Thu, Feb 26, 2015
Schedule 'Fluke' Put The Two In The Same Cockpit
Thomas Cook Airline captain Peter Elliot flies Boeing airplanes, while his daughter Laura, whom he inspired to fly in 2009, is generally assigned to Airbus airplanes as a first officer. But a recent "schedule fluke" put the two in the same cockpit on a flight from Birmingham, U.K. to Tenerife, allowing the two to fly together for the first time for the airline.
The U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail reports that the pairing became possible when Laura took a break from Thomas Cook, during which time Peter cross-trained in Airbus airplanes. "It's a dream come true to be able to fly with my Dad - even if he was still checking up on me," Laura Elliot said.
Laura was inspired by her dad to learn to fly after he gave her a trial flight for her 18th birthday. She said she never really considered an aviation career despite her father being a pilot her entire life.
She went on to college to study sport and exercise science, but after graduation, she went to Spain to get her pilot certificate and wound up flying for Thomas Cook in 2009.
Peter and Laura Elliot are reportedly the only father and daughter pilots on the airline's roster. It was on her second flight back with the airline that the pairing popped up. On that February 6th flight, Captain Elliot announced to the passengers that his first officer was also his daughter. "This is your captain speaking... my co-pilot's my little girl," he reportedly said over the PA.
Laura Elliot said she was a little nervous about flying with her dad, saying it was a bit like having a driving lesson with him. But the flight went well, and both say they hope such a schedule "fluke" will happen again.
(Image from file)
More News
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]