Aircraft humor

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one. How’s that for reassurance for those of us who fly routinely in our jobs?

After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a “gripe sheet,” which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems; document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas’ pilots (marked with a “P”) and the solutions recorded (marked with an “S”) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.


P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.


P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.


P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.


P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.


P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.


P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.


P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That’s what friction locks are for.


P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.


P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you’re right.


P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.


P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.


P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.


P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.


And the best one for last…

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget

Thats to fuuny man.

I acqtually got tears in my eyes from laughing! VERY funny! [:D] I love it!

hehehehe! here’s a few more courtesy of WarWolfe on the Flying-legends fourm:

Airline Cabin Announcements:

All too rarely, airline attendants make an effort to make the in flight “safety lecture” and announcements a bit more entertaining. Here are some real examples that have been heard or reported:

  1. On a Southwest flight (SW has no assigned seating, you just sit where you want) passengers were apparently having a hard time choosing, when a flight attendant announced, “People, people we’re not picking out furniture here, find a seat and get in it!”

  2. On a Continental Flight with a very “senior” flight attendant crew, the pilot said, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants.”

  3. On landing, the stewardess said, "Please be sure to take all of your belongings. If you’re going to leave anything, please make sure it’s something we’d like to have.

  4. “There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this airplane”

  5. “Thank you for flying Delta Business Express. We hope you enjoyed giving us the business as much as we enjoyed taking you for a ride.”

  6. As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Ronald Reagan, a lone voice came over the loudspeaker: “Whoa, big fella. WHOA!”

  7. After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Memphis, a flight attendant on a Northwest flight announced, “Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as hell everything has shifted.”

  8. From a Southwest Airlines employee: “Welcome aboard Southwest Flight 245 to Tampa… To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don’t know how to operate one, you probably shouldn’t be out in public unsupervised.”

  9. “In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child travelling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are travelling with more than one small child, pick your favourite.”

  10. “Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines.”

  11. “Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments.”

  12. “As you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.”

  13. And from the pilot during his welcome message: “Delta Airlines is pleased to have some of the best flight attendants in the industry. Unfortunately, none of them are on this flight!”

  14. Heard on Southwest Airlines just after a very hard landing in Salt Lake City the flight attendant came on the intercom and said, “That was quite a bump, and I know what y’all are thinking. I’m here to tell you it wasn’t the airline’s fault, it wasn’t the pilot’s fault, it wasn’t the flight attendant’s fault, it was the asphalt.”

  15. Overheard on an American Airlines flight into Amarillo, Texas, on a particularly windy and bumpy day: During the final approach, the Captain was really having to fight it. After an extremely hard landing, the Flight Attendant said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Amarillo. Please remain in your seats with your seat belts fastened while the Captain taxis what’s left of our airplane to the gate!”

  16. Another flight attendant’s comment on a less than perfect landing: “We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal.”

  17. An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the Passengers exited, smile, and give them a “Thanks for flying our airline.” He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, “Sir, do you mind if I ask you a question?” “Why, no, Ma’am,” said the pilot. “What is it?” The little old lady said, “Did we land, or were we shot down?”

  18. After a real crusher of a landing in Phoenix, the attendant came on with, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Capt. Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we’ll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.”

  19. Part of a flight attendant’s arrival announcement: “We’d like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you’ll think of US Airways.”

  20. Heard on a Southwest Airline flight. “Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing and if you can light 'em, you can smoke 'em.”

  21. A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number 293, non-stop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax… OH, MY GOD!” Silence followed, and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier. While I was talking to you, the flight attendant accidentally spilled a cup of hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!” A passenger in Coach yelled, "That’s nothing. You should see the back of mine.

hot-shot fighter vs. bomber
A young guy in an F-16 fighter was flying escort for a B-52 and generally being a nuisance, acting like a hotdog, flying rolls around the lumbering old bomber. The hotdog said over the air, “Anything you can do, I can do better.”

The veteran bomber pilot answered, “Try this hot-shot.”

The B-52 continued its flight, straight and level.

Perplexed, the hotdog asked, “So? What did you do?”

