No, the point I made was that the captain had a very valid reason to be distracted.
It was an aircraft type that I had thousands of hours on, and the height lock was usually very positive and reliable. Sod's law, the maker of many an accident, dictated that the distraction coincided with a failure of the system to lock the height. Ironically, it was the captain's very smooth reduction of vertical rate that made the detection of the fault (by sensing g forces ) give an added clue to the failure.
I would have hoped that by 1,000 hours, this young man would have had such an improved general awareness, that he would have picked up on the error. I have noticed that some pilots that seem to take a while to ‘settle in', turn out to be very good operators later on. It's one of my personal foibles, but I thought that the preposterous amount of paperwork the p2 was coping with was contributory in this case.
Really, this incident was very minor. I have experienced things over the years that would have to be seen to be believed. It was just that the crew fitted a profile that was germane.
Character and maturity are the determinants in qualitative terms of any pilot in any airline, its just that in Ryanair, the quality of our people is far more important than in big, fur-lined, loss making legacy carriers who fly from 10000 feet long ILS to 10000 feet long ILS with 90 minute turn arounds in between, because our operation is more extreme. Shotguns and convulsing bodies nothwithstanding, of course.
I see that
Leo Hairy-Camel is again chanting his mantra on a different thread. I didn't need the year's financial reports in detail, the bottom line had already been spelled out. It is the means of getting this bottom line that is in question.
Anyone, and I mean anyone, who makes it onto the Ryanair line and manages to stay there, is a highly capable airman, a determined individual, and demonstrably of above average ability.
Well, given that you have cornered the market on young chaps with ‘above average ability' then you won't mind answering the question. I hear rather frightening figures bandied about, so just what are the lowest hours for a fully operational F/Officer?
My ‘offensive' comparison was more to do with the young chaps that are having to cope with such financial burdens, while trying to achieve skilled professional standards for the first time. Their costs are likely to have been more than they had ever planned on, then this nonsense bearing down on them while £ billions lie in the bank. They probably can't ‘escape' without financial ruin, and that is the comparison. If young pilots really are in the situation described earlier, then not only are they inexperienced, but also burdened with other issues that are counter to safety.
Heaven knows, as a young man I would have loved to work for a company that kept me airborne to the max on short haul; it is what I loved to do back then. However, to carry on for years, while raising a family, looking after old folk...in other words, living a life, under this kind of pressure, is IMO not acceptable. More of this amazing ‘success' should be invested into a more structured career for the young pilot.