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Old 13th Jan 2011, 09:48
  #935 (permalink)  
SadPole
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
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Nice guys as PICs

The only good thing that may come out of this mess is increased understanding that you don’t want, ever, to have a "nice guy" (called a conformist in MAK/IAC report) as PIC. It's really good that this issue is dealt with in the report see 1.16.10 Assessment of the PIC's Psychoemotional Status.

In the aftermath of the Tbilisi incident, it was re-confirmed that (even in Poland) the PIC makes final call on anything that goes on at the aircraft and that nobody has a right to order the PIC around. And, in spite of that, the nonsense with the politicians crowding the cockpit and making a final call about landing in fog still happens. Why?! Because the PIC got selected precisely because he was a "nice guy" who would make the "main passenger" happy by not interfering with his egomania. At the same time, the competent PIC who knew how to perform his duties in all circumstances as demonstrated in Tbilisi incident is relieved of duty and does not fly the VIPs anymore. While he was at the end given a medal by politicians opposed to the "main-passenger", he nevertheless did go through hell.

Another "nice guy" on board was that (allegedly drunk) Air-Force General on board who was found to have been a major surviving culprit in the CASA crash but who got to keep his job thanks to personal intervention by Kaczynski (aka the main-passenger).

So there it is. You don’t want to have a "nice guy" as PIC. You want a guy who is able to grab a hunk of pipe and throw the bums out of the cockpit if they screw around with him. If you don't follow that rule, all you get is a bunch of headstones with "He was such a NICE guy" written on them.
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