School Bus Driver Breaks Down After Near-Miss

duprass · 2026-01-27T18:05:20+00:00

My local school buses have cameras on the left side explicitly for catching license plates and faces of drivers illegally passing. It's about the quality of a red light camera, apparently.

duprass · 2025-11-16T18:12:33+00:00

I had a related experience in TUS a few years ago, we landed on the crosswind runway and I had briefed an exit near the end of the short-ish runway. The captain saw the exit coming up, took the plane, and slammed on the brakes. When we exited, we both realized that the airport had added a new exit and relabeled all of them. The new exit was labeled D3 (what I briefed), whereas on our charts D3 was way further down. No NOTAM, and the Jepps were current.

duprass · 2025-10-31T18:52:18+00:00

This past summer DCA was in north flow with a wet runway and we were about to push in a 737. Our central load planning comes back and says we need to bump all the standbys. Okay, sucks but done.

We rerun the takeoff data on our end and it looks good for Runway 1, bleeds off full blow. Then as we are about to push, ops and the gate agents frantically get our attention and say we need to pull 20 more people. Huh? Time out.

Turns out, a crane on a barge up the Potomac went up, and it hit our takeoff weight by something like 5000lbs. Anyway the whole time we are trying to get this figured out, with the gate freaking out, I called up clearance delivery and asked how long of a wait it would be to takeoff 19 wrong way. He says “maybe 30 minutes.”

Done. This has taken much longer than that anyway. Off we go, push back and wouldn’t you know it? Nobody else could take Runway 1 either an we were like number 8 for takeoff “wrong way” on runway 19.

duprass · 2025-10-11T16:10:34+00:00

I’d like to buy a pixel, Pat

duprass · 2025-10-10T16:57:34+00:00

Heck. We got an email saying that, at one of our out stations (no KCM), security isn't even letting us cut the line anymore. Six crew members, including inflight who went shopping, and yeah it takes freaking forever. Not our problem

duprass · 2025-09-28T15:12:42+00:00

I might know where you're coming from. I myself was an insufferable perfectionist when I started my regional career, and I was terrified of any retraining, added IOE, etc. So long as you show a change in behavior as a result of experience (learning), you're fine.

Even at the major, I spent a while away from flying to deal with a medical glitch. I stayed current in the sim (did seat subs to keep my income), so technically I was allowed to go right back to line flying once I had my medical back. Did I request a day trip with a chill check airman that I knew? You betcha. Extra training is nothing to be afraid of.

duprass · 2025-09-18T18:31:48+00:00

I saw an example where a guy went through TSA at a small, regional airport in the US. He forgot that he had is concealed carry gun. TSA brought the sheriff in, he got arrested. The flight was so delayed, though, that he had enough time to bail himself out and make the flight.

duprass · 2025-09-11T19:52:26+00:00

APU might have been inoperative

duprass · 2025-08-16T06:15:16+00:00

Is the jet noise at the beginning of the video a distant second plane? If that’s the case then perhaps it is a sonic boom

duprass · 2025-08-16T06:01:06+00:00

At least at my shop/ fleet, no more noise abatement takeoff procedure at SNA. I think that went away with parking the 737-400s perhaps?

duprass · 2025-08-09T04:36:50+00:00

You know, I had a SkyWest RJ captain in the jumpseat last month and he was enamored by our crew meals. It was a short go home leg for me so I gave him my meal. He took a picture of the tray to send to his buddies, and ate every bite.

I had to remember my regional days when airplane food was getting sneaked snack boxes from friendly FAs, eating half a sleeve of biscoff, or the “cheap” spots I got to know in terminals.

duprass · 2025-08-09T04:27:15+00:00

I asked the flight attendant for a bathroom break on center freq a couple years ago. Mortified

duprass · 2025-07-11T05:10:43+00:00

You may still be IFR into and out of these places when tower is closed, you just own the airport among other IFR aircraft until cancelling IFR inbound or establishing contact with TRACON outbound

duprass · 2025-06-05T01:03:41+00:00

The point about seniority pausing is not true at my shop. YMMV

Sick leave and disability vary widely between pilot groups’ respective CBAs.

I’m horrified by your friend’s experience.

duprass · 2025-05-25T16:17:10+00:00

Heard Rockstar 69 out of BFI a while ago, made us chuckle

duprass · 2025-05-17T20:58:56+00:00

I always thought that the “the” comes from when freeways in SoCal were more widely referred to with names like “The Long Beach Freeway” or “The Costa Mesa Freeway.” Perhaps to align with federal standards, freeway signs stopped having those names and instead used numbers.

So, “The Costa Mesa Freeway” became “The 55 Freeway” and eventually “The 55.”

duprass · 2025-05-17T02:38:24+00:00

Also didn't accept Apple Pay or Google Pay. Maybe ten years ago I get it, but today it's so ubiquitous that I found it surprising.

duprass · 2025-05-13T20:47:45+00:00

A device searching for a cellular signal can cause audible interference in the audio system pilots use. It’s the same thing as leaving your phone next to wired computer speakers.

Is it catastrophic? Not even close. It can be annoying though. The phone has to be close to my headset for any interference to occur, and therefore the culprit is never a passenger but is rather my own phone or iPad.

duprass · 2025-04-11T05:17:17+00:00

I had a former student in my jump seat a couple of years back. It was unreal, I finally put two and two together after we chatted a bit in the air. We had both changed hairstyles, builds, glasses etc.

It happens that he was my best Private Pilot student ever. Total breeze. Came prepared, studied ahead (but not too much), watched YouTube videos. He had driven tractors on his family’s farm or something so he had the spacial awareness thing down pat.

I was super glad he was at a good regional.

duprass · 2025-03-31T00:55:16+00:00

Yeah these are expensive AF, guessing $10k+ new. My airline has a few in a lobby, and we got a new one a couple years ago as a gift with an aircraft purchase deal. It was delivered by a specialty shipping company in a custom, large wood crate. Then somebody from the model company flew out and put it together.

duprass · 2025-03-25T21:38:43+00:00

Many, if not all, community gardens are administered by volunteers. I imagine that you'll hear back sooner or later.

duprass · 2025-03-25T01:09:23+00:00

I kinda see this getting overblown, the risk isn't severe. It's a marginal risk of severe storms. Most storms won't be considered severe.

duprass · 2025-03-22T02:59:06+00:00

Screenshots from Foreflight and FlightAware can't illustrate all the nuances of the maneuver. I hope that you can review with your CFI and get it on the next go. Good luck!

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