Originally Posted by
Uplinker
OK, but you also say that an Airbus TRE must only correct a situation by pressing the override button - which does exclude the opposite side-stick - and "I have control".
Yes, of course training must be clear and understood, but completely taking control from someone (instead of gently assisting), is a big deal and puts the cadet on the back foot, thinking they have done something bad. That Captain PM at JFK who dramatically emergency stopped rather than simply gently correcting my taxiing caused me a lot of concern and alarm and put me right off at a time when we both needed to be focussed and very aware of ATC and everything going on at that airport before we took off.
You might be right, but when someone has the wrong picture of the flare in their mind, a gentle correction there-and-then by a TRE might sort it, rather than discussing it in the classroom afterwards, when the picture is not there in front of you.
Let’s consider the fact that taking over is obviously the last resort in the chain of corrective actions that are put in place between the pilots. If we consider a training flight, there are stages where a takeover is normal, as we can’t decide the weather like in the Sim, and we can’t have the freshly Base-Trained or ZeroFlightTimed trainee wait for Variable 2kt, CAVOK for the first landing as PF. So at early stages, despite the thorough briefings that can be put in place by the instructor, the skill based competencies are still “work-in-progress” and there will be room for intervention. The latter will be mainly verbal coaching but could result in a takeover too. No big deal.
As the trainee progresses, ending up in a takeover at an advanced stage of the line training means quite often that some instructors have not done their job properly (we are talking, of course, about non-challenging airports and WX) . Sometimes there are personal issues of course, but that’s a different scenario.
In Your JFK episode it looks like your colleague did not communicate effectively with you to give you advice before ending up slamming the brakes and taking control. If a dual side stick input is a big no-no, a dual NWS input is the mother of all no-no.
Of course after a takeover the debriefing has to be extremely gentle and effective. There is nothing to worry about. If a flight goes well for 2 hours or so, where there is not much to correct, then we will correct those final 2/3 minutes for sure. We are 95% done. If you pass this message across, the all thing takes a different atmosphere.
Just to give You an idea: in my outfit FOs are allowed to exceed their X-Wind limitations when flying with a trainer. Luckily our training culture is such that each and every single FO will take advantage of it -should the case arise and if conductions are not too dramatic- with no fear of being considered “not good enough” if the Capt. has to takeover. That makes a big difference.