777-300ER low flyby Video
February 25th, 2008 | by Dusk |
Source 1
Pilot Ian Wilkinson was flying the Boeing 777-300ER on its maiden flight from the manufacturer’s plant in Everett, Washington, when he turned around after takeoff and swooped about 10m above the runway, the South China Sunday Morning Post reported.
Cathay Pacific chairman Chris Pratt was among the VIP passengers on board the plane when Mr Wilkinson did his unauthorised fly-by of the Boeing factory on January 30, the newspaper said.
Mr Wilkinson was sacked last week while a second pilot, believed to be the co-pilot, had been suspended from training duties for six months, according to the Post.
Videos and photographs of the swoop have been posted on the internet and pilots’ gossip forums, with some praising the stunt but others describing it as dangerous and poorly executed.
A Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said Mr Wilkinson insisted the fly-by was not dangerous but said he had been sacked for not seeking approval for the manoeuvre.
The airline had a well-established approval process for such manoeuvres and had conducted them in the past at air shows but only “with proper approval in place'’, she said.
Picture is not from flydamnit.com. Its from a user at PPRuNe.
Source 2
It is with some regret that I have to inform you of a Disciplinary Hearing related to the delivery flight of our latest B777-300ER. The operating crew conducted a low level fly past at Everett Airport in Seattle, prior to departure for Hong Kong, without having obtained the necessary approval or authorization.
Please could I remind all crew to refer to Vol 2, Part 2, Page 1-8-8 section 21 prior to any non-scheduled flight including demonstration flights or fly pasts. The first stage of the D&G proceedings has taken place resulting in a decision to terminate the employment of the Pilot Flying and relieve the Pilot Monitoring of training duties for a period of 6 months. Both decisions are subject to the appeals process.
N. P. Rhodes
Director Flight Operations
Source http://blog.seattle-deliveries.com/2008/01/cathay-777-b-kpf-delivery.html
Discussion link: http://forum.flydamnit.com/index.php?topic=1283