Making the good decision in a critical environment like an airliner is not an easy skill to develop. Making such decisions clear to general audience is even more hard, as media reports come in between. This post is the first in a series in which I analyse decisions that might seem obviously wrong. This series will show that when full context is added, such decisions are not so easy to make.

On the 14h of September, a Southwest Airlines flight from Tampa to Las Vegas declared an emergency, and landed in New Orleans (msnbc report). The pilot declared to ATC that a passenger found a suspicious white powder, in the toilets. After landing the plane had been evacuated, and examined by poison and hazardous materials experts. Analysis very quickly revealed that the powder was … dust from the hygienical paper ! How ridiculous is that ? You think so ?

Then give it a second thought. Because of the new terrorist threats, pilots are truely locked in cockpits, which are shielded now. Even cabin crew need a code and are identified via a camera in the galley before the access the cockpit. Crew members have to deal with various kind of risks, including not only weapons, but liquid or paste-like explosives. Many biological weapons, including anthrax, also do exist under the form of powder, which could spread through the cabin air-conditioning system.

I don’t know yet if the captail left temporarily the cockpit to examine the suspicious powder, nor do I know the amount of powder found. Anyway, no analysis would be possible on board, except if a drug cop would taste the power himself, you know, like in movies… I don’t think the checklist includes a “suspicious powder” procedure, so the captain was left alone with a decision to make.

As sole responsible for all souls on board, he decided to land as soon as possible, and doing so he fulfilled his primary mission: protect the lives under his responsibility. Ok, he created some delays and other inconvenience, but his primary mission is done ! One must also examine things the other way round. What if the commander decided to focus on his secondary mission, going to destination on due time ? If the powder had been an actual threat, the plane could have been lost. And if the information about the powder became obvious, the captain of this flight would be severly criticised for killing all people on board.

In this case the powder was inoffensive, but if the captain elected to continue the flight, he would also probably have been heavily criticised if any media reported that information. I can easily imagine newspapers with headlines like “Southwest flight continued despite extreme threat on board”, or even more spectacular ones… can’t you ?

Being an airline captain is more about making decision and managing the crew than flying the plane, and this is why some good pilots will never be good captains ! The next post in this series will be about a British Airways Boeing 747 that flew from Los Angeles to London with one engine out…