Flying the aircraft is the least challenging task in the cockpit?
Business and Commercial Aviation magazine (February 2016) has an article written by Fred George called "Crunch Time in the Cockpit Tests CRM."
It is a well written article about Qantas Flight 32 an A380 from Singapore to Sydney on 4 November 2010. No 2 engine suffered a catastrophic failure causing functional problems with the remaining three engines which severely compromised multiple systems.
Much has been written about the excellent CRM displayed by the captain and his crew which resulted in a safe though harrowing landing.
However there was one particular statement by the author of the article that seemed rather odd. The captain was quoted as saying:
"if the pilot in command is the pilot flying, control of the aircraft should be transferred to the second in command when coping with abnormalities or emergencies. However there are times when the command pilot may have to fly the aircraft because it is the least challenging task in the cockpit."
An extraordinary statement indeed. And all these years I thought that physically handling the aircraft in an emergency was the most challenging task in the cockpit...