Originally Posted by
sky9
Can I just highlight that the F/O had 200hrs experience. I didn't get a commercial pilots licence until I had flown 230 hours and didn't fly jets until I had 1800hrs. The company that I flew 737's for in the UK in the early 1970's required 2000 hours before offering a job in the right hand seat.
This incident was to all intents and purposes a single pilot operation.
Absolutely spot on. At 200 (300 according to ET) hours, you are just along for the ride. The CA himself may have never flown anything outside of ET, certainly not old and broken airplanes from the past. It really bothers me that to this day, I sometimes look over at the FO for ideas or help in doing mental math, and he has nothing to contribute. These aircraft are certified for a minimum of two experienced pilots, not one instructor and one student. Ridiculous.
12,000 hours as captain of 727/57/67, I still rely on my highly experienced F/O's to feed me as much advice as they can.