For the reason
PJ2 has stated
– pilot development
– it makes absolute sense to ensure that all copilots remain fully qualified in the R/H Seat. I now infer from
takata that Air France may not have had a formal system for training copilots to act as PF in the L/H seat. There is no doubt that using the sidestick with the hand you don't normally use results in a very different "feel". This left/right discrepancy also applies to all switch selections.
This may not be relevant to AF447, because the pilot in the R/H seat appears to have been the PF almost to the end. However, in the event that the more experienced pilot was occupying the L/H seat as relief pilot, he MIGHT have been discouraged from taking control because he had not been trained to fly with the L/H sidestick. I suggest this merely as a tentative possibility, because
– in any two-pilot operation (which this was, in a sense)
– one has to cover the incapacitation case.
I remain curious why, in the present absence of CVR evidence in the public domain,
takata is emphatic that the more-experienced copilot was in the R/H seat. I appreciate that ground staff at GIG would be aware who was occupying which seats just before departure.
It needs to be said that,
AFAIK, there is no evidence that Air France procedures were inferior to those of other airlines.