Nitpickers
 

Just interested to hear what you think.

How do you handle a co-pilot who continously points out what they consider to be significant mistakes and errors in your flying, no matter who trivial, whilst acitng as NFP, eg ASI momentarily drops a kt below bugged A/S., it's not a trend, it's just a blip in otherwise steady A/S and they below out "WATCH YOUR AIRSPEED"

I actually had thus recently and they totally screwed up on their duties as they allowed themselves to be distracted by everyting else going on.

Another example was when I was NPF and copying a clearance. I was just finsihing writing it down and abotu to read back when they bellowed "HE'S TALKING TO YOU YOU KNOW"

Any suggestions as to how to handle this? I know it's nto in the spirit of co-operation but I really felt like chinning the barsteward!

Have had this once or twice in the last few years. It tends to be people who are so busy in correcting your faults that they very rarely do their own job. Only once have I had to say something and it was following constant interruptions and a race to read FMAs. I politely asked him to give me the same respect that I afforded him, and that he was infringing MY situational awareness. To his credit he was very apologetic.

I think the humour should be the key.
And also ,serve him the same thing.When he is PF,if YOU let him fly give him the same amount of callouts.
Maybe he'll be smart enaugh to realise his mistake,otherwise you can point it out at the end of the flight.
Also,you can demonstrate to him his lack of awareness by asking some questions :for ex if he continues to tell you to "watch your airspeed" ask him what's the wind,the VSI,the DME,actual weight,the next freq,eng vibration,etc.....
Also you can brief the calls you want to hear and when if you see he's going out of the book.
And if you see he's doing all that on purpose,just to annoy you ,don't forget,you're the cpt, a.k.a the BOSS. :ok:
Brgds....
Alex

much obliged
 

When I'm being nitpicked I always respond the same way: Thank you.

comment: Thank you.

next comment: Thank you.

further comments: Thank you.

I think the repetition of my response is eventually as annoying as their continual nitpicking....and it's polite too.

If it's any consolation, it happens both ways! No matter what seat you sit in there will always be someone who either just can't relinquish control or can't relax unless they are doing the work.

Zerozero's suggestion is one good way of dealing with it, although it would be a competition to see who's patience snapped first! If you get to the point where you really have to say something, bite your tongue and count to five to make sure you say something reasonable and productive. F%&k off you T£&t! may get a result but it may not help in the long run!:D

Something else to bear in mind is why are they like that? New to the job and trying to impress with their supersonic scan? New and nervous? It may be they are just born irritating! Best to wait until you're on the ground and ask them if they realise what they are actually doing.

I think, as Right Way Up suggests, talk about what they are doing, which they are probably not aware of, and explain how it is coming across, and why you consider it to be detrimental to the flight. If they still insist on doing it, just refer to your conversation, each time.... Dunno for sure if it will work, but its fairly non-confrontational and worth a try?

Thanks, interesting and good suggestions.

When someone points something out, I always remain open to their comments/remarks/suggestions and observations.

I firmly believe good CRM is not simply what you say, but HOW you say it.

Had they questioned "Is your AS getting low" I would have responded, "No, it's fine, power is correct and we're properly trimmed out" But the way he barked at me, I actually jumped slightly and was totally unnerved by his manner.

I should have said above, that at the end of the flight I said "Things didn't go to well today, can we have a chat when we park up please" to which they responded "Little wonder with flying like that"

I've been chewing over this one and discussed with a few other pilots, apparently this chap is a bit of an egoist and I'm not the first to have experienced his antics so if we fly again I will be having a very long chat before we go near the aircraft.

:ok:

Very polite GJB, I think after your last post most of us would have described him using words of one syllable and no more than 4 letters!:} :E

Best of luck!

GJB, youre a very patient person. Personally after landing I would politely take them to one side and sort it out because that would bug the $hit out of me hearing some punk try and be a smart a$$ (Im all for constructive criticism but a constant wining, let alone degredation of flight safety/situational awareness, would annoy me).

The majority of the time I have found that these types of people do this to compensate for something that is lacking (mostly their inability to perform their own duties correctly/accurately).

Take no :mad:

P.S. Have you ever considered Optrex in his/her coffee? :E

A couple of thoughts - there is a difference between doing the "right thing" and doing "things right".

