Ask The Pilot

[alieninperth]

When you are on a check flight that is a particularly long sector, will there be more than one check captain on board so that one is on the flight deck at all times?

 

[jb747]

When you are on a check flight that is a particularly long sector, will there be more than one check captain on board so that one is on the flight deck at all times?

Only one. They will be there from briefing through to top of climb, and generally for a short period after that. At the other end, they come back about an hour before top of descent. There is no need for them to be there in the cruise.

 

[JohnM]

Only one. They will be there from briefing through to top of climb, and generally for a short period after that. At the other end, they come back about an hour before top of descent. There is no need for them to be there in the cruise.

If a significant incident happened during cruise, would the check captain come, or be called, back?

Just thinking - as an extreme example - would you have wanted (or would it have been sensible for) the check captain to come back while in the middle of dealing with QF30?

 

[CaviAck]

Does the check captain use the pilot's quarters behind the coughpit or a seat in F? Also does the FO get checked at the same time?

 

[jb747]

If a significant incident happened during cruise, would the check captain come, or be called, back?

They would be called back eventually, but the event, whatever it may be, has to be dealt with first. That also applies if the Captain is off. The FO deals with it, and then gets the boss back for any subsequent decisions.

Just thinking - as an extreme example - would you have wanted (or would it have been sensible for) the check captain to come back while in the middle of dealing with QF30?

He would not have been able to get back until the seat belt sign went off. Which I don't think it ever did. I'd have invited him back eventually, but again, the event takes precedence over everything.

 

[jb747]

Does the check captain use the pilot's quarters behind the coughpit or a seat in F? Also does the FO get checked at the same time?

A check Captain is not normally part of the crew and so does not use the crew rest seats. In general they are given a seat in whatever is at the front of the aircraft. If I had a light crew he'd be welcome to use it, but that's not common these days.

The F/O will be checked on a separate sector. The bloke being checked must be the flying pilot, so obviously you can't have two checks at the same time. A poor performance, even if it is not specifically your check will not be overlooked. In this instance, the CC did me on the way over to LA, but went home to Sydney with a different crew (and was checking the Captain again). Over the course of most years, I'll do my own check, and also be the Captain on a couple of FO checks.

Historically checks were done on short sectors, mostly the flights within Australia, or to the closer overseas ports. These are rare on some types, so the management of the checks has become more complex. It was one thing to pax someone to an Australian port to pick up a flight, but they try to avoid it as much as possible when you're talking about going to Dubai or LA.

 

[defurax]

Would a F/O check have to be rescheduled if the landing needs to be performed by the captain due to low visibility for example?

 

[jb747]

Would a F/O check have to be rescheduled if the landing needs to be performed by the captain due to low visibility for example?

If the Captain decides, for any reason, to take the aircraft back, then the route check is over. FOs operate to different crosswind, cloud base, and visibility limits, so any of those could end the check. And auto land is only done from the left seat. In the event that this were to happen, they'd most likely try again on the next sector.

Normally the Captain will be contacted by scheduling a couple of days before a trip starts to ensure that he's willing to give the particular sector to the FO. At that point, if he's not, they can reschedule the entire thing, or move someone to another flight. There's usually no reason to deny this request.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It was noteworthy on the 'City In The Sky' BBC program where they showed a landing into Bhutan... the pilot in the left hand seat had three stripes and the captain (four stripes) was sitting in the right. The pilot flying had done 26 landings into the airport and was the most experienced on the route.

Is it common for the captain to swap seats in special circumstances of that nature? Can pilots swap between left and right hand seats comfortably? Or was the pilot flying under training for captaincy?

 

[jb747]

It was noteworthy on the 'City In The Sky' BBC program where they showed a landing into Bhutan... the pilot in the left hand seat had three stripes and the captain (four stripes) was sitting in the right. The pilot flying had done 26 landings into the airport and was the most experienced on the route.

Is it common for the captain to swap seats in special circumstances of that nature? Can pilots swap between left and right hand seats comfortably? Or was the pilot flying under training for captaincy?

I only saw the first episode of that show.

The Captain should always sit in the left hand seat. The only exception is for command training.

Swapping seats is not comfortable at all. S/Os do it, but they aren't normally in either seat at lower levels. Training captains also sit in either, but they also have to do sim training in both positions. I very occasionally sit there for a few minutes in the cruise, and the coughpit layout that I know in the dark, is simply gone.

