Dear all,
I am desperately in need of help here. It’s going to be a long one, therefore, I’d like to give out brief information in the beginning of this letter, just for you to decide whether to read on or not.
I’m currently a 747-400 first officer, on one of my flights, there were different opinion between the captain and I. But as a first officer, I see (or I think I see) something that greatly jeopardizes flight safety, so I filed a report against him, which is one thing I have never done before.
The results I received, was disappointing, not that I wanted to see anyone being punished, but it seems like I was wrong in all this. I plan to file another complain, but I need to have your advices.
On our 12 hour flight from A to B, we were cruising at FL350, and was requested to climb up to FL390, shortly, we were requested to choose from FL310, 370 and 410.
At that exact moment, the captain had his FMC in LEGS page, I had mine in PROGRESS. So I replied ‘standby’.
Before I could blink my eye, captain says ‘we can accept FL410’, I switched to VNAV CRUISE immediately, in which, the MAX showed 409. I brought this to his attention. Immediately, he pointed his finger at me, with an angry tone of voice, said ‘You tell her, we’ll take 410!’
I gave in, as there was no immediate danger.
As we climb, the captain continuously asked me ‘you’re not happy?’, and I gave him ‘no, I’m not’ as an answer. I also mentioned that we’re going to be too close to the buffet margins, and I’m not too comfortable with it. He stated that the FMC is being conservative, and we should be ok.
Finally, we reached FL410. the upper/lower yellow band, was at 262/250. and we were cruising at 260, and most of the time, at 264, inside the yellow band.
Trying to persuade me, the captain went into ‘PERF INIT PAGE’, and modified CRZ CG to 23%. Immediately, the yellow band filled all the speed tape, and A/T went almost idle at the same time. To compensate for this, the captain changed again to 27%.
‘The FMC is being too conservative’, the captain said, He further explained that ‘the CG right now, should be 23%, but the FMC is being too conservative’. My reply was ‘There’s always a reason to be conservative’.
I asked the captain how did he get this figure of 23%? He replied ‘from experience’, being provoked, I said ‘Don’t tell me about “experience”, tell me how did you calculated and how did you come up with this number?’
The only answer I got, was ‘I’ve been flying glass cockpit airplanes since 1984, I know very well about FMC’.
I asked again, ‘if you think 23% is correct, why would you put in 27% instead? Aren’t we lying to the computer?’ The reason for me to have said that, is because that I believe it’s similar to changing gross weight in order to get higher altitude from FMC, not exactly, but similar.
I also stated, ‘Look, we’re now so close to the HI/LO buffet margin, what if we encounter CAT now?’ The captain’s reply was ‘Look outside, it’s clear sky, we’re ok.’ My last response to him that day, other than standard callouts and reading checklists, was ‘They wouldn’t calling it CAT, if it’s only CB related’.
Coming back from B to A the next day, one of the controllers asked us, what was the highest flight level we can accept.
The captain called for the QRH. As polite as I can be, I told him ‘Sure, but please don’t make it so margin like yesterday, ok?’ He turned to me, and replied ‘I’m the captain, I make the final decision, you’ll have to trust me’.
Latter, he asked, ‘Didn’t they ever teach you how to check the performance chart?’ I said ‘yes, but we also have to respect FMC and PFD displays’.
‘Wrong’ he said, showing the QRH in his hand, ‘this is the pilots’ bible, you guys are relying too much on the computer’.
After that, there were no further interacts, except of course, standard callouts and checklists.
I filed a report against the captain, but the response I received, was disappointing, (to me at least) in which, it said:
1) The maximum altitude in the QRH, has already implemented safety margins, therefore it’s safe, and the captain is at no fault.
2) Please correct the first officer, and advice him of the correct concept.
I agree to the 1st part, I have no doubt about it, but it seems like the whole decision making process, was totally ignored, besides, my report stated ‘safety report’, but when I receive the copy, the ‘safety report’ tick box was canceled, instead, it was changed to a regular trip report. I strongly disagree with that, because I think flight safety was greatly jeopardized, besides, here’s what I’m thinking:
1) The captain acted solely upon ‘experience’, without hesitation, nor any calculation whatsoever, before accepting FL410, when FMC shows the maximum as 409, while the situation is nothing close to airplane losing control or losing it’s wing, or anything to that extent, besides, he didn’t even know what the FMC maximum was, because his page was at LEG, and mine was at PROGRESS.
2) Our company’s policy, clearly stated, not to exceed FMC optimum + 2,000’ during normal operations.
3) FMC projected landing fuel was 33.1, and our reserve is 18.3, while there were only 2 hours of flight time left.
4) We were flying inside upper yellow band most of the time all the way before TOD.
5) I have no doubt about the professionalism and ability of the loading department, but there’s always error in loading.
6) If I have the wrong idea about maximum altitude, does that mean we can always fly above the buffet margin?
I, as a first officer, did not see any immediate danger, therefore, I obeyed the captain’s command, while under strong protest.
It’s been bothering me, very much indeed, I have to admit that I don’t have a whole lot of experience in aviation, and I’m no genius when it comes to airplane gimmicks, I’ve only started 747-400 no more than 7 months ago, before that, I flew 737-200, 400 and 800, only 3000 hours were accumulated for the past 5 and a half years.
The way the captain’s been acting, is clashing with my ‘safety and CRM concept’, am I wrong? Am I just being paranoid? Or am I just making a fool out of myself?
Call me a chicken, but when it comes to flight safety, I take that as a compliment.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and please give a brief introduction on your background, and please, forgive me for any error in grammar, for English is not my mother language.
Thank you.
Tony Ko
747-400 First Officer
[email protected]