Originally Posted by
737mgm
I am actually not surprised by that story. In fact, I know of at least one accident where the same thing happened:
At time 00:39:40 the captain was heard saying in Amharic “OK, engage autopilot”. However, the DFDR data does not show any engagement of any auto-pilot throughout the flight. At the time of the call the DFDR shows the control wheel was Aft from the neutral position and the aircraft roll angle reaching 64° left bank
That is an excerpt from the final report of Ethiopian flight 409 in 2010 in which the Captain attempted to engage the autopilot when it was at a 64° left bank.
I agree with you that there should be a much greater emphasis on manual flying. At my company manual raw data flying is allowed at any time and I believe on a clear day, with little traffic, at a familiar airport, it adds greatly to a pilot's confidence and skill set to regularly fly manually (this subject has been discussed endlessly at pprune already though). Practicing in the simulator will work as well of course.
Overall you may be right, that among other reasons the actions of the Lion Air crew could be explained by a lack of manual flying skills, which has to be countered by more training in this regard.
For Lion Air, from pp. 4-5 of Preliminary Accident Investigation of PK-LQP Flight JT-610:
1.5.1 Pilot in Command
Age:31 years
Nationality:India
Date of joining company:25 April 2011
License:ATPL
Date of issue:28 July 2016
Aircraft type rating:Boeing 737
Instrument rating validity:31 May 2019
Medical certificate:First Class
Last of medical:5 October 2018
Validity:5 April 2019
Medical limitation:Pilot shall wear corrective lenses
Last line check:19 January 2018
Last proficiency check:7 October 2018
Flying experience
Total hours: 6,028 hours 45 minutes
Total on type: 5,176 hours
Last 90 days: 148 hours 15 minutes
Last 30 days: 81 hours 55 minutes
Last 7 days: 15 hours 45 minutes
This flight:about 11 minutes
1.5.2 Second in Command
Age:41 years
Nationality:Indonesia
Date of joining company:31 October 2011
License:CPL
Date of issue:15 May 1997
Aircraft type rating:Boeing 737
Instrument rating validity:31 August 2019
Medical certificate:First Class
Last of medical:28 September 2019
Validity:28 March 2019
Medical limitation:Pilot shall possess glasses that correct for near vision
Last line check:4 July 2017
Last proficiency check:25 August 2018
Flying experience
Total hours: 5,174 hours 30 minutes
Total on type: 4,286 hours
Last 90 days: 187 hours 50 minutes
Last 30 days: 32 hours 55 minutes
Last 7 days: 20 hours 20 minutes
This flight:About 11 minutes