# Pilot on a hot mike **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792 "2021-03-26T18:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/21 "2021-03-27T00:30:49Z")
He’s coal-roller dependent ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/22 "2021-03-27T02:11:29Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > [@CalMeacham](#): > > > > According to Reddit, here’s a slightly obscured version of what he said: > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > “F—king weirdos, probably driving around in f—king Hyundais, f—king roads and s—t that go slow as f—k,” and, “You don’t have balls unless you’re f—king rolling coal, man, goddamn it.” > > And you REALLY have super-big balls when you’re rolling coal in a jet! > > But in all seriousness… damn I’m fucking sick of cancel culture. The guy who said it is an asshole but that’s no reason to ruin his life. I hope he is disciplined but not fired. I live in the Bay Area and I’m one of the ones he’s bitching about but as long as he safely lands the plane and doesn’t bust out that stupid shit to me in person, I’m ok Should he be fired if he violated an FAA regulation? The link in the OP says the agency is investigating the incident because the pilot or the first officer was holding non-essential communications while flying below 10,000 feet, which breaks the FAA’s [Sterile Cockpit Rule](https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/the-horror-1974-crash-that-led-to-ban-on-cockpit-chitchat/news-story/ceff846e231d53752929998969f913fb). ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/23 "2021-03-27T02:15:43Z")
@LSLGuy needs to get in on this thread, badly. lol He’s a former pilot IIRC. Wondering how common these kinds of conversations happen in ‘the pit’. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/24 "2021-03-27T02:37:07Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Should he be fired if he violated an FAA regulation? The link in the OP says the agency is investigating the incident because the pilot or the first officer was holding non-essential communications while flying below 10,000 feet, which breaks the FAA’s [Sterile Cockpit Rule](https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/the-horror-1974-crash-that-led-to-ban-on-cockpit-chitchat/news-story/ceff846e231d53752929998969f913fb) My opinion offered above was that I don’t think he should be fired for uttering the things he did. Being fired for something else (e.g. violating sterile cockpit rules) is a different question. Generally speaking I’m not in favor of anyone breaking FAA rules. However, are pilots who violate that regulation regularly fired or are they usually disciplined in a less draconian manner? I sure don’t know but I would expect that casual flight crew chatter below 10,000 ft (or whatever) is by itself rarely cause for dismissal. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/25 "2021-03-27T02:58:47Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > @LSLGuy needs to get in on this thread, badly. lol > > He’s a former pilot IIRC. Wondering how common these kinds of conversations happen in ‘the pit’. Not former. Still doin’ it. Would have been working right now this instant minute but I had my COVID shot this afternoon which means no flying this weekend for me. Darn. As said by many, non-pertinent conversation is officially prohibited during taxi and below 10,000 feet. In the real world, hardly a flight goes by without a sentence or two that would be prohibited by a strict reading of the regs. It’s just part of reality. But an ongoing patter of unrelated BS should be stopped cold by the other pilot. Which is easier to stop if you’re the Captain stopping the First Officer than vice versa. FO’s can remind and cajole, but not force. Typically only FOs talk on the ground control frequency. So if this rant was recognized by the voice from other radio calls, and it was on ground control frequency, then it’s 99.9% likely to be the FO doing the ranting. If they were airborne talking to any ATC agency then it could equally be either pilot. As I mentioned in another thread when somebody raised this event, many pilots are culturally conservative and although many were D supporters in the heyday of unions, they have become cynical R supporters as the labor unions have been neutered (oddly enough that was entirely by R-driven legislation, but logic doesn’t always apply to people’s political reasoning). Trumpers are much in evidence, driven mostly by a cynicism that all politicians are thieves and scoundrels. So Trump had to be better than those guys. Or at least will upset the apple cart, throwing some bad apples onto the ground. I have to say I haven’t run into a vocal Trumper since the election. I imagine they’re still out there simmering, but they’re not as noisy as they were. Many of my co-workers are very decent caring human beings. Not rocket scientists, but good at their job and good to their families. A bunch spend waaay too much time alone glued to their RW propaganda. Just like the rest of the USA. In case you wondered, I can eat Trumpers for lunch quickly and effectively. It’s game over for them before it really begins. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/26 "2021-03-27T03:06:29Z")
I occasionally see “coal rolling” where I live. It’s emitted by those smokestacks on the trucks that I have dubbed “can’t pay child support-mobiles.” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/27 "2021-03-27T03:15:29Z")
People are entitled to their opinions. The pilot wasn’t attacking anybody’s race, orientation or any other personal attribute. He doesn’t like liberals and expressed it in a hostile way. There’s plenty of people on the left who would use equally colorful and hostile language about conservatives. Isn’t that called free speech? Everyone has an opinion. Sometimes it’s stupid and distasteful. It was an inadvertent radio transmission. The FCC will be involved. I hope this doesn’t destroy his career. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/28 "2021-03-27T03:16:44Z")
At least the pilot didn’t start going off on gays, which seems to be included in such rants more often than not. Perhaps the pilot was just a big ol’ bear that likes to “roll coal” in his redneck homeland. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/29 "2021-03-27T03:24:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In case you wondered, I can eat Trumpers for lunch quickly and effectively. It’s game over for them before it really begins. Never doubted it for a moment. Always enjoy reading your stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/30 "2021-03-27T03:49:19Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I know someone who modified a Honda CBR motorcycle to shoot extra flames out of the exhaust, but the political philosophy there seems to have been, “fire is cool”. I didn’t know I needed to know how to do this, but now I do. Shit. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/31 "2021-03-27T03:57:18Z")
