PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Air India Express' landing woes continue..
Old 20th Nov 2011, 17:29
  #48 (permalink)  
totempole
 
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The so called team concept has nothing to do with one man's failure to meet the demands of his profession. If he was physically frightened of coping with strong crosswinds he should have the balls and conscience to remove himself from flying as a captain until he was re-trained to acceptable standards. A first officer should be capable of conducting crosswind landings without drama up to the crosswind limit. After all he holds the legal appointment of second in command which means he should have the same skills as a captain.

Of course it is well known that many first officers (new graduates from flying schools) are incapable of landing safely in max limit crosswinds. In that case they should not be occupying the position of second in command. Airlines pay lip service in the simulator to these cadets in order to get a cheap bum in the RH seat. But that does not excuse the lack of regular simulator training of these pilots on manoeuvres such as strong crosswinds
The captain should have gone to an alternate with less crosswinds. I agree that he should ask for retraining at tackling limiting crosswinds.

However, landing at max crosswind limits with gusts is extremely dicey at best. Remember, the airline must set the limits for an average pilot, not aces or test pilots. The landings at max Boeing limits od max demonstrated limits were done by test/certification pilots
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