 

[anat0l]

I want to know a bit more about flight plans and the autopilot. If one must know, it is somewhat connected to the recently closed report on the AirAsia flight that ended up diverting to Melbourne (that happened a few years ago).

From what I understand, pilots need to file a flight plan before the flight they take. I assume this plan is recorded for various purposes, and is also transmitted to some other authorities or bodies, e.g. ATCs along the route.

The flight plan is also entered into the system for the autopilot, so the autopilot knows where to go once engaged. (As a side question, when is the autopilot normally engaged during flight - after the pilots achieve cruise height?)

Once a flight plan is entered into the computer for the autopilot, is it impossible to change? That is, if the course must be changed (either small - i.e. different set of waypoints - or large - new destination), is the only option to disengage the autopilot and fly manually?

 

[jb747]

I want to know a bit more about flight plans and the autopilot. If one must know, it is somewhat connected to the recently closed report on the AirAsia flight that ended up diverting to Melbourne (that happened a few years ago).

From what I understand, pilots need to file a flight plan before the flight they take. I assume this plan is recorded for various purposes, and is also transmitted to some other authorities or bodies, e.g. ATCs along the route.

The flight plan is filed by the company. I haven't personally done one in over 30 years. It is filed with ATC, and their system disseminates it along the track. About 20 minutes prior to departure, we'll get an airways clearance from ATC (mostly electronically these days), which is their approval to fly that plan.

The flight plan is also entered into the system for the autopilot, so the autopilot knows where to go once engaged. (As a side question, when is the autopilot normally engaged during flight - after the pilots achieve cruise height?)

The flight plan is entered into the FMC. That can be used to manually, or automatically, fly the aircraft from A to B. With most aircraft these days, the plan is entered automatically, and the route checked against the plan. Manual loading is much slower, and requires much more care to ensure positions are loaded correctly. There are a number of simple crosschecks in the case of a manual load.

Once a flight plan is entered into the computer for the autopilot, is it impossible to change? That is, if the course must be changed (either small - i.e. different set of waypoints - or large - new destination), is the only option to disengage the autopilot and fly manually?

We never have a complete plan loaded at the start of a flight. Initially it won't have either the departure or arrival tracks. They're added as we need them. You can totally change the route, modify parts of it, or build automatic offsets. Nothing is fixed...all can be changed. The A380 has four routes available for loading (the active, and secs 1-3). Mostly we'll keep sec 3 for any company uploads (the routes are often changed after departure if there is a wind advantage, or if needed for congestion). Sec 1 mostly has a copy of the active. Changes can be done on the active or a secondary (which is then swapped with the active).

The autopilot can be engaged as low as 100 feet. Where you actually do it is up to you, and varies from day to day. It has many modes. In the case of following the FMC, it's called NAV in Airbus, and LNAV in Boeing. But there are other lateral modes too. Most applicable to your question is HDG (heading) in which case it simply holds (or turns to) whatever heading we dial up.

The Air Asia event wasn't an FMC load issue. The IRUs didn't know where they were. They need this information to ensure that the attitude information is correct. Turning the IRUs off in flight, as was proposed by the crew, would not have fixed their problem, but would have given them a bunch of blank screens. There are lots of things that were strange. The use of the PLAN display mode...It's useful on the ground, and in flight when planning an arrival, but it is not a mode you should ever use for take off. If they had selected a normal display, it would have been based on the aircraft, and their route (and Sydney) would have disappeared.

 

[Mogul]

On the recent Air Asia incident considering they would've had to lodge a flight plan, would ATC have not picked up that they where flying in the wrong direction.

 

[RailFlyer]

I only saw the first episode of that show.

Swapping seats is not comfortable at all. S/Os do it, but they aren't normally in either seat at lower levels.

Are S/O's ever allowed to do take-offs or landings in normal operations? Or are they only trained how not to touch any of the buttons in the cruise and keep the air in the autopilot inflatable doll topped up?

 

[andmiz]

On the recent Air Asia incident considering they would've had to lodge a flight plan, would ATC have not picked up that they where flying in the wrong direction.

They were only flying the wrong direction on initial departure, turning left on the departure instead of right. Their flight plan and flight management computer did have the correct destination, it was only when they decided to return back to Sydney they couldn't due to weather, so diverted to Melbourne instead. ATC did prompt them they weren't