…with an obvious academic answer (no, don’t), yet many many many an experienced pilot have done it. The most likely reason is not that they didn’t know or chose to ignore the situation, but because the severity of it was either reported as not significant or it was just passing or just arriving, therefore the worst was not currently at the airport.
On this particular night, we departed LaGuardia for Columbus OH and as is always the case, pretty much knew what we were flying into. The forecast for our arrival time probably said VCTS or TSRA (basically meaning thunderstorms), which is not so unusual in the summer months.
We monitored the airport weather en route and had a very normal descent into Columbus. While on vectors for the approach to 28L, Columbus Approach passed on the message that weather was just arriving at the airport, no pilot reports at the time and how did we want to proceed? We both took another look at the radar and Capt Mangum turned to me and said, “The smart thing to do here is hold for a few minutes and let it pass. We have plenty of fuel and no rush to land”. It was decisive, wise and beautifully PIC.
And that was when we heard Comair, who was lining up for the right side, say that they were going to try the approach. We both looked at each other with raised eyebrow and continued programming the hold into our FMS. After 20 minutes or so of holding, the storm passed and we tracked the ILS in for a lovely, calm visual approach. We thought the story was over.
After the disembarking ritual — say bye to the passengers, shutdown checklist, post-flight walkaround — we got on the hotel van with another crew and headed to the hotel. “How was the ride in?” queried the Comair captain across from us. “Nice ride, we held for a bit to let the storm pass and then followed in behind it. How you?” replied Capt Mangum. “A bit bumpy but not too bad," said the other captain. It was during that last sentence, while the words were rolling off his tongue, that both of us caught the terrified expression on the first officer sitting next to him, who was looking dead at us, gently shaking his head “no”, eyes exaggerating his head movement. That moment stays with you and its lessons speak volumes.
Photo source: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
