Yeah Airbus Girl,
And those nitwits at AB Industries STILL think they don't need a Flight Engineer!
------ even with up to 800 people aboard this new A380 Airelephant, they still think so - it will only take one accident to prove them wrong, and so little comparatively, to have a three man crew aboard.
And I mean a real Flight Engineer, not a 3rd pilot or a computer systems monitor!
Pure madness, with nobody watching the aircraft systems, and with so much at stake.
And please, don't respond with that "guff" (read rubbish) about how Flight Engineers are antiques, has beens, and the like, it's been proven many, many times that they are worth their weight in fuel and salary many times over.
I've been aboard enough long and shorthaul flights to know the difference, during my approx. 13,000 hours worth of experience, mainly on B727 and B747.
It's interesting to note, in my discussions with other crew, that most of the opposition to FEs comes from pilots who have never flown with one!
Cheers,
FD
