lit of screwdriver and fixes it. So it
becomes a major logistical exercise for the company to manage.
Speaker 3 (36:50):
Yeah, just a couple of couple of quick things before
we before we wrap up. Firstly, the hardest airport to
land in New Zealand.
Speaker 6 (37:01):
Well, obviously I was based in Wellington. I got pretty
good at I suppose I was there for years. Well
Wellington is you know, has a lot of wind there obviously,
and it's quite challenging. Queenstown. It can be very challenging
because it's in the mountain. One of the places I'm
you know, always was on edge was Dunedin because Dunedan
can suck you in because your beautiful sunny day with
(37:23):
five knots of wind on the ground, but there's a
howling westerly going over the top and the aeroplane just
you know, like really good. But yeah, yeah, so right, yeah, yeah,
and it's yeah, we've had some pretty wild rides in there.
So yeah, it's hard to say, but yeah, I guess
Wellington would be right up. Didn't really I didn't api
(37:43):
on the friendship a million years ago, Yeah, nope, didn't
really to remember it being an old friendship going up
on the leeward side of the sort of terror rus
and Rhins used to get some pretty wild bouncing away
up there.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Part of it I mentioned in New Zealand, we've got
some we've got a lot of wind, yeah, New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
So when these sort of a place in.
Speaker 6 (38:01):
Mountains effect, it does, it does.
Speaker 3 (38:04):
Yeah, but we don't have to deal with some of
the things that I always imagine they've deal with. Say
you're flying out of Canada where you've got snow, and
that's a whole nother word.
Speaker 6 (38:12):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's something that we obviously, we we
have provisioned for and you know, we deal with it
a bit in various places. I mean, obviously were going
to Vancouver. But yeah, like dealing with snow and ice, Yeah,
it's not it's not an area that we do a
lot of and our procedures are quite cumbersome there. I know,
with training guys into Vancouver and they say, oh, you know,
(38:33):
because like this protocols, when do you think it should
be de icing? And I look, hey, you know, I'm
I'm a pretty simple sort of person, so I like
to keep things simple. My attitude is, look at what
the local operators are doing. If the local operators are
de icing, then yeah, they're the experts. They do this
on a daily basis, so that if the de icing
and whatever, then that's probably a good idea.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
To do it.
Speaker 3 (38:52):
I've been de iced out of Vancouver before and it's
quite a process. It's quite quite cool.
Speaker 6 (38:56):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, hey, church it's it's not uncommon obviously,
frost and stuff like that to cause I was.
Speaker 1 (39:04):
Flying out of Tamaru once and the pilot got a
kettle out and was pouring that on thelens.
Speaker 6 (39:11):
It's on the wing, I feel about.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
That was water on there to the ice, and there
was a there was a there wasn't even a what's
the one smaller than a bombardier that we fly Q three?
Well three under the bomb bomb like smaller than that, Well,
we used to we used to do three four. Yeah,
I remember doing a chart.
Speaker 6 (39:32):
We did a lot of charters of the Japanese a
few years ago, and I did a flight into Sapporo
where I mean it's snow and ice for about three
months of the year, and yeah, like that was amazing.
We land in this huge snow drifts, you know, piled
up on both sides of the runway, and yeah, there
was spectacular. And then it was my leg I think
I was first off in those days, and it was
(39:52):
my league flying in there, and it was like getting
it when it was snowing, we think, okay, right, you know,
and then like it said, breaking actually on the runway
was good. It's a breaking action on taxiways nil. I thought,
what the hell? And as I as I came into
the terminal I was thinking about, you know, about half
a kilometer prower. I had this vision of like flying high,
putting my ft on the brakes and go into the
(40:15):
terminal building. But of course it stopped because the whole
aproniary was a wash and de icing for it, and
they had make a huge car wash thing. When the
d iced aeroplane, this huge gantry just went out. The
whole aeroplane did the whole seven six and about two
minutes flat. I mean it was amazing.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
But do you know some of the other pilot do
you know, are you familiar with Captain Scott Buttery talk
about it before me great ATR pilot, I mean drives
it rams it in like a tent pole, especially around Napier.
But what about I'm pretty sure I was on a
flight into Fiji in New Zealand flight and the pilot
(40:53):
was Captain David Bowie. Is there a David Bowie looking
for New Zealand? Or was a little more aware again
or I was just asked I might have imagine that
one there was a pilot with a sense of humor.
Speaker 3 (41:06):
Captain Grant walk thank you so much for coming in
great to chat to you, and congratulations on what was
a sterling career. Phenomenal flying all of those flying all
of those planes and flying safely for that period of
time and I mean no incidence.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
It's it's quite remarkable. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
Free flights forever for you.
Speaker 6 (41:26):
No, it doesn't work that well. I mean it's a
great News New Zealand, your news on a great egalitarian
and things. So you're the same rules supply, no matter
what role. So no, I don't know. Someone said that
to me. Do you get free flights on? No? No,
don't sorry, I mean you get cheaper flights maybe as
a retired person employeer. I think you've got to do
(41:46):
at least twenty years, which obviously I have, and then
you know the retired thing kicks and but you're pretty
low priority.
Speaker 4 (41:51):
So the points, what are you got?
Speaker 1 (41:54):
Well?
Speaker 6 (41:54):
I was when I was commuting out of Wellington, but
now that I don't, he's not getting the point for
flying the air I always jopen you go to the
souping or somewhere in the side. Do you want the
airpoints are? Like, I'm in a free flight, what's option be?
Speaker 5 (42:12):
Well?
Speaker 4 (42:12):
Thanks for coming.
Speaker 6 (42:13):
It's been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
There was. That's fascinating stuff. Thank you so much.
Speaker 6 (42:17):
Great, thank you, Keptain Grant Walker.
Speaker 4 (42:19):
Great news Islander and we're back. I love turning to
Captain Grant Walker speaking what.
Speaker 1 (42:32):
A great news. Islander is such a secret little world.
They run there up in the cockpit and what they're
doing and what they tell us and what they're done. Yeah,
and you think of them as superhumans, but they've got
I thought one thing he said that was really interesting
is he you know, he doesn't want to die, so
that I mean, of course the pilot is doing everything
they can to make it all work out.
Speaker 3 (42:50):
And I mean the planes nowadays are so technology is
so good. As you said, there's backups of backups of backups.
Speaker 6 (42:59):
So.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
There's not a lot of I mean, when was the
last time there was a major, major, excellent story.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
In the New Zealand is so good. Their safety record
and you know it's great, But he would have broken
some hearts in this time. We don't old Grant water
uniform absolutely yeah, has those stripes. Yeah yeah man, ye yeah,
I was sort of moistening up myself. Yeah I saw that. Yeah, yeah,
(43:26):
all right, Okay, there you go right right, okay, okay, okay,
all right, then you've seen busy. Let check go okay.
Then hello, I'm Matt Heath. You have been listening to
the Matt and Jerry Daily Bespoke podcast. Right now you
can listen to our Radio Highlights podcast, which you will
absolutely get barred up about. Anyway, sit to download, like, subscribe, right,
(43:50):
review all those great things. It really helps myself and
Jerry and to a lesser extent, Mesh and Ruder. If
you want to discuss anything raised in this pod, check
out the Conclave of Matt and Jerry face Facebook discussion group.
And while I'm plugging stuff, my book A Lifeless Punishing
Thirteen Ways to Love the Life.
Speaker 6 (44:05):
You've Got is out now get.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
It wherever you get your books, or just google the bastard.
Speaker 1 (44:10):
Anyway you seem busy, I'll let you go. Bless blessed, blessed.
Give them a taste of keyw from me,
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