PP;
Once again, you have hit the nail precisely on the head. Trouble is, I wonder how many people are actually reading and digesting your posts, because we seem to be going around in circles here, reinventing the same old wheel.
For example,our colleague Centaurus states;
The PF should already have the chart in front of him and he should be referring to it. The support call by the PNF is a back-up to what the PF should already know. To rely on just one pilot calling the chart details is poor airmanship as PNF's have been known to call erroneous heights versus DME distances. The PIA A310 crash at Kathmandu, the Air Manila (?) 707 crash 20 miles from Manila and many other similar CFIT accidents attest to that.
Who on earth has suggested otherwise? Basic airmanship (or whatever they call it these days) has always called for this, which is why the wise PF must monitor whatever the PM is calling out. Both you and I have mentioned the good habit of writing down the profile checks (in large font in my case) as an independent crosscheck. My reference (post #64) to the PIA accident in KTM was intended to illustrate that very point of how easy it is to get out of step with callouts;fatal in hilly terrain. The PF had better be in the loop, or else!
One of my favourite quotations has always been-"Man has oft more need to be reminded than informed." (Samuel Johnson?). In our business, we know that complacency is the biggest killer,but it seems we sometimes forget easily.
To that end, I found it worthwhile reading the comments of betterave (post # 71);sound operational technique for flying NPA's in todays glass cockpits. I believe the vast majority of professional pilots do maintain the highest standards. One would hope that what happened in MEL was an isolated aberration.
p.s. ending on a slightly more controversial note, I know we all love to show what aces we are at manually poling the big jet around, and yes, we do need to keep our "rusty" handling skills in shape; (another favourite saying-"The older I get, the better I was"), but dare I suggest that, in todays automated, high density aviation environment, there is a time and place for such things (e.g the simulator?).Apart from anything else, it sure gives the PM a hard time as you decide to manually fly a typical SID! Our SOP says don't do it,but some guys have mental lapses. Like it or not, automation is the way of the future,and getting to proper grips with it is not always easy or pleasurable, yet it has to be done, and that can be a sobering experience. Which is why, in daily operations, I often encounter my third favourite quote-"Experience is something you think you have, until you get a little bit more!"