“I just shut down two engines, kid.”

fuel dumping on cops
In the days of the Northrop F-89 Scorpions, the Air Force pilot at an interceptor squadron was driving to work one day when he got caught in a speed trap on a road that ran very near to the end of the runway. He argued his case with the local cops, but to no avail.
Steaming mad and more than a little frustrated, he stormed into Operations demanding that an F-89 be readied for him immediately. Firing up the engines, he taxied to the active runway and took off.
Shortly after getting airborne, he declared an emergency and reversed course back to the field. Of course, being the good pilot that he was and ever-mindful not to exceed the max landing weight of his Scorpion, and having a fuel dumping system installed, he dumped his excess fuel…just as he reached the road near the end of the runway.
The fuel-drenched cops packed up their radar and weren’t seen anywhere near that area again for a very long time.

The size counts
Shortly after just landing at a big international airport in his Cessna 150, our hero strolls into the busy airport cafeteria for a bite to eat. He finds an empty table by the window to keep an eye on the airport comings and goings. Shortly thereafter, a striking woman walks up and asks to share his table. Naturally, he invites her to sit down.
After several minutes of small talk, the woman asks if he is a pilot. He responds, “Why, yes, I am – I fly a C-150.” Knowing next to nothing about airplanes, she asks him what a C-150 is. The pilot looks out the window and spots a C-130 Hercules taxing out for takeoff.
Pointing to it, he tells his companion, “See that plane over there? That is a C-130. I fly a C-150!”

You have been fllying that darn airplane again
A fighter pilot goes to a bar after a good days flying. Whilst there he meets a young, attractive and available lady. She is charmed by his tales of aerial combat, high speed flight, and death defying feats. The inevitable happens and they slip away to somewhere more comfortable for an evenings intimate entertainment.

Much later that night the pilot drives home to his long suffering wife. On the way he puts on his oxygen mask and draws the straps up as tight as they will go. When he gets home he removes the mask and bravely enters the house. Immediately he tells the wife exactly and honestly what he has been up to that evening.

She replies: “Do not lie to me, I can see you have been flying that darn airplane yet again”.

The motoring speed trap
Two members of the traffic police were out in the countryside with a radar gun recently, happily engaged in apprehending speeding motorists, when their equipment suddenly locked-up completely with an unexpected reading of well over 400 mph.

The mystery was explained seconds later as a low flying Tornado hurtled over their heads.

The boys in blue, upset at the damage to their radar gun, put in a complaint to the RAF, but were somewhat chastened when the RAF pointed out that the damage might well have been more severe. The Tornado’s target-seeker had locked on to the ‘enemy’ radar and triggered an automatic retaliatory air-to-surface missile attack.

Luckily(?), the Tornado was operating unarmed.

hi performance going UP
Lt. Green was out on his first solo flight in a T-38 and was feeling a bit cocky. He decided to see what ballistic flight was like and pulled the jet into a vertical climb.

During this climb he got a call from ATC as follows, “Ghost 53Z, from Approach. Say heading,” to which the pilot responded “Ooh, up, sir.”

AAA
The progress of the student during flying training was not good enough to allow him to continue the course and to become a fighter pilot. He had to leave the pilot training outfit but he wanted to remain in the Air Force and could be transferred into another sector. Asked for his preferences he replied:

" AAA, Anti Aircraft Artillery, because 'if I don’t fly - nobody will"

Forced landing near airfield
The student in his primary trainer was flying a solo cross-country. He lost his way and before he finally ran out of fuel he decided to put it down on a road. With hardly any cars on the road he managed to coast his aircraft into a gas station and said to the attendant, “Fill 'er up!”

The attendant just looked at the pilot.

“I bet you don’t get too many airplanes asking for a refuel,” said the pilot.

The attendant replied: “True, most pilots use that airport over there.”

no reverse on expensive fighter
At the Naval Air Station a young ground-crew member was being trained on how to direct an F-14 into the fuel pit for hot refueling. The instructor gave him a go and after quite some wild arm weaving the F14 was parking, but when checking they discovered that he had taxied the aircraft too far forward from the fuel hose to reach the airplane.

“You’ll have to send him around again,” said the instructor.

“What?” he said, surprised. "They spend millions on these things and you can’t even put them in reverse

and this one from doorknob:

Pilot (Speedbird 206): “Frankfurt tower, Speedbird 206 is clear of the active runway.”
Tower: “Speedbird 206, taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven.”
Pilot (Speedbird 206): [silence, standing still just off of the runway]
Tower: “Speedbird 206, don’t you know where to go?”
Speedbird 206: “Stand by tower, I’m looking up the gate location now.”
Tower (growing impatient): “Speedbird 206, haven’t you ever been to Frankfurt?”
Pilot (Speedbird 206): “Yes, twice in 1944 – but it was dark and I didn’t land.”

