Anyway, the captains role should not weigh in this accident. He was on his break and it is considered legal to leave the two FOs alone. Period.
At a big ME airline, they stow the crew bunks in the furthermost corner of the aircraft, between zillions of passengers and trolleys. Captains would never ever make it to up front again in a panic situation, and it's considered legal by all authorities.
If anyone thinks, the captain could have easily shifted his break, then consider:
- There is not only the very one zone of increased danger on such flights, maybe the other one is 3 hours down the road.
- Each crew member has to have 3 hours of uninterrupted break to have it legally considered.
- Generally the first and the last hour is when the captain is in his seat, legally I think it is only above 20000ft when FOs may occupy the left seat.
Now fit this into the AF flight and you will see, that he was almost constrained to be on his brake at the time.
To me this accident shows that a crew composition of 3 should contain 2 captains. Not only or necessarily because of more experience, but moreover because of the lack of leadership training and inhibit of take-over capabilities. This was very much displayed by the PNF-FO.
Last edited by glofish; 17th Oct 2011 at 07:55.