If the airspeed is going below minimum and the PF is making no correction then it would be appropriate to call "Airspeed". If the same applies but the PF is making a (sensible) correction then no need to call. However, this assumes some basic experience and maturity from the PNF! However, this is also something which needs to be taught during training.

One way I used to tackle this was to reply "Roger" when I was aware of why the call was being made and "Thankyou" when the PNF had drawn attention to something I had missed.

If your back is clear then a word with your chief pilot is in order.

You have tried the polite CRM approach which was brushed aside in the same tone.

The break down of CRM (in the cockpit) is something which requires a report, so your question to the chief pilot is along the lines of ,"This has happened and this was his response when I tried to broach the subject. I don't know whether you would prefer to speak to him in confidence or whether I should write a report. What would you like me to do?"

Firstly, some very good posts here. But, as ever, the most important thing is "fly the plane". But when that has been accomplished you have to remember that unless you do something, the onerous little git will be back and on at you again. And you are NOT the only one affected.

As ever, many ways to skin the cat. Some suggestions:

1. Make sure that they are correct in their calls and RELLY have a go at them if they are not - going the whole nine yards.

2. Point out that you are the one in charge and they are not - if they care to dispute this, they can get off.

3. If their manner ever gets to the point of getting close to jepodising the safety of the aircraft - stop at the next scheduled stop, file an ASR/MOR and refuse to operate with them.

4. If you are a bit of a miserable old git like me, take them behind the bike sheds and educate them.

5. Make sure matey boy gets no fun when he flys. No raw data, A/P - A/T - FMS (as little AFCAS as possible), No hand flying, No interesting approaches, no non-std stuff whatsoever. Also, no chit-chat.

6. Never, ever let the git encroach on your territory. Even if just to be bloody minded and always put them down in front of others if ever they do.

Either way, they have to conform to the standards - this is not the industry where renegades should be allowed to flourish.

Not exactly copied from the big book of CRM, was it Piltdown Man!;) :D

I'd go for one of the two following options:

1. Tell him what you really think. Try to explain that unless there's a trend in AS/ALT/CRS deviations, it might be a good idea to hold the remarks a few moments. I'm sure he'll understand this (is this a rookie btw?).

2. Use irony:

"He's talking to you now"
"Gee - you really think so? Musta' missed it while I was drawing cartoons on the flight plan".

CosmosSchwartz - You are right, it wasn't. But as I said the other contributions were (and are also appropriate) but there are many ways to skin this particular feline.

The company I fly for has specified the deviations that always have to be called. I find it helpful if my F/O tells me if I'm trending that way before I get there. They will always get a polite thankyou. If I am a little late in noticing something myself and he hasn't noticed I will actually tell hime with something like "descent rate noted".

You are talking about something different... this guy is not only a pain in the arse but is having a negative affect on flight safety.

How about this. " You have control" Lets see how situationally aware he really is. Then call him on all the stuff he was calling on you. After he has screwed up a few times take back control and generate a positive discussion on how it should be done.

:ok:

Thanks, this has been helpul in discussing with everyone.

What was concernign me was that I had failed in my role, by effectively reaching the conculsion that the guy was not just a total pain but counter-productive and adversely affecting our flight safety and performance.

Worse still, I began to doubt my ability to control myself in the situation and 'turn it around.'

My gut feeling is that I dont want to ever fly with this guy again, but it's inevitable that we will at some point. I will be having a very frank (but calm) conversation with him in pre-flight.

Consider this.
The company knows he's a problem and want him out but can't because there is nothing in writing.

Write the report and let some-one else deal with him.

Daft pilot: "bla bla bla!!"
THE pilot: "Thank you" / "Roger" as appropriate

10 sec's later...

THE pilot: "Ya know, you're begginig to sound like my ex, nagging everytime wee'd drove down to her mother's...":yuk:



or...


let some param slightly(!) drift on pourpose... and just as he is openning his gob : tell him with a smile "I'm aware of that thank you" :E


Well, what do I know of CRM
GD&L

;)

In my limited experience, such cockpit mosquitoes are usually fairly low time civilian instructors. When rostered to fly with a new co pilot who fits this mould, never let him/her handle the controls below FL100. This reminds them of their social standing and achieves a sense of balanced perspective in the work place.
When asked by senior forces to justify such action, simply explain that Bloggs is too busy focusing on trivia to be able to get a grasp of the big picture.:E