[quote][officers who are very very experiencedWhy? Simply because the buck stops with him. /QUOTE]
And this should come in fashion again. No, not everybody is interchangable. No, a 5 years senior F/O is not the same than a 25 years pilot with 15 years of command behind him. We have unfortunatly come to the point where because the F/O CAN fly the plane ( Thank God ) and replace the skipper should this one meet his creator in an untimely way, then he is supposed to be his equal !!! That's total tosh regardless of the ability of the guy sitting in the right hand seat.
When I was a F/O it did look very easy from my seat.
Getting back to P&O, where was the skipper of the Amoco Cadiz when it crashed on the alaskan coast creating the biggest environmental disaster ever ???
Drunk, in his bunk !!
Why was AF447 they in that thunderstorm?
The question nobody wants to ask or answer, some even claiming these alledged CB's were just a fiction. Then explain me why AF 459 diverted 70 miles off track.
Then comes the aircraft that no matter how great people claim it is, shows some pretty amazing flaws.
Then comes the training : how on earth are we supposed to handle these aircrafts in degraded mode and adverse weather if we don't get the minimum training for it. And please, stop telling us a monkey could do what we do.
Then come SOP's as explained above. How can a pilot fly in direct law from the right hand seat using the stand by horizon. Answer, transfer of control to the guy on the left..............who's never flown the aircraft from that seat, let alone with controls working properly.
No, it is not uncool for the skipper to be in his seat whenever he sees fit. I know, we all have to look and be cool nowadays and turn out to be approval seekers instead.
Then comes management who should do his bloody job and .........er ........yes ....manage instead of burying its head in the sand and pretending everything is honky dory.