jcjeant wrote :
From the BEA report Perpignan
Crew maybe not very very experienced ... but certainly more than those of the AF447
.............
The crew of Toulouse test flight:
Very more experienced ? .. maybe as test pilots ......
What a lot of confusion regarding flight hours !
It's hard to admit for a lot in the industry, but flight hours don't have the same value, depending on the background... Even if it doesn't prevent them for having accidents (see Toulouse Airbus crew, also british Trident stall in the 60's, dozens of others...) hours in a flight test environment have thirty (or more ?) time the value of hours in an airline environnment, with nothing happening in cruise, and landings always identical - if not in external conditions, but for sure in performing. Comparing flight hours of both sides is like mixing strawberries with potatoes.
Maybe there will be an understanding of all this after ?
The Perpignan crew was conducting an acceptance flight, and they had no training for that, period. To call them test pilots is totally unappropriate. I know that in the companies (including mine) you have supposed experienced pilots, calling themselves "test pilots" when they just perform "out-of-maintenance" check flights ....
One day airline pilots will have to admit that their hours don't have big value, compared to other backgrounds ... but as flying big jets is supposed to be the pinnacle of careers, its' not going to happen soon, I'm afraid.
Jafa and others said just above : give airlines pilots 4 hours of glider every year (or 4 hours of aerobatic aircraft) ... Who will pay for those hours ? Airlines are already saving money on pilot's food and hotel allowances, they are squeezing every hour of duty times from them, and you would expect them to pay for general aviation hours for their pilots (thus losing flying days of the same pilots, by the way..) A bit unrealistic, I'm afraid.
Just give more consideration to the hiring of ex-fighter pilots, by factoring their hours an appropriate way, and the industry will have moved significantly forward regarding safety. Yes, I know, very difficult to swallow for some, especially for those having been saying for years "
Ah those guys for sure, have a good set of hands, but in commercial approach... bla-bla-bla-... CRM...bla-bla-bla-... putting mission before safety...bla-bla-bla..(what the hell do they imagine with this last point ?!?)
As AF337 is showing, a good set of hands and an alert eye might be of some use from time to time in aviation.
And stop flying at night with the storm light "On" in the cockpit, that will help a little bit... (flying in a dark cockpit is also supposed to be typical of ex-military pilots, I heard...)