Originally Posted by
Dream Land
Background, failed a chap on a line check (I was being observed by FAA) due to landing unspooled. He had been high on the profile the entire approach and chose to correct his position close to the airport, flare and touchdown good. The aircraft is the A320, my question is whether in your opinion this was a valid reason to have him repeat the check considering everything else was fine and considering the way the Airbus is certified (all automatics in). Thoughts and ideas appreciated from the talented group here. 
D.L.
I'm surprised the FAA didn't debrief this with you first and then sit in on your debrief to the new guy as to why it was unsatisfactory. Seems that all three aviators were substandard on this one. But the good thing/bad thing is this approach had no consequence.
Good thing.. no bent metal and no injured pax.
Bad thing.. often we take away the wrong lesson and that is 'Hey.. I can do this!"
Now that the event is over, it would probably be a good thing to go ahead and debrief the new pilot and ask what lessons he learned from the approach. If he learned nothing, you can still recommend that he have another line check with another instructor.