This recently surfaced at the last BBQ- (dated Apr 2013)
A night operations restriction was brought in a number of years ago as a result of concerns from a significant number of Line Captains who had experienced a poorly handled First Officer night landing. In the Captains view they posed an unacceptable risk of damage to the aircraft. In addition they maintained that as they were not trained as a Training Captain they did not have the expertise to intervene successfully in such cases to be confident the risk of damage could be avoided.
Against these concerns the First Officer ‘night restriction’ was implemented.
Note this restriction only applies to the first year (ref T&S 4.2.3).
The night restriction pertains specifically to night landings. Night takeoff and enroute operations are not restricted (this point is not clear and will be clarified in an upcoming amendment).
To be approved for night operations, a First Officer must demonstrate to a Training Captain over a minimum of two night sectors knowledge of night considerations and restrictions as well as competence in physically landing the aircraft at night.
So it seems
- Eagle does NOT TRAIN F/Os - if they did then this issue would never have arisen
- OR - the demonic Trg Capt Gods are making mountains just to elevate themselves to FL GOD
Approved to do a 'Night T/O and en-route' but not a night landing ?????????
- How the hell does Ryanair/Easyjet and all the other LCs survive with 200hr (ok 300hr) F/Os in 737/320s ?
- God damit - its just a B1900 - which by the way is a very stable acft and a delight to fly.
AND - this is the real concern --[I]'
'...as they were not trained as a Training Captain they did not have the expertise to intervene successfully in such cases to be confident the risk of damage could be avoided.'
So what ever happened to the Capts call - "I HAVE CONTROL". This is 100% SOP everywhere else in the world - ie. Capts always have the authority to take control. It is deemed that as a Capt you have the skills to take control when you feel it is necessary. BUT - it seems some Eagle Capts did not feel they had that authority OR ability ??
With this revelation, it seems Eagle was well past its sell by date.