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At 24, Boca pilot is one of youngest U.S. jetliner captains

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Hired two years ago as a copilot for SkyKing, a small operation with 10 jets, Crowley made his first flight as captain on Jan. 28 from West Palm Beach to Worcester, Mass. His parents rode along. (www.sun-sentinel.com) Más...

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andriy17
Andriy Tsyupka 5
I have to admit I am a little jealous! :)
atlwatchdog
atlwatchdog 4
The title really does not mean much. It only means that he meets the minimums. Don't get me wrong, I am happy for Mr. Crowley and hope that he matures further into a well rounded airman. However, let's not lose site of the fact that with age comes experience you cannot gain anywhere else.

If a more experienced pilot were flying with him, I would expect Mr. Crowley to use the more experienced pilot as a source of information.

Just because you have 3,000 hours does not mean you are well rounded with your judgement.

Mr. Crowley, congratulations on your fourth bar. Now, go show folks that you deserve them by continuing to learn, and don't ever let the word "captain" become part of your ego.

Blue skies.
rick737
richard weiss 4
The same could be said of the 40 year old captain with 12000 hours. Anyone who stops growing when the 4th strip is added will find trouble ahead. Ego will be the only thing that can bring him down
theschultz
David Schultz 1
You are using ego incorrectly. Ego is good. An ego that is not intact is what you are referring to here. Delusion.
gjrockhound2000
KC Hoover 4
Now that is living your dream!
rick737
richard weiss 3
Happiness is achieved by doing what you love, as long as you do it well. Congratulations Captain Crowley. May the next 40 years of flying be joyful
falcon2000driver
falcon2000driver 3
Yup,thats pretty young,i flew w several younger Captains around 25-26-27,but 24?!Wow,now that kids been on the Ball!Way to go.
barbarathompson
Barbara Thompson 3
I have to say I am very proud for him and his discipline, but I always feel better with a little gray hair in the left seat. I do wish him well, though. I echo an earlier post about unusual circumstances and the experience to work through them, may not have encountered much in 3000 hours yet...
kachina196david
David Roush 3
I have flown with younger pilots, all from Israel. The youngest was 19, and I can tell you this, if I were traveling at 600 knots and had only a few seconds to make the right decision. I would want him with me.
Captain Crowley, have a long and distinguish career, and by the way, I’ll fly right seat with you!
im4point
Chris Murray 2
Good for him!
kbhr57am
Pete Locascio 2
I knew a guy at New York Air, back in 1985, who was senior enough to make Captain at 22, but had to wait until his 23rd bithday to get his ATP rating. He was then upgraded and was a 737-300 captain at 23. As far as I know, he's still flying for Continental(United).
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
Didn't New York Air only have MD-80'S?
kbhr57am
Pete Locascio 1
In the bginning they had DC9-30s, then they got MD80s in 1984. They took delivery of their first 737-300 in the summer of 1985.
tripilot
Michael Kilcher 2
Captain of a Boeing 737 with only 3,000 hours total time? No thanks!
Pileits
Pileits 2
This isn't anything new. Back in the early 1980s one of my fellow freight dogs checked out as Capt at age 23 on the B-727 nearly 30 years ago.
paganel99
Nelson Pagan 2
Having had a private pilot license I know many prof. pilots. You have to go thru so many tests that I trust the man. The fact that he is only 24 is proof of his maturity.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
That's not necessarily true, he may or may not be a good pilot. Unfortunately in this ndustry now, it's the guy who has the connections that get's the job. The qualified guy who doesn't have the internal rec. gets to look in from the outside. Looking at this guy's records, it shows that he has multiple type ratings, all sic, with the exception of the 737. With 3000 hours total time, do the math and tell me if there is any TRUE REAL PIC EXPERIENCE there. My answer would be NO!!!
jhakunti
jhakunti 2
An Embry-Riddle graduate.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
I can't tell, is that sarcasm???
VAGABOND49
VAGABOND49 1
I'm not just jealous, I'm green with envy as well! And I'm 62. But, it sounds like no one deserves the role and responsibility more than this young man. Good on ya mate. A comment that really interested me however, was flying bewteen Miami and Cuba. I understood NO flights operated between the US and Cuba. Maybe someone could clarify that situation for me as I have often wished to travel to Cuba from the US as other departure points in other countries are too difficult for me.
conmanflyer
conmanflyer 1
hmmm, maybe ill be able to work with them! i only go to school right across the field from maintenance :o
falcon2000driver
falcon2000driver 1
Wise man Richard!I agree.
Derg
Roland Dent 1
I know one guy who at 27 yrs old commanded a C17 in USAF.
andwitte2
Andreas Witte 1
Great. Congratulations !
onjuku20
onjuku20 1
.We have a pilot that was a DC-8 F/O form 18-23 years old and became a 747 Captain at 23. He's been here since 8/87 and currently on the A-300. He retires in 2024. He sings terrible Karaoke!
rick737
richard weiss 1
He'll need the hump on the B747 just so he has room to sit on his wallet
chalet
chalet 1
Years ago I met a few of Pan Am and United captains in their mid 50s. They had been hired when they were in their mid-20s as copilots and remained on the right hand seat for the following 12-15 years and said that all major U.S. airlines were that strict before moving copilots to the left seat.
moncaleano4
Good job! Congrats. Now go get a job at Southwest, Fedex or UPS, where you can live your dream, make money and be treated as a decent human being by management who cares about their employees. If you want to fly big iron all over the world, definitely FedEx or UPS. Congrats again. JM.
kayehall
Kaye Hall 1
Great job Michael. Very proud of you. It has to be an awesome feeling!!!
diktabu
diktabu 1
Great job, good for him
ROBERTBIRD
ROBERT BIRD 1
CANT YOU PEOPLE SPELL. I HOPE YOUR NOT PILOTS. I FLY WITH THE KID. AT LEAST HE CAN SPELL.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
I could spell you're. Is your last name Bird or Kiwi??? Also it's CAN'T not CANT!!!
DaveNeal
David Neal 0
That should be YOU"RE and CAN"T, DUH!
jet4ang
jet4ang 1
And you're incorrect also. Can't you spell?
timgustafson
Tim Gustafson 1
Good Job!
WilliamBrown
William Brown 1
That’s an airline I surly will avoid!
jet4ang
jet4ang 1
A bit jealous, are we??
Av8tor91
Ed Rod 1
Congratulations Crowley. Crowley was my FO on Lear 60s a few years ago. I must say, he is a very knoweledgeable and skilled pilot. Great job Crowley.

