PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Hand flying in todays jet transports
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Old 11th Feb 2018, 08:38
  #59 (permalink)  
Fursty Ferret
 
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: FL390
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I think we have reached the point where more crashes happen because there is too many people in the cockpit who can't fly.
Completely agree, but a few thoughts...

The poster above who suggested the Captain disconnect the autopilot and fly anyway when his FO was uncomfortable with it. Might be legal commander but two crew operation and very poor CRM IMHO. A better question to ask himself is why so many people are concerned about him making the decision to hand fly the aircraft?

Particularly in the Airbus, hamfisted flying is uncomfortable for the passengers and unpleasant to watch from the other seat as the stick wobbles from stop to stop and the aircraft lurches it’s way down the ILS. Failing to follow the glide slope is another thing; if you’re one of those people that routinely flies a dot low while cheerfully announcing “don’t worry, I’m visual” then it’s perhaps understandable that there’s a reluctance to see it happen on every sector.

But the whole thing is indicative of a larger problem, where people learn to complete very specific scenarios and anything different from a normal automatic ILS is unsettling. Look at most sim checks, where the scenarios are leaked and shared amongst pilots who revise like hell to be perfect in that single, specific sequence of events. Type ratings where people learn the answers to test papers but actually have a weak understanding of the aircraft systems. Troubleshooting without a conscious effort to understand what they’re doing...

The list goes on.
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