Gomer
Thanks for the info. In EASAland we have a distinction between single pilot and multi-crew operations and to operate in the latter mode you need to have been trained and certificated accordingly. The training and certification requires that the pilot demonstrates that he can identify when his colleague has been incapacitated and fly the aircraft to safety. If the cockpit has been optimised for RHS operation then operating from the LHS may not be straightforward and rehearsal/practice necessary at least in order that the crew are aware what can and cannot be done when the guy in the RHS is incapacitated. If checks are always carried out in the RHS then any difficulties that may exist will never come to light as it will always be the guy in the LHS who has to 'play dead'.
You may think that this is a piffling issue hardly worthy of your time but as all AOC/CAT operators and ATO's are keen to comply with the regs it will be difficult to ensure that copilots are adequately trained in their normal crew station. Imagine that the RHS pilot becomes disoriented and the LHS pilot is forced to take over but then fails to regain control. The subsequent analysis of the accident may conclude that the copilot in the LHS had never been given training in IMC from his normal crew station and because the instrument layout is reversed on his side he may have had difficulties with his instrument scan. My experience is that helicopter pilot instrument skills are often found to be marginal so anything that detracts from optimum performance must be considered important, particularly in the recovery from unusual attitudes. As I write these lines I could just imagine them being written by the man from AAIB. There may have been one or two previous accidents in which this was indeed a factor but this detailed understanding of the situation was not considered. (Morecambe Bay??).
When a recent incident in one corner of the world was analysed it turned out that the LHS pilot was landing but both his experience was low and his training in the sim was always RHS. Was this a factor in his misjudgement of the (very poor) landing captured on the platform CCTV?
In our business it is sometimes very small and seemingly inconsequential things that create a hole in the Swiss cheese. I'm trying to understand what the situation is with regard to training standards across the various jurisdictions. It seems that some are quite specific and other take no regard of the issues raised. I ask a simple question - should we train in the crew station we normally occupy? Even if the answer is "Yes at least 50% of training should be in the normal crew station," then we can perhaps begin to understand the issues surrounding the questions I have raised.
G.