Hi Chris,
Originally Posted by Chris Scott
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.
Simply because it was supposed to be the procedure when the Captain is taking his rest: the new PF, acting as Captain, should be the most senior F/O from the RHS following what AF believed to be the best use of its crews when two F/Os are left alone in the flight deck. Note that, in this case, the PNF (junior F/O) is also acting from the seat he is not used to (hence, more F/O training for LHS after AF447).
Originally Posted by Chris Scott
I appreciate that ground staff at GIG would be aware who was occupying which seats just before departure.
At take-off time, those slots could have been filled differently as the junior F/O could have been PF with the Captain PNF (as he was, see report). The next cruise leg was nonetheless flown by the same PF (senior F/O) as during the second cruise leg (when acccident happened). The junior F/O was certainly resting after the climb and came back for the second cruise leg, sitting in Captain's seat. The Captain seems to have been PNF all the time until his rest.
There is no hard evidence of that: it is based on AF routine and clues from the meteo briefing. If the first cruise leg has been flown by the junior F/O, the Captain would have made the briefing to his replacement (senior F/O). The pilot talking (PF) is obviously the same one that is in charge once the Captain is resting: hence he is also the one flying (senior F/O) and this is fully consistent with known AF routine.