Oops

I remember when I was a kid I threw a stone in the driveway of the family house. I suppose that I was trying to hit a tree or something similarly mundane. I clearly recall that moment where the stone left my hand and instead of launching towards the tree had instead taken its own routing via the passenger window of my Dad's car. The gut-wrenching moment where time slows down inexplicably and you wish you could rewind just a few seconds and take back your action. Too late... it is simply a matter of waiting for impact. On that occasion the window didn't disappoint to announce its destruction via a chorus of tinkles and shatters. I did the honourable thing and hid under my bed until my Dad came to find me and asked if I had thrown the stone which irritatingly had landed on the car seat as clear evidence of my crime. I denied all knowledge. The rest is history.

I had that exact same feeling at work yesterday. Even as an adult that same feeling crept over me and I knew that I had fucked up royally. This is not something you ever want to hear from an airline pilot and I am not stupid enough to go into specifics. Suffice to say that my handwriting had caused a misunderstanding during some basic maths.

In aviation incidents are often attributed to the Swiss Cheese models of errors. A few errors in themselves are rarely a problem but if all those holes line up then it gets more serious. The holes lined up perfectly and I found myself wanting to hide under my bed. Unfortunately that wasn't an option as a Boeing 737 doesn't have beds.

It's under crisis that you learn most about yourself. This particular problem was never a threat to air safety. It would have been had we had been stupid enough to try and hide it by going into the air. Airline professionals are, for the most part, exactly that... professional. Proud... yes, egotistical... sometimes, risk-taking... Not an option. Pilots are either old or bold... never both.

We found a solution. It wasn't glamorous and it caused a delay but it meant that we ended the day having kept everything legal and nothing but our egos were hurt. I think that we actually excelled with our solution to the problem. I may yet get an ear-bending from someone higher up the food chain. I wish I hadn't thrown the stone, but I did. This time though I cleaned up the glass and wrote a letter of apology.

There is a lot to be said for growing up... sometimes.

- Posted from somewhere random using BlogPress from my iPad.

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