Posted by Peggy La Vake on October 17, 2006, 2:27 am, in reply to "An Eastern Airlines Captain's Comments"
205.188.116.199
It is three yeasr since this posting of yours..memories of my father brought me to this sight. Did you know him Jim La Vake?? many thanks
--Previous Message--
: I was a Captain with EAL and flew thousands of
: hours on the EAL L-1011, years after the
: crash. I did not ever see the ghost of my
: old buddy, Don Repo, on any of those
: flights, however.
: a: Don and I flew on many flights together to
: Europe on Eastern's MAC Charter
: (USAF)flights...he as Second Officer and me
: as First Officer...back in 1967-1969.
:
: This crash brought out, once again, that in
: any emergency or unusual occurrence, the
: Captain has to designate one pilot to FLY OR
: MONITOR THE AIRCRAFT and NOT be involved in
: the actions to remedy the problem. For a
: few years, I instructed in the EAL flight
: simulator training program. We emphasized
: that it was crucial that one pilot would be
: designated to only fly or monitor the flight
: of the aircraft.
:
: It is a shame that the Approach Controller
: failed to use standard phraseology when he
: saw the flight only 900 feet from the ground
: and descending. If he had only
: said, Check your altitude...I show you at
: 900 feet" it could have saved them.
:
: Don Repo was a great guy. I didn't know
: Capt. Loft or the First Officer. I did hear
: that Capt. Loft had an un-diagnosed brain
: tumor the size of a golf ball, that was
: discovered at his autopsy. This could
: account for his irritability during the
: problem. Never did get a confirmation of
: this,however.
:
: Thanks again for some great research on this
: documentary.
:
: - Capt. Jim Blackburn (EAL, Ret.)
:
:
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