Originally Posted by
Tee Emm
The Boeing 737 FCTM makes it clear that the captain not only makes the decision to reject the take off but carries out the procedure as well.
While that applies to the normal crew complement of captain and first officer, it would be informative to know various airline policy when the check captain is operating from the RH seat and training a new captain who occupies the left seat. This assumes the new captain has completed all the required simulator training in the left seat and is now undergoing command line training in the air on revenue flights.
While the pilot in command (in this case the check captain) makes the decision to reject a take off the situation is less clear when someone is undergoing command training on line in the left seat.
Who then becomes responsible for handling the rejected take off procedure? The pilot under training for command? Or the authorised check captain occupying the RH seat? What are the legal issues, if any? All this assumes the pilot under training for his command in the left seat is certified as having a command endorsement on the type gained in the appropriate credited full flight simulator before commencing line training.
Hi,
according to EASA ORO.FC.205 the command course shall include at least the following elements:
(...omissis...)
- the operator proficiency check, operating as commander
(...omissis...)
considering the above, the LHS pilot reaching the approved LIFUS phase of training is now fully qualified to operate as Pilot In Command under the supervision of the LTC/TRI/TRE. Said pilot has hence the Authority to act as a Commander and the Trainer has the Authority to override the decisions as it remains the responsible of the flight.
Considering the RTO manouver, as it is a time critical decision, both pilots will hence be entitled to decide and the manouver will be conducted to its completion. Should the need of an Emergency Evacuation arise, the Trainee Captain will state the decision (yes/no) and the Trainer will confirm it prior to the execution.
Should the Trainee Captain decide on an RTO that was unnecessary leading to an incident and/or accident, the legality is ensured by the above regulation that empowers the trainee of the necessary skills to command a RTO, as they have been satisfactorily demonstrated to the Operator and the Authority during the completion of the OPC. Subsequently all the necessary contributing factors and investigations will obviously be put in place.