Originally Posted by
Stan Shunpike
Also in the report, a nod to the captain's apparently gung-ho approach to flying: "After the accident, flights of Captain for last 12 months were analysed which indicated, numerous triggers during Approach related to High Speed, Path High, High Rate of Descent, Long Flare Distance and GPWS Warnings. There was no Go-Around initiated and several Unstabilized Approaches were continued." Again, there are no such comments against the FO.
Do you think airbus test pilots fly stabilized approaches ? What do you think about aerobatics, spins, barrels.. ?
It's not dangerous to perform a maneuver that's under control. What's dangerous is to be in an unexpected, unwanted position, unintentionally. In this case it shows that the pilot does not control the flight path.
Unstable approaches are forbidden, so when they happen, it's a sign that the pilot is behind the aircraft, or that he voluntarily disregards the rule.
The latter case is not necessarily dangerous. At least, in my opinion, less than the first case. Again, do you think airbus test pilots fly stabilized approaches ? They disregard this safety rule, yet they're not dangerous.
To claim the captain was incompetent, it would require to prove that all these violations of usual rules were unintentional. You proved that he was either incompetent, or disregarding voluntarily the rules.
In my opinion it's not clear which is true, however the F/O really didn't help him in this case. There is a clear disregard for the rule, but the fact that the CPT could say "they're gonna be amazed we did it" when indeed his flight path was consistent with a landing (assuming the gear was let down...) pleads, in this case, for the second part.
Constant disregard of the rule giving him some proficiency in this kind of situations (high energy approaches). Not enough obviously...