Originally Posted by
FlightDetent
Perfectly capable. At 250 hrs, completely every single one of them. And all done by the book too.
It depends who trains them, and to what standard are they made to perform.
I am not disputing a narrow field of vision, non-existent experience, nor being just inches ahead of aircraft. But a single handed return to land with a malfunction is a piece of cake. They're young, sharp and motivated..
While a 250-hour FO is still about as far from proficiency as a man can be, performing a diversion to a major and well-equipped airfield with an autoland under MAYDAY and all ensuing assistance from ATC should not be completely beyond them. Descent on a conservative profile, ILS to autoland, stop on the runway. That's enough. After all, how come that the instructor releases their safety pilot if they are not confident that there will be someone capable of saving the day in case they're left alone at the flight deck?