F/O Autolands

[Spearing Britney]

Oxymoron I know!!

In your company can an autoland be performed with the F/O operating or does the Commander take over prior to the approach?

I'm not talking about Cat II/III approaches but about autoland in Cat I or better conditions. I've had it both ways and whilst I like having the option (long night flight) I don't think we do it enough for it to be a benefical practice.

As far as I know this could apply to Boeings too but its a question asked from an Airbus perspective...

[411A]

If the F/O CANNOT perform autolands, the management needs to be sent back to the sim for "retraining"...period.:rolleyes:

[Bellerophon]

Spearing Britney

On the fleets I've been on, the F/O has always been authorised to autoland, in conditions of Cat 1 or better.

I've seen a very few F/Os autoland, generally when it's their sector and they've had the misfortune to get an aircraft requiring an autoland (in good weather) to upgrade the autoland status back to Cat 3, perhaps after maintenance work.

I've never known a F/O voluntarily elect to do one however.

The general opinion, particularly on the ultra-long haul fleets with augmented crews (where landings for F/Os are not exactly plentiful anyway) would be "Why waste a landing?"

Regards

Bellerophon

[Herod]

411A. yet again you call for "retraining". Would you like to explain you post, and the reasoning behind it ?

[BlueEagle]

In my last company F/Os could do autolands in Cat.1 or better but as this was on a B744 they were, for the reasons given by Bellerphon, very reluctant to do so, many had only ever done one in the simulator.

My suggestion to them was that they should do them from time to time because the time when they would need one would be when the capt. was incapacitated. The F/O would then be talking to ATC, descending, liasing with the cabin, doing ALL the checks and making ALL the FMC/MCP and configuratiomn changes and carrying out a landing, possibly in an unfamiliar ATC environment and possibly with weather below Cat.1

[411A]

Herod,

Blue Eagle summed it up quite nicely. IF Flt Ops management can't see the reasoning behind this very sensible procedure, they definately NEED to change their thinking IMHO.

First Officers are normally trained to the same standards as Commanders, with the possible exception of multiple-engine inop landings. If the training department lets them down, change is needed, pronto. This can be done in the sim of course, but should be done in the aeroplane as well....and not to totally exclude manual landings in Cat I conditions either.

In a word...proficiency.

[Spearing Britney]

Thanks for the useful replies...:)