A C-130 was en route on a mission when a cocky F-16 pilot flew up next to him.

The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, “watch this!” He went into a Barrel roll, followed by a steep climb, then finished with a sonic boom when he
reached the speed of sound. The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought.

The C-130 pilot responded “that was impressive, but watch this.”

The C-130 droned along for about 15 minutes then the 130 pilot came
back on and said “What did you think about that?”

The 16 pilot asked, “what did you do?”

The C-130 pilot responded “I got up, stretched my legs, went to the back poured a cup of coffee and took a piss!”

Here are a couple of real life experiences I hope you will enjoy.

1.) While waiting in line for a take off and listening to the radio the following was heard.

Pilot: Tower, Mike Mike Niner two seven

Tower : 927

Pilot: 927, we have our information and are ready for take-off. Give us the word and we’ll fly like a bird.

Tower: 927, you have my consent to leave the cement!

2.) While returning from R&R to Viet Nam in a C-130, and sitting in the cockpit “jump-seat”, the pilot requested permission to land. The tower ATC ( a Vietnamese) gave us permission for a straight in approach and added this warning " watch out for the hook in the runway". The pilot looked at the co-pilot and said, “what is he talking about”. The pilot decided to make a low pass and look over the runway and non of us could see any obstructions. The pilot radioed the tower and asked “what kind of hook is in the runway?” The tower radioed back " a Mo-hook". There was an OV-1 (Mohawk)waiting to take off at the end of the runway.

[#ditto]

Bud

23 September 1999 a Qantas B747-400 ended up in a golf course in Bangkok, Thailand after it over ran the runway by 220 metres while landing in a rainstorm. Damage to the aircraft was in excess of AUD$100 million. There were claims that Qantas had pressured the insurers not to write the aircraft off so a hull loss would not be recorded and thier ‘safety’ record would remain intact.

2 February 2006 a Qantas B767-300 and a United Airlines B747-400 were involved in a ground collision at Melbourne Airport.

There are other relatively minor accidents/incidents.

Qantas has had numerous fatal accidents. A search of the net will reveal Qantas suffered fatal accidents in the following years: 1927, 1934, 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1951.

This true event is from 1983, I was a young Marine NCO newly transferred to a Corbra squadron. I was a Huey type reassigned to AH-1J Corbras,maintenance is different on Corbras.The AH-1J had hydrualic assisted flight controls,the Huey did not. So I was assigned to a senior AH-1J mech,Sgt. Rod Adams,he was a Souix Indian from South Dakota. He was a Vitenam vet,old Corps. I was his “raggy” until he decided I could be left to work on an A/C by myself. One evening (most of the “heavy” maint. gets done at night crew) we get a gripe from a Major,his intials are AAA, he was lways wrighting up involved gripes.He thought of himself as the Best of the Best.

The gripe states Pilot cyclic stick too stiff takes approx.8 to 8.5 lbs to move stick.Now this is a Flight saftey issues,a downing gripe.Because the flight controls of a Snake is hydraulicly assisted,it is a labor and time intensive procedure.You have to check all control tubes and bell cranks.You have to measure all threads and lollipop bearings,in four stick postions.Then reconnect what ever you may have had to readjust.Then apply deck power and hydraulic power and check them again.It takes about 2 hours.With Sgt.Adams teaching me it took almost 3 hours. After the rigging checks if all is correct,then you have to take a cyclic pull with a push pull gauge.

Get this the pull in all 4 quadrants was 2.25 lbs.We checked it 3 times, now for the best part.The MIMS states the text book perfect pull is 2-2.5 lbs + - .5 lbs.

I thought the working off of the gripe was “cool” I learned alot.Sgt Adams was not so pleased.His nick name was “Sitting Bull”,he did not call me by name or rank,I was “Paleface” as were all raggies.Unknown to be Sgt Adams was not a fan of the Major.

Here is how he signed off the gripe,offical paper work in A/C look book.

A/C cyclic system 2 -2.5 lbs,check with power on and hydrualic power.No adjustments required…

Suggest Pilot eat his Wheaties before flight.

The AMO and CO thought the sign off was great ,the Major was not so inclined.As for Sgt. Adams no one said a word ,he could fix a AH-1J with his eyes closed.

These are classics, we use to have a bunch from the air traffic controllers as well, the one I remember the most is an airline pilot asking Chicago center what this other aircraft is doing at his altitude. The reply, “What makes you think it’s YOUR altitude?”

