Originally Posted by
Judd
A couple of years ago I remember talking to a former Turkish Airlines first oTfficer who said the two years he had with that airline was the worst time of his career. His words (not mine) was captains had slapped his face, thrown paperwork at him, verbally abused him and generally acted like arrogant military trained cowboys. He said it made first officers scared of speaking up on final approach if the aircraft was clearly unstable as any suggestion that the captain's flying was outside published tolerances could mean there was a risk the first officer would be sacked for insubordination or a trumped up reason.
Originally Posted by
Judd
It is all too easy to say this is an extreme case of second or third hand generalisation. Maybe it is. But that is to ignore the facts and the type accidents as described where first officer verbal input to the captain may have resulted in a safer operation.
The military train their people very harshly in Turkey. Instant obedience to orders without questioning. Invariably Turkish airline captains were formerly military trained and their attitude to those of lesser rank flows down to the flight deck. The chap I talked to is now with another Middle Eastern airline and is happy with the flight deck atmosphere.
From his experience with two years in Turkish operated cockpits, the chap I talked to opined it is a courageous decision (as per Yes Minister TV series) for any first officer to make any SOP call-out that could reflect on the perceived professionalism of the captain. . Of course this does not apply to every Turkish cockpit but on the other hand the sort of accidents which seem to be prevalent cannot simply be swept under the carpet.
Lets not be coy or PC about these sort accidents. In the eyes of some culture driven captains the first officers are there to select flaps and pull up the gear and shut up. In so many airlines around the world ethnic culture overrules flight safety mores every time. That will never change. Lip service a plenty comes from management of these airlines but that is about all.
The core reason why Turkish aviation has some of the worst safety records in the western industry is cultural and mentality wise.
To change that is very difficult and we may continue to read sad headlines in the future. Hopefully not. While there are many well trained professionals with the right attitudes in Turkey, unfortunately they constantly run against the walls. Many of their airlines are notoriously badly managed. Profits are more important than flight safety for them. Flight crews are subject to a lot of indirect pressure to “be flexible” in everything from maintenance issues to duty time limits, in some cases loosing their jobs for diverting to alternates in bad weather because of the resulting costs. Training, flight deck standardization, CRM etc. too often leave a lot to be desired for. Long story short it is a very difficult environment to work in if you whish to do your job properly.
Best Regards
Foxy737