Again, I have no doubt that the relief commander/pilot in charge would take a similar course of action to what I would do, were I to have been in the seat, because of the next quote:
I can only say " Lucky you !!" because from experience, I can tell you it is very uneven. You get some outstanding chaps whereby I sleep like a baby, some others should altogether be out the shop. Plain simple.
It is assumed, all F/O's are of the same caliber ( same applies to Captains ) and we all know it's not the case. There is a huge variety of pilots, ex military, GA and cadets. Sorry, but a 3 years senior cadet who ends up flying the 777 isn't like an air force or navy bloke who's got a 12 years miltary carreer under his belt.
Trust me, I've discovered some pretty interesting things coming back from my break, some of them would just baffle you. My trust is now given on a one to one basis and I have learned to be that way from past bitter experiences.
Second, in the particular 447 case, while on cruise, the acting relief pilot sits in the right hand seat. So far the best way to perform an emergency descent which, until today , has been the worst forseen case scenario. This would mean the acting relief F/O would have had to fly the aircraft from the right seat, in direct law, using the stand by horizon ( assuming it was working ) and in severe turbulence. Who can do that ? I know I can't.
Evidently, the SOP's need to be reassed as the worst case scenario is worse that we thought it could be.
Training needs to be beefed up beyhond the boring engine failure on take off. In the 5 years on the 777, only once have I flown the sim on the stand attitude indicator and only because I had requested it having 10 minutes to spare. The nice to know that can ultimatly save your life has almost disappeared and I remember bitterly what a training captain once told me as I was requesting some out of the ordinary exercise " That's bloody ridiculous. It simply cannot happen " ..........;It was flying with total loss of flight controls.