The simulator should create the building blocks of learning the a/c and the line should add the walls and put on the roof. Some do, some don't
Flight International 6-12 February 2018, reports on the Inquiry into the gear collapse on a Taban Airlines Boeing 737-400 last year at Ardabil in northern Iran. Among other things the report said that at the point of touchdown the aircraft was crabbing and its heading was some 8 degrees left of the centreline. It landed at CAS of 142 knots and sustained an impact of 2.06g.
FDR information showed the aircraft , just before landing, was descending at 1,600 ft/min and a sink rate warning sounded in the cockpit. The right-hand main landing gear suffered shimmy and the structure failed as the aircraft rolled out.
As a general observation during training in the 737 simulator the majority of maximum crosswind component landing touch-downs on a dry runway, occur with the pilots making ineffective attempts to remove drift before touch-down. Landings occur with significant drift and squealing of tyres and grimaces of anticipation by the instructor.
The Boeing 737 FCTM devotes three pages to the subject of crosswind landings. Clearly, it is a serious subject. One paragraph explains that, when de-crabbing in the flare, the touchdown is made with crossed controls and both gear touching down simultaneously. The FCTM states the aircraft can land using crab only (zero sideslip) up to the landing crosswind guideline speeds. However it advises that touchdown in a crab only condition is not recommended when landing on a dry runway in strong crosswinds. This reason is sometimes used by pilots to justify their not removing drift before touchdown in low to moderate crosswind components. Pity the poor passengers skidding sideways in their seats.
Either way, most pilots would agree that landing in strong crosswinds is not for the faint-hearted - especially if one's manual flying skills have been degraded because of excessive reliance on automation down to short final.
Most operators are aware of this. It is one reason why First Officers new to type sometimes have company applied limits to crosswind landings.
Certification to command standard is normally required for the issue of a type rating. After all, a co-pilot is normally second in command to the captain. If the captain becomes incapacitated his co-pilot now has full command responsibility. It seems logical therefore, he should have the necessary handling skills to undertake this task. The weather does not recognise who is flying and thus the co-pilot should not be certified as type rating qualified until he can handle crosswinds up to the maximum for the aircraft type he is flying.
Often this does not happen and it is not unknown for a command type rating to be issued without a pilot being required to demonstrate he can consistently and safely perform a maximum crosswind component take and landing.
In previous Pprune posts, various contributors have express doubts that Level D Full Flight simulators do not always accurately reproduce crosswind landings. That being so, they should not have been certified in the first place; or, on the other hand, are lacking proper maintenance. The latter is the most likely reason to doubt a simulator's fidelity.
But assuming crosswind fidelity is true, there is no reason why landings at the certified crosswind component limit should not be practiced in the simulator. And not just one or two because of time constraints. And certainly before a type rating is issued.
It is fair to say that with some training providers and airline operators, the type rating syllabus of training occasionally becomes a box ticking exercise . And we all know what that term means in practice. Crosswind landings are just one more box to be ticked. This is unfair to those pilots paying up front for their command type ratings. For inexperienced pilots, handling a strong crosswind can be daunting even in the simulator. It then becomes all too easy to lose confidence in one's ability to do a good job.
This is surely where good simulator training in crosswind landings is worth its weight in gold. Often up to ten attempts are needed before a pilot is certified competent in the sequence and can consistently touch down smoothly with drift removed, . These can be started in a simulator from 500 feet on final as the main aim is the touchdown competency.
Pilots of automated aircraft should be able to switch seamlessly from automatics to manual flying without sweating it out. That includes the ability to accept max crosswind components with no qualms. Practice in the simulator does that for you
