CYRIL MANNION   AIRLINE CAPTAIN (RTD) EXPERIENCED SPEAKER



Cyril Mannion is a retired airline captain whose talks demystify life as an aviator. He relies on his bank of anecdotes, some fiction and some facts to describe the trials, thrills and excitement which pilots experience. He focuses on the human aspects of being the commander of a modern jet airliner and takes his audience on a fascinating video ‘behind the scenes look’ at what happens on the flight deck.

Cyril began flying in 1968 as a navigator in the RAF. After 13 years, he re-trained as a pilot and he was in the first group of newly trained pilots to fly the Tornado. In 1987, he completed his RAF career as a Tornado flying instructor. He began his airline career with Dan-Air and later British Airways. In 1998, Cyril was promoted to Captain and on retirement flew Boeing 777s. After British Airways, he flew for Air India and later Jet Airways (India) until July 2010.

Cyril trained British Airways pilots on the Command Development Course which dealt specifically with the non-technical aspects of the commander’s role. Cyril has a son and a daughter and 2 grand-daughters. He is an enthusiastic public speaker and committee member of Thamesdown Speakers Club.



TOPICS:

 

1.A Captain at work...the human aspects of airline command.

 

2.Crossing the Atlantic by Vickers Vimy...the story of Alcock and Brown’s heroic flight on 14-15th June 1919.

 

3.From Routine to Abnormal in the blink of an eye...a look at some airliner incidents which came perilously close to being major disasters.

 

4.The Evolution of the Tornado aircraft...seen from the historical perspective

 

5.Let’s fly from Heathrow to Mumbai...a look behind the scenes at the technical aspects of flying an airliner -- for a non-techie audience

 

6.Take to the skies...a look at the training of airline pilots