Roller Merlin
I have sat on the sideline bemused for some time now. Your post really takes the cake.
Let me preface with the comment that I do not see an overwhelming need for a cadet system in Oz, given the considerable number of GA and military pilots available to the airlines.
That said, it is my view that the emphasis of the argument is in the wrong area. It is not a safety issue as much as it is a social equity issue. Australian airlines should be employing suitable pilots on Australian conditions to operate in Australia. If they wish to set up an overseas operation, fine. But they should be prohibited from using those overseas crew to man what are essentially domestic operations. The regulator is complicit if they allow this to happen.
Your assertion that Aus conditions are somehow more onerous than those experienced OS is just laughable. Try 350 hour ex cadets in the RHS of an MD80, F100, 737 or similar, running shorthaul in and out of military and civil aerodromes in weather you can only dream of. PAR and ASR approaches to minima on to 2000m (non grooved)runways in snow sleet and ice. Or perhaps the ARC to LLZ/DME approach (round dials not glass)to the minima passing over terrain that sets off the GPWS, and viz on the minima. 600ft circling approaches at night in hilly terrain and black holes. Use the hospital as a marker because you will lose sight of the runway end due to the big hill between you and the threshold.
I have the T shirt. The ex cadets did a really good job. Procedurally spot on, and most handled the aircraft well. A few initially had issues close to the ground, but just a few.
The people who kill passengers are invarialy relatively low time LHS, or those with "know it all" CRM issues.
The low time RHS be he GA, cadet or military, is not the problem. The problem is a lack of regulation that allows inappropriate pairing of crews.
I would much rather be down the back with a seasoned LHS taking a newbie RHS than to be behind a lowtime combination in the front.
In days gone by the 10-15 years spent in the RHS gave a great basis for a safe career. Sadly that does not still occur, and we are seeing the result. Low time wunderkind barely out of school in the LHS paired with a low time RHS. Disaster in the making.
If there is to be an hours limitation imposed, I suggest it would be more appropriate to apply something like a 6000 hour combined total time in a two pilot cockpit, and a supervised training certification for anyone sitting with a RHS less than 1000.
SS
Last edited by scam sniffer; 3rd Dec 2010 at 15:39.