[adamm255]

The order of doing things while flying…

Arranging a reroute with ATC, explaining everything, adjusting the autopilot for the new route etc. Assessment time on what to do. Those in the back don’t need to know anything until those decisions are made and executed. It’s not like there’s a negotiation to be had!

[Dylan16807]

> The order of doing things while flying…

Did my comment give you the impression I didn't understand that? But I don't think it's enough of an explanation.

> Arranging a reroute with ATC, explaining everything, adjusting the autopilot for the new route etc. Assessment time on what to do. Those in the back don’t need to know anything until those decisions are made and executed. It’s not like there’s a negotiation to be had!

Do you think they turned around before most of those things?

Do you think there were no gaps where they could have communicated?

I wonder if they actually were following "Aviate, Navigate." end of checklist.

[curiousObject]

> I wonder if they actually were following "Aviate, Navigate." end of checklist.

“Communicate” means communication with air traffic control

They did that.

Communication with the passengers is good, of course, but optional, if they have time

[Dylan16807]

In that case the claim boils down to "they were doing important stuff the entire time" and I... just don't believe the important stuff lasted that long contiguously.

[jmchuster]

Where does your intuition for how long actions take in a cockpit come from?

I'm not a pilot, so i have no idea. But from watching vasaviation on youtube, it always seems to take like 5-10 minutes between when they first radio the control tower there is an emergency, then they go through their checklists and stabilize things, and then they're ready to talk to the tower for the next step. Now add more back and forth and the time to actually fly to get back to a regular path, and 15 minutes might even seem too short a period of time before you've finished resolving everything and can now kick back and tell the passengers the end result.

[furyg3]

You should watch some pilot videos online, specifically large commercial aviation videos.

Pilots have a TON of checklists and procedures. If they're up in the air approaching cruising altitude and need to turn around (even in an emergency), it's a lot of work.

They need to assess the situation, inform ATC that they are returning, copy down heading information from ATC (they generally do not just 'start turning'), start working through checklists, start dumping fuel (planes are often too heavy to land well early on in a flight), get the approach and landing procedures for the airport they are returning to, keep talking to ATC and switch from regional/approach frequencies, all while adjusting settings and doing calculations. In an emergency, they also need to report on how many people are on board, fuel levels, what their plan is, etc... all while, you know, flying the plane and being extra alert for other traffic (both in sight, on instruments, and the other radio calls) since they are deviating from what's expected.

Plus, they often have no idea what's going on, they have only heard "there is a fire onboard, we think we have it under control" from the crew.

[LorenPechtel]

They aren't going to talk to the passengers in a gap unless there's a major need (like Sullenberger saying "This is the captain, brace for impact". He had already committed to the Hudson long before he said that. And note that that's the minimum communication that conveys the message, he didn't spend one second on that he didn't have to.)