* * * * *
Monday, 15th November 1993
Bright and early this day I got a frantic call from AVILINK in
Singapore. They desperately needed a
qualified captain to take delivery of a fourth B-737-200 that they purchased
from Malaysia Airlines for the BOURAQ contract.
It seems the captain they had lined up for this chore, bailed-out on
them at the last minute. So, could I
hustle my butt down to Singapore, perform the acceptance check-flight, and then
ferry the bird down to Jakarta, followed by another three-month contract?
In all honesty AVILINK had been good to me, so why not help them out of a jam? I agreed, packed my bags and caught a flight down to Singapore the next day.
* * * * *
Wednesday, 17th November 1993
So here I am in a suit and tie, standing on the ramp at Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore, about to step aboard a Malaysia Airlines’ 737 bearing a freshly painted BOURAQ livery.
The mechanics have completed the acceptance preflight, meticulously
checking all items both inside and outside the aircraft. It more than passes inspection.
We all climbed aboard, got into the air and conducted a precise
shakedown flight plan, putting each mechanism on the 737 to the test. As we climb and descend, performing all these
checks, I sat on the jump seat between the two captains, and followed along
with my copy of the acceptance flight plan; while the mechanics double-checked
everything in the passenger cabin.
Frankly, dear reader, this
experience is a pleasant surprise. These
captains were really wringing the 737 out – genuinely attempting to discover
any flaws. Mechanically speaking, this
is the cleanest 737 I’ve ever flown.
Malaysia Airlines runs a first-class operation, feel free to purchase a
used aircraft from them anytime.
Thoroughly
satisfied, I signed off for this super clean 737, and accepted it on AVILINK’s
behalf.
The next day I donned my airline uniform, picked up Kevin, my Singaporean
First Officer, loaded some BOURAQ Executives in first class, and launched from
Paya Lebar Air Base for Jakarta, Indonesia.
One hour and Fifty-four minutes later I touched down on Runway Two-Five
Right, at Soekarno-Hatta International, giving the BOURAQ VIPs one of my better
landings.
* *
* * *
Jakarta,
Island of Java, Republic of Indonesia
Friday, 19th November 1993
Now that BOURAQ had four 737s, they were determined to fly them to the
max; giving me not much in the way of days off.
For example, instead of operating three legs to Manado, then spending
the night, presently I’m required to operate all six legs. This meant going up and back from Jakarta to
Manado in just one day, enduring over twelve hours in the air, making it a very
long day.
The other surprise was the fact that all my Australian First Officers
had been sent home. BOURAQ had replaced
them with six Indonesian First Officers, and, out of the six I could perhaps
let two of them fly the 737. The other
four were a dead loss, which I restricted to paperwork and preflight/post
flight inspections; increasing my flying workload.
They all had a lot of jet-prop time but lacked a pure jet background –
which meant they had a tiger by the tail – as things happened faster in the 737
than the prop-jobs. Plus, it was the old
story again of them not understanding English.
For example, let’s take my favorite First Officer by the name of Bum-Bum
Rudy.
No, dear reader, I’m not making that name
up.
He
was in his late twenty’s, and heavyset with a Hollywood pencil-thin black
mustache.
The
737’s landing gear lever has three positions: Down, Off and Up. Upon takeoff, and with a positive indication
of climb out, I’d command, “Gear up!”
The First Office would then take hold of the landing gear lever (with a
clear plastic wheel on its end) and move it from the “Down” position all the
way to the top or “Up” position. He’d then
wait until he “felt” the landing gear retract and see all the gear annunciator
lights go out – indicating the landing gear is fully retracted and in the “Up”
and “Locked” position. After this occurs
the First Officer then moved the landing gear lever to the center or “Off”
position – relieving pressure on the hydraulic system.
Departing Surabaya one morning with Bum-Bum Rudy – climbing through
3,000 feet – I happened to glance over at the landing gear lever and noticed it
was still in the “Up” position. To get F.O.
Rudy’s attention, I pointed at the landing gear lever in front of him, and
commanded, “Gear lever to ‘Off’.”
Bum-Bum Rudy nodded and said, “Yes, Captain.” However, he didn’t make a move towards the
landing gear lever – it remained in the full “Up” position.
I commanded him twice more to move the landing gear lever to “Off.” Every time he said, “Yes, Captain,” but never
moved the landing gear lever to “Off.”
I can only conclude, dear reader,
that Bum-Bum Rudy had a dodgy grasp of the English language. Therefore why should I risk life and limb,
giving this fellow a “leg” (allowing him to fly the 737) when obviously I can’t
communicate with him? Getting a warm
body no better than a doorstop, is like walking a tightrope without a safety
net – being all alone in the cockpit with no backup – creating a very, very
long day for any worn-out 737 Captain.
I finally had to move the gear lever to “Off” myself.
As for captains on the 737, BOURAQ had me, an Australian, a Singaporean
and a Canadian. They all agreed with my
conclusion regarding the Indonesian First Officers. They could read a checklist, except did they
actually understand it? Or was it merely
“monkey-see, monkey-do”?
No two ways about it, dear reader,
flying with the Indonesian monkeys was going to be a tough three months.
* * *
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