Originally Posted by
jimjim1
No.
The PNF made his best effort to persuade the PF to put the nose down.
And when persuasion failed, the next thing to do should have been to take control, especially if one thinks that the conduct of the flight is becoming dangerous. It was the (possibly subconscious) decision to defer actively taking control until after the Captain returned - by which time the situation had got significantly more dangerous, and the PNF himself seemed to have been confused into indecision - that I was referring to.
@bubs - There you go again with "No pilot would X", and throwing around accusations of incompetence - the PF was a highly-qualified sailplane pilot, and to the best of my knowledge gliders don't have automation. Yes, he lacked training in high-altitude manual handling, but that's a long way from "not knowing how to fly". As such, a more likely explanation was that he was overwhelmed by the situation - compounded by startle effect.
As we touched on not long ago, even pilots who are considered to be super-competent can, typically when under significant pressure, make horrendous mistakes - probably the most infamous being the KLM Captain (Chief training Captain on the 747, no less) who tried to take off without clearance at Tenerife in 1977. So a pilot doesn't need to be incompetent to foul up, but - and this is one of the reasons I respect the responsibility you lot carry - in aviation you only need to foul up once at the wrong time to end a career, a reputation, and hundreds of lives.