I recall a bad situation while I was captain (and handling pilot) of a 737 descending towards a tiny Pacific island at night. It was really black. I was undergoing a scheduled route check. The check pilot (from the Sub-Continent) on the jump seat decided that he wished to occupy the RH seat for the instrument approach and landing.
Accordingly the first officer swapped seats and the man with the turban strapped in to the right seat. He requested that I demonstrate an NDB approach.
Our airline used standard Boeing 737 SOP which required the aircraft to be configured at flap 5 and 170 knots by the time we arrived over the NDB for the first time.
At 210 knots clean and one minute to overhead I called for flap 1 on the way to the flap 5 config. To my dismay the turbanned one said "No, No, you are taking the flaps too early".
At the instant of my call I had airspeed bleeding just below 210 knots at idle thrust clean, in anticipation of my request for flap1 being executed without delay. I again called for flap 1 only to be countermanded by the PNF check pilot who repeated in an irritable manner that it was too early to configure.
I hastily reached across and selected the flap lever myself while throttling up to stop further airspeed bleed. While there was no danger of any more bleeding airspeed, nevertheless I was taken aback at my request for flap extension being countermanded by the PNF check pilot while it was I who held full command responsibility for the flight.
The incident was disturbing and harsh words were exchanged between us. The rest of the approach proceeded with a marked hostility between our two cultures.
After landing I wrote a report on the matter of check pilot and command responsibilities.
The next day, I was told to present myself to the chief pilot's office and lo and behold the turbanned one was in the chair. I was informed that I had failed my route check.
When I asked on what specific point did I "fail" the check, the turbanned one said "How can I pass you on the route check when you write a letter like that criticising me?"...
I was staggered to say the least and asked what I would have to do to "pass" the route check again. The chief pilot replied "Just tear up your report and you pass"..
Two captains together in the same cockpit is not always a good thing - and definately a bad thing if there are two cultures involved.