Good for some chuckles. Thanks for the posts.

Regards, Rick

Green Hornet,

I actually fell out of my chair!! That was so funny my wife was in tears too! Thank you I had a very long and hard day and I really needed that!

Zip

[(-D][(-D][(-D]

Thanks for the humor /

Could I just point out that the first list was originally doing the rounds ( way before internet) & was atributed to the USAF. Which is why there is a snag there for IFF. Civilian aircraft are not fitted with IFF!

Having said that, it doesn’t make it any less funny, and…

I work on military aircraft in the middle east, we actually had this snag written up by a student pilot;

‘IFF does not work in O F F mode’

During WW2 in Britain, most RAF squadrons maintained a ‘line’ book. this would contain quotes or boasts or just funny stuff said by pilots to impress girls or to raise a laugh.

Here are a couple, published in the October issue of Aeroplane monthly, from the line book of 263 squadron, who were flying Whirlwind twin engine fighter bombers around 1940/41.

1/ The flight leaders step had not retracted so I knocked it up with my wingtip.

2/ On the run in to the target I lost No1 in cloud but saw his bombs going down so formated on those!

Happy Landings!

Pete

Many a moon ago I spent many hours sitting on drop zones while serving as a medic to various Airborne units and SASR.

After a pass the aircraft would radio the DZ safety officer with, "Stick of (Insert number of paratroopers here) gone.

The reply should be, “I have (Insert number of paratroopers here) good parachutes”

On this one day we got, “Stick of ten Paratroops gone”

We watched and only saw 9 canopy’s meaning one had not opened.

“Stallion, (C-130 call sign) this is DZ I only have 9 good parachutes”

"Err, stallion wait… "

At this stage the pilot forgot to change over to internal comms and broadcast the following…

Pilot “How many just got out on that pass?”

Loadmaster, “I dunno, I don’t count em”

Pilot “What’s the manifest say?”

Loadmaster “Dunno, that went out with the first lot, f%$#ing wind”

Pilot, “Well we can’t tell the DZ we don’t know how many pax we had on board!”

Luckily there were only 9 in the stick, RAAF what can one say??

Another day we had the call, “Stick of 4 gone”

The call was easy, “I have 4 good canopy’s”

After a few seconds the following call from the DZ’o (Drop zone safety officer) “Ah shit, no I don’t, three good canopy’s…ohhh, no make that four again”

One of the guys had a malfunction, cut away and went to his reserve!

Other interesting calls,

C-130 “Stick of six doing tricks”

DHC4 “Another four out the door”

Another time I was sitting in a Caribou prior to start up, the loadie that I knew reasonably well was staring at me rather intently.

I asked him what the problem was, he replied

“Why do you guys jump out of perfectly good airplanes?”

I guess he didn’t notice the other three Caribous that were broken and sitting on the hard stand waiting for repairs……

We called people like that WAFFOs, Waffo you jump out of airplanes?? Some people just don’t get it.

Same aircraft about three days latter, while running in for a drop. It is incredibly loud aft of the wings with those big exhaust blaring away.

This loud noise suddenly stopes, replaced with the ringing of alarm bells. The same loadie, eyes as big as plates asked for a ride as we all went out the back to safety of our parachutes.

They made it back but it took about four hours for vehicles to locate and retrieve all us from the few kilometres we were spread out over.

Not long before I got out of the Army after a parachute accident (Yeah I can hear the told you so’s….)

We lost our military drivers and were given civilians to do the job, after a particularly bad spot four guys landed short of the runway. Being a conscientious medic I got permission to head up to make sure there were no injuries. I told the driver who looked not a day over 170 to stay there off the runway at the perimeter fence, I jumped the fence disappeared into the bush to find the guys.

While I was looking I heard the C-130 on short finals and watched it go overhead, it must have been 100 meters from the piano keys when it suddenly went to full power and turned hard to port. Not something that happens often!! Thinking that something had gone wrong I headed back to my ambulance just incase the Herc was on its way to a crash only to find the ambo gone. The stupid old fool had for some reason driven off and turned onto the runway just as the Herc was about to touch down. The crew were shaken about the near miss, the driver couldn’t understand what he had done wrong and we never saw him again!

Doc.

I remember in my F-16 days when we had a write up for flight controls and the “B” shoppers sign off was R & R stick actuator, and we had a Comm write up and the sign off was R & R short between the headsets