Originally Posted by
BOING
Have to say this but it will never happen.The best way out of this dilemma would be the return of the third pilot.
The third pilot was a "roadblock" on the route from the cockpit door to the pilots and the controls.
The inclusion of a third pilot means that there would never be less than two pilots on the flight deck.
Pilots work at 25% of their maximum capacity most of the time, 95% of capacity some of the time and on occasions, when things go wrong, at 125% of their capacity. The third pilot dropped that 125% back to 95% and made the whole operation safer.
The third pilot had a 3D view of everything the pilots were doing and what they were seeing on the instruments, a much better view than the pilots had of each other. The third pilot was often the first person to detect an incipient problem.
Somehow, having a third pilot on the flight deck moderated any opinions and actions of the two pilots, a stabilizing influence.
Incidentally the third pilot increased the number of new jokes on the flight deck by 33%
Long time lurker here who joined after an incident as a pax on an old 737 operated by MAH as it came into land at KUL. This was shortly before the MH370 and I have lurked ever since, but I want to come in on Boing's post above.
As a passenger of many years standing as I'm an old fart, i've NEVER been comfortable with the 2 pilot arrangement and removal of the flight engineer. You don't need to be a pilot or psychiatrist or something to realise this, it's simply counter-intuative.
There may be some good that comes out of this tragedy, if only if it draws people's attention to the flawed idea of having a cabin attendant as a '3rd person'. How fundamentally flawed is this? So, we have all these safeguards to prevent 'terrorists' doing mischief but allow them to become cabin crew with possible access to an axe behind a single pilot's napper? It's a quick (and cheap) fix, but in my view risks / may cause a clearly discernible 'unintended consequence'. If we go down the one person in the cockpit route then in reverse order of preference it has to be: - 1) Senior flight crew / Purser only; 2) pilots able to access toilet facilities without leaving the flight deck; 3) revert to a 3 pilot flight deck. The last is by a country mile the best alternative but may be the most expensive.
I'd just like to address those posters shouting about costs and the public's demand for 'cheap' tickets. The public doesn't demand cheap tickets. (most of) the public want the cheapest fares available. Should I ever be offered the possibility of flying for a few dollars less on a plane with less stringent safety requirements I know what I would do... I'd WILLINGLY pay extra to travel with a 3 man crew up front, every time, no question.