Passenger attacks pilot in mid air aboard TAM flight

A Brazilian airliner made a forced landing after a passenger had a "psychotic attack," entered the cockpit and assaulted a pilot. The man also fought back furiously when crew members and passengers tried to subdue him.

File photo of a TAM jet [ Photo AP ]

The TAM Airlines jet was en route from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Sao Paulo when a man who some passengers said was wearing a TAM identification badge got into the cockpit because the door was open. Shortly after, the plane dove to the right, causing passengers to scream and the pilot to yell for help over the speaker system.

"All of a sudden shouts were heard from inside the cabin, and two stewardesses came out asking for help and grabbing a young man by his feet," one unidentified passenger told Uruguay's El Pais newspaper. "The people quickly jumped on top of him, the guy fought back furiously, biting and hurting a half dozen people.

Read details: Huffington Post

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Overstretched drone pilots face stress risk

[ via Yahoo News ] 18 Dec

Flying drone aircraft over Afghanistan from the comfort of a military base in the United States is much more stressful than it might seem, even for pilots spared the sacrifice of overseas deployment and separation from family and friends.

US drone Predator firing Hellfire missile, leaving the operator in distress

America's insatiable demand for drone technology is taking a heavy toll on Air Force crews, with just under a third of active duty pilots of drones like the Predator reporting symptoms of burnout and 17 percent showing signs of "clinical distress."

That's when stress starts undermining their performance at work and their family lives.

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Apple’s iPad Allowed to be Used by American Airline Pilots Instead of Paper-Based Flight Documents

[ via Chip Hazard ] 14 Dec

FAA has allowed American Airlines to use an iPad instead of carrying piles of flight documents and this implementation is to be done as soon as this coming Friday, 16th December 2011.

The Airline claims to be the first Airliner to be granted such a privilege whereas others are still stuck with paper-based flight documents. This move will not only make things easier to maintain for pilots but also there will be less load on the plane.

The app they will be using on iPad is called JeppTC which is available in the App store. Only licensed pilots have access to the features required by them to operate.

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