KauaiGolfer
KauaiGolfer 1
A 3000 hour 737 captain? No major carrier would be interested in hiring someone with that small amount of flight time, much less put them in command. Would I want my kids flying into O'Hare in bad weather with this guy? No way. Air Florida learned the hard way about putting low time pilots in command.
Kevco21
Kevco21 1
Congrats man! I was 24 and Captain on Hawker 800XP for a 135 based in Teterboro but not flying the big iron! Would be fun though. Im 25 now.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
Are you the REAL captain??? Under 135, a turbojet pic has to have an ATP, I see you have a commercial...
nickmoss
Nicholas Moss 1
Hey, I grew up watching "Sky King." And if Penny can fly, so can he.
nickdibiase
Nick DiBiase 1
I hope this kid is exceptional. My years of managing in the business would say this is a bit early. I'm curious why the company would put someone so young in there; oh yea, pay and do what I say. Yea, that experience thing causes problems for airline management. Good luck kid.
mboette
mboette 1
I was waiting for the line "Crowley's father, CEO of Sky King airlines......"
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
I was thinking something along that line, we all know how it works...
izanti
izanti 0
And thats why sky king can pay their pilots crap with no benefits.
izanti
izanti 3
But still awesome for him.
Safetravel2001
Steven Marchant 1
Primission to come aboard Captain.
ROBERTBIRD
ROBERT BIRD 1
CANT YOU PEOPLE SPELL. IF YOUR PILOTS, AND CANNOT EVEN SPELL, I SURE DONT WANT TO
FLY WITH YOU. I WILL TAKE THE KID ANY DAY.
Safetravel2001
Steven Marchant 2
"Permission granted." thanks for the correction
organfreak
Scott Hawthorn 1
@ROBERT BIRD:
"Cant" needs an apostrophe. The first sentence requires a question mark. The word you were thinking of in the second sentence is "you're." Who the hell do you think you are? You can't spell either!
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
He more than likely flies like he spells and punctuates...
rick737
richard weiss 2
Captain Crowley happens to be setting up his career to move on to things better. If he takes a pay hit for a few years, so be it. There isn't one profession that I know of that starts people at the top, except our current president. How's that working out for us.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 1
You always have to put Obama in any topic, don't you!!! You know, Bushed sucked at certain things too just like Obama, but he was the President and afforded some respect!!!
jirishmayer
jirishmayer -2
This is just another example of an extreme level of unsafe risk assessment by coporate managers and the FAA using this kid's personal desires to leverage the system safety built by the experience and developements made by legacy air carrier pilots and crews. Lets hope all his aircraft systems work for him b/c if they don't he hasnt ever had to handle a problem before.
jeturner
jeff egli 3
Extreme, unsafe risk, and especially "kid" are indicative of your own personal biased opinions... He's a MAN at 24 years old, with all the rights, responsibilities, and authority afforded his position in that left seat, which he has EARNED. You have zero knowledge of what he has or has not experienced in his flying career. Park you assumptions.... You sound jealous at best.
sdapa
Scott Dyer 2
I have been following this young man's career for awhile now through a mutual friend who has known him since he was seven years old, He has ate, drank, slept, and dreamed flying since then and is now living his dream. I have spoken to people in the know that tell me he is meticuluos to detail, down to earth and emphatic about following the book to the letter. I am currently trying to meet him to tell him congratulations personally. It figures that in today's society people just want to knock you down and spit in your face no matter how hard you work or what you acheive. They do not just hand you the keys to these machines and all of you fellow pilots know it. This young man is going places and that's what makes america great. Congratulations Michael, keep living your dream. I'll sit in the right seat next to you anytime.
jeturner
jeff egli 1
Tell Captain Crowley congrats for me....... Enjoy the ride and get used to the question "How old are you?" and others of the same kind..... He can count them as a badge of honor.

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