Originally Posted by Will Fraser
On three distinct occasions, the First Officer performed PF tasks without asking. Pitch mode, Flap retraction, and condition levers. She had a great deal more time in type, (Didn't everybody?), was there a tacit arrangement whereby she would assist in the flying? I sense that with the Captain's inexperience, the Command duties may have been "shared" in some makeshift, "intuitive" fashion. He didn't correct her, were they flying as a "committee"?
She didn't select pitch mode, she advised him that they were in pitch mode. I'm pretty sure I know how they got into pitch mode. They got an alert for four thousand, they then conversed for a while, they were then given further descent to two thousand three hundred. He would then have rest the altitude selector to two thousand three hundred, if you do that while the previous altitude is being captured, the autopilot will default to pitch mode. They've then descended in pitch mode and she has subsequently noticed and advised him.
The flap's were raised in a misguided effort to fix the problem.
I'm not sure about the condition levers. It is possible that the condition levers to max is an automatic action from the PNF in response to a cue from the PF such as "landing checklist." Does it say somewhere that the PNF selected the condition levers to max? Maybe he did it himself. Certainly in our company the PF calls for condition levers to max, the PNF moves the levers and the PF follows through with power as required.