poor white night!!
I like flying with the extra crew personally but ( and apart from his tone level and style which was c@#p) White Knight has a small point.
I am of the (personal) opinion that having extra crew on the flight deck is a double edged sword.
yeah - great to help do a bit of the work etc. but I anecdotally believe that sometimes it may not add to safety.
I like the idea of the three pilot crew ( 1 skipper /2 f/o's) as the delineation of command is clear. Sometimes too many cooks etc etc.
This is a little like having two QFI's in the one aircraft - there used to be silly incidents as command was a little blurred sometimes.
Personally , when I am augmenting I offer to do what ever the other captain wants but don't volunteer for anything specifically.
I certainly don't wear a head set normally on take off or interfere on arrival.
Reason - they are good enough to operate by themselves ( of course I will ask if they want help and keep my head out just in case there is something really obvious) but if you are not on the head set etc you cant interfere, they don't assume you will help and when /if it goes south you cannot be held to blame ( assuming it is not fatal of course).
Might be seen as a cop out but I give the two guys in the operating seat the benefit of the doubt that they can do the job they are trained for. Well .... most of the time but EKs recruitment and training lately seems to have missed something but we are all human!!
tail wheel - hmmm like that idea...
So ... back to the thread... what were the numbers in the box... and how small was the yellow trend arrow on take off... just my 2 cents. And the guys were not new to the jet so must be more to it..perhaps busy getting wound up about the change in Ops policy or discussing the FG1 with the big ta ta'S... at least that would be a reason!!!
dont mean to get anyone off side - all is tongue in cheek and meant in a nice tone and style as if we were at a bar chatting over a pint...you know ... civil!!!