Someone (in a full-sized pickup) tried to coal roll me (in my Prius) a month or so ago. He missed. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/32 "2021-03-27T04:36:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > People are entitled to their opinions. The pilot wasn’t attacking anybody’s race, orientation or any other personal attribute. > > He doesn’t like liberals and expressed it in a hostile way. There’s plenty of people on the left who would use equally colorful and hostile language about conservatives. Isn’t that called free speech? Everyone has an opinion. Sometimes it’s stupid and distasteful. > > It was an inadvertent radio transmission. The FCC will be involved. I hope this doesn’t destroy his career. There are two issues here. 1) Whether or not the first officer violated FAA regulations. 2) The bad PR for the airlines. I suspect Southwestern may use a possible violation of FAA regulations to can the pilot because he’s generated bad PR, which potentially costs the airlines passengers. And this is not a free speech issue. The gov_emphasized text_ernment can’t prohibit free speech; employers can, when that speech is in the workplace, and in some cases outside the workplace. If a fast food restaurant cashier launches a racist rant to a coworker while customers are in earshot, it’s not protected. If a sales associate goes off on Trump supporters to another employee, that’s not protected, either. And if the pilot hadn’t inadvertently turned on the PA, it still wouldn’t be allowed. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/33 "2021-03-27T04:55:36Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > There are two issues here. 1) Whether or not the first officer violated FAA regulations. 2) The bad PR for the airlines. I suspect Southwestern may use a possible violation of FAA regulations to can the pilot because he’s generated bad PR, which potentially costs the airlines passengers. > > And this is not a free speech issue. The gov _emphasized text_ ernment can’t prohibit free speech; employers can, when that speech is in the workplace, and in some cases outside the workplace. If a fast food restaurant cashier launches a racist rant to a coworker while customers are in earshot, it’s not protected. If a sales associate goes off on Trump supporters to another employee, that’s not protected, either. And if the pilot hadn’t inadvertently turned on the PA, it still wouldn’t be allowed. Also there’s the fact that the people he was explicitly expressing his contempt for _were his customers_. Its a pretty reasonable bet that if you are on a flight to San Jose you are from the bay area. Not sure there is, or has ever been, any job where calling the people who pay your wages “f\*cks” will not result in being shown the door. That’s not cancel culture. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/34 "2021-03-27T13:19:41Z")
At least where I work, embarrassing the company in public is often a firing offense. Doesn’t matter _how_ you embarrass the company. People in positions of high responsibility, high visibility, and public trust need to understand they live in a glass house that everyone is watching. Don’t _ever_ wander around naked inside or make obscene gestures at the neighbors. Because somebody is recording it and TwitFace just _loves_ a scandal. I’d not expect the FAA to much care; dumb mistakes on the radio happen all the time. As does a smidgen of non-pertinent conversation. They might well file a letter of reprimand as CYA for themselves, but that’s about like a parking ticket on your driver’s license. The only reason they’d get more hostile is if they were goaded into it by public or Congressional pressure. Which IMO would be a) unlikely, and b) ridiculously disproportionate. Southwest has crew bases in Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix. Plenty of coal rollers to be found there. They also have bases in Oakland, Chicago, and Baltimore. Probably fewer coal rollers there. Plus probably a couple more bases I don’t know about. Folks come in all sorts of political persuasions. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/35 "2021-03-27T13:40:54Z")
This might not cost the pilot his job. I mentioned above the Southwest pilot a few years ago who was caught on a live mike complaining about “fucking ass-fucking homosexuals” in his flight crew; he was suspended, made to undergo diversity training, but then reinstated. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/36 "2021-03-27T13:46:50Z")
Anyone remember the punchline “Don’t forget the cup of coffee!” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/37 "2021-03-27T13:47:32Z")
Yes… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/38 "2021-03-27T14:07:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > As I mentioned in another thread when somebody raised this event, many pilots are culturally conservative and although many were D supporters in the heyday of unions, they have become cynical R supporters as the labor unions have been neutered (oddly enough that was entirely by R-driven legislation, but logic doesn’t always apply to people’s political reasoning). Very interesting. My wife’s niece is a commercial airline pilot and her husband is an ATC person. Both of them are vocally anti-liberal and think the virus is a hoax. It’s caused a lot of friction in her family. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/39 "2021-03-27T14:20:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Anyone remember the punchline “Don’t forget the cup of coffee!” ‘What’s your hurry, hun? He said he was going to have a shit first!’ ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792/40 "2021-03-27T15:24:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > At least where I work, embarrassing the company in public is often a firing offense. > … > Because somebody is recording it and TwitFace just _loves_ a scandal. And never mind if it’s proper or improper to divulge what they pick up from the channel. That somebody will want to viralize something. As we have learned, with microphones the first rule is like with guns. _Always treat it like it’s loaded(on)._ And the cockpit is _full_ of microphones. > [@](#): > > I’d not expect the FAA to much care; dumb mistakes on the radio happen all the time. As does a smidgen of non-pertinent conversation. Yeah, really, the FAA would not want to pass judgement on the _ **morals** _ of the extraneous conversation, just on _how it affects safety._ And that would be indifferent to whether the subject is “liberal fucks” or the flight attendant’s attractiveness or Lebron’s game or Coke vs. Pepsi. Add me in to that it should at least cause him some discomfort and result in a note on his record and extra training, but not necessarily dismissal offhand. There do need to be some consequences because it happened _on the job_ and, as **griffin1977** mentions, referring to the customer base. But it really should be up to SW. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pilot-on-a-hot-mike/938792.md?page=3)