Taxi restrictios A-320 ser

[Chris Scott]

Quote:
To Chris Scott,
To whom do you think the blame should have been apportioned then? Surely the blame follows the line of command, and those who are charged with taking the responsibility…
[Unquote]

Thank you, sooty615, we are obviously in complete agreement on this one. You have elaborated the very point that I foolishly assumed everyone would realise I was making.

The captain always “carries the can”. You cannot have authority without responsibility; or vice-versa. This has to be understood by commanders in all walks of life. It also helps if copilots are aware of it.

The issue here is: which tasks and decisions should captains delegate to their first-officers? Things can go wrong very rapidly during taxiing, but so they can during an engine failure on take-off. I am uneasy that, in an airline that limits copilots to taxiing in straight lines (or bans it completely), there may also exist a culture that the captain should take over handling the aircraft immediately any problem arises in the air. This can be a very bad mistake, for a variety of reasons. There is also the practical issue of depriving future captains of the chance to develop safe and smooth taxiing skills, and to receive feedback on them.

One thing my experience in Lusaka (over twenty years ago) did ram home to me was the importance of planning and discussing the likely taxi route(s) to and from runways away from base, and including this as an item in take-off and descent briefings. It also taught me to improve my PNF lookout, and temporarily to suspend the checklist before an expected turn. I am firmly of the opinion that the copilot’s “leg” should give her/him as much an opportunity as possible to practise future command skills; including all aspects of aircraft handling.

Finally, unless things have changed since I retired, many stand guidance systems assume the aircraft is being driven from the left-hand seat; so you need to be prepared for the best time to hand over.