Deadheading (employee)
Deadheading is the practice of carrying, free of charge, a transport company's own staff on a normal passenger trip so that they can be in the right place to begin their duties. In United States railway usage, the term may also be used for movement of train crews to or from a train using another means of vehicular transportation,[1] as passenger train service is infrequent or nonexistent in many areas.
Notable deadheaders
- One of the four survivors of explosive decompression. She survived because she was wedged between several seats during the crash, protecting her from suffering serious injury.
- In July 1989, JAL 123, helped the flight crew guide the aircraft to a semi-controlled emergency landing.
- In April 1994, on McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 on which he was deadheading with the intent of crashing it to initiate insurance fraud, but was repelled by the combined efforts of the plane's crew.[2]
- A day prior to the Lion Air Flight 610 crash in October 2018, a deadheading pilot during the 737's final successful flight reportedly saved the plane from the same malfunctioning flight control system that caused the crash the next day, killing 189 people. He is said to have been in the cockpit jump seat when the malfunction occurred; he identified the problem and advised the active crew on how to address it.[3]
- In October 2023, on Alaska Airlines Flight 2059, off-duty pilot Joseph David Emerson allegedly attempted to shut down the engines after being given access to the cockpit to ride in the jumpseat. He was removed from the cockpit, the flight was diverted, and he was detained after landing.[4]
See also
- Dead mileage, where a vehicle is moved without paying passengers
- United Express Flight 3411 incident, in which police forcibly removed passenger David Dao to make his seat available for a deadheading airline employee.
- Jump seat, an auxiliary seat used on aircraft for non-passengers who are not operating the aircraft
References
Look up deadhead or deadheading in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- ^ "UP: Railroad Terms Glossary". www.up.com. Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
- ^ Kovalchik, Kara (24 July 2008). "True Crimes: The Man Who Hijacked a Cargo Jet". Mental Floss. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ Levin, Alan; Suhartono, Harry (19 March 2019). "Pilot Who Hitched a Ride Saved Lion Air 737 Day Before Deadly Crash". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
- ^ Yousif, Nadine (2023-10-23). "Off-duty pilot accused of trying to crash Alaska Airlines flight". BBC News. Retrieved 2023-10-23.