Enjoy it guys - just be pleased that GA is featured... the pilots didn't name the series.

Worst Place to be a Pilot | Season 1 Episode 1 | Full Episode - YouTube

Lilflyboy2..2

I thought 1900's only required the second pilot due to autopilot req's. (Like metro's) From an Oz perspective the requirement for 2 crew due pax numbers only applies to RPT, not charter.

Not at all.

Here (Papua) many charterers stipulate 2-pilot crews, just the same as in Oz and usually the same industry sector too. Mining. The trend grows.

The "training bond" is USD$2500... Not exactly hefty in the grand scheme of getting a CPL/MEIR...

It comes with about 5-10 hours in a sim... And around 3 hours dual in an aircraft... And all the other in-house training

Compare that with a C208B Type Rating from Air2There... Which costs about the same at current exchange rates... And around 1 hour in the aircraft...

The training bond also comes with a job and a salary... Granted, Not a huge salary, (hence those guys who've stacked up massive training loans back home suffer)... But tax is taken care of and you get accommodation and food... And the cost of living here is ridiculously cheap...

Also... The first episode was very focussed on Papua ops... I guess watching guys fly visual approaches into 1500+m sealed strips doesn't quite get the ratings like cannibalism, mountain strips and near misses... :rolleyes:

Seems to me that having 2 pilots on board is useful not only in flying the plane but in dealing with passengers who don't behave.

Radio saigon. I was more referring to legislation rather than contract stipulations. Ive regularly flown more than 9 pax single pilot.

Certainly different and difficult conditions but also came away after watching that episode with the feeling that some of it was over dramatised by the narrator, which spoilt the presentation somewhat. Many of those strips weren't much different to some hunting/tramping strips in the Kaimanawa's or some in the South Island.

Challenging? Yes certainly.

Dicing with death as often as was inferred by the narrator at times? I'm not so sure.

As have I -and continue to do so. The point I was making is that many charterers here impose conditions that exceed legislation, which if you can't or won't meet, you won't get the contract.

Yup, much. The elevation & temps here make it a little more exciting than what you might experience in the Kaimanawa's or anywhere in the SI (I've done a few years there) and there are not many GA drivers in NZ that get to play on topdressing strips, which would be about the closest you would find in NZ to conditions here.

There's no denying that a good story has been made "better" in the interests of journalistic licence and/or viewer-ratings, however.

Aeromat is correct

CASR - Part 135.383 Minimum Flight Crew

(a) No air carrier may operate an aircraft in any air transportation service operated under this part, with fewer than two pilots, where the aircraft:

(1) is an aeroplane with a certified seating configuration of 10 or more passenger seats;

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Air Transportation Service” - The operation for remuneration, including positioning flights, of any aircraft which is listed on the air carrier’s Air operating certificate.

The Cessna Caravan under the FAA approval is only 9 Passengers but under the EASA approval can take 12 passengers. Many operators here in Indonesia operate under the EASA approval.

As far as the training bonds are concerned.. They are just that, a Training Bond. An amount that the new pilot pays and providing they stay for the agreed period as per their contract they get back their bond after 12 months as PIC.

This was started after a number of new pilots went through the expensive training and disappeared only a few months later. The bond is their to recoup at least a small part of the training cost incurred by the company. If the pilot does the right thing by the company, as they agreed to, then they get it all back.

Don't be fooled trying to compare a Type Rating to the Training Bond. In Australia you are lucky to get a C208B type rating for less than $5000.

Now add the cost of the 5 + day ground school, 3-5 hours of flight time in the aircraft. Government imposed mandatory training, accommodation, meals, work visas and the list goes on and on. The Bond does not come close to covering even 50% of the expenses the company outlays just to get the pilot from starting to line checked.

The channel 4 show is a good representation of how things are in Papua. I know most of the guys that were shown and they are all amazing pilots. Well done guys.

Andy

Don't be fooled. As amazing and rewarding the flying in Papua (and Indonesia) seems to be, remember that most things you take for granted don't exist there or in the majority of Indonesia itself.

Health services can be very basic at best. Driving is a dangerous thing as many people die everyday on the roads. There are many stories of people here going to hospital with a minor illness and either end up dying or coming out much worse than they went in.

Susi works on the assumption that the pilots stay with the company on average for two years. One year co jo and one year Captain and then its get out time for most pilots. Poor pay and basic conditions are bearable to most people for a limited time only. Many don't last the first twelve months. It's common for people to "go for some time off" and not come back.

TV is great tool for entertainment but you must remember that there is a lot of window dressing around the what is shown.