Originally Posted by eyeinthesky
Back to what I said earlier:
'Done it lots of times before'
Returning to home base after a trip, not necessarily expecting the weather to be bad, flying an approach both pilots have done loads of times without mishap, always got in, local knowledge...
The holes in the cheese begin to line up, and there is no guarantee that a second pilot experiencing some or all of the above would either have:
a) insisted upon a full pre-approach brief or
b) been concerned about the approach below the profile
enough to prevent the accident. We all suffer from get-there-itis from time to time.
The pilot admitted he did not check the procedure on paper and, when questioned, did not know the exact position or level of the FAP. (notwithstanding amnesia caused by the crash). Would a second pilot necessarily have done this? In fact, two pilots' complacency and desire to get home might make that even less likely.
Just because there are two of you does not necessarily make it safer.
My company insists upon a full approach brief even when returning to home base for just this reason.]
My bold.
All a bit 'if' and 'maybe' really. I still maintain that two crew
doing their jobs properly are safer than one. How many briefs have you given or received that contain errors? How often does the other pilot pick up on them? I've seen it lots of times particularly in the sim or at the end of a long day/week when the pressure is on and people are tired. The sum of the parts is greater than the whole and that little extra capacity often makes the difference.
We've done this to death in the past. If single pilot were safer why aren't all the airlines and operators doing it? I know I can fly my aircraft alone, simulated incapacitation proves that, and it would be easy to introduce a higher level of automation than we already have. So why no single pilot airline ops?