Originally Posted by
Geoffersincornwall
That's where we differ. It is mandatory for EASA check rides for Multi Crew certification. With no formal structure there will be no supporting documentation. That's when you find out that in the accident report that whilst one TRE would take the opportunity to test the copilot during the captain's LPC another would not. It turned out that when the captain collapsed at the controls the copilot had never had to fly an ILS, land, taxi and shutdown from the left hand seat and had a real struggle to achieve it. During the high stress situation and in a bit of a panic the copilot inadvertently pickled off the AP's instead of putting the FD to S/By (happens all the time in the sim) became disoriented lost control and that was that.
Fanciful? A 'black swan' event. Maybe but as Arnold Palmer once said after downing a 50 foot putt when a commentator remarked "that was real lucky". "Yes," he replied,"and the more I practice the luckier I get."
G.
PS. I once lost a dear friend who collapsed whilst training in IMC in a Sea King. Fortunately his safety pilot was able to return the aircraft safely but unfortunately Mike never regained consciousness and died the following day. He was 25 years old. A very sad day. So you can see, for me such things are not so fanciful.
Geoffers, for many of us this is a non-issue because our system has not created it. This is clearly not a single-pilot issue so I'll concentrate on the multi. In Canada, military and civil (all rotary wing), at no time was I working in an operation that limited copilots to the LHS. It was not until I was working for a European company that this concept raised it's [IMHO] ugly head.
In our world (left of the Atlantic) it is very simple: the captain sits in the seat he chooses. There is no 'qualification' for this because he has been doing this from the time he was endorsed on the type, P1 or P2. I understand there are types with limitations to the controls installed on each side and as a PIC I considered that, and the P2's experience, the role to be flown, and who would be landing, when choosing my seat. My captain did the same when I was P2.
In the manner I am accustomed to conducting IFR operations your example amazes me! Both PFA and PMA's should be practiced in training. The PM landing an approach from minimums should be normal. In the offshore and EMS roles I often knew that a landing at the helideck/pad would be flown from a particular seat and organized the crew accordingly. If that meant a challenging left seat landing then (at my discretion) the 200-hour copilot would be in the right seat for the start, he flew the trip except for that difficult landing, and flew back. We also regularly swap PF/PNF duties leg to leg on longer trips.
Is the North Sea operating so differently?
As an aside, I too had a friend become incapacitated in flight. I was the LHS pilot. He did recover. I agree there is a heightened level of stress from the unusualness of the situation as well as the difference in workflow and feeling of helplessness.
Why do certain jurisdictions insist on creating ever more rigid systems that push themselves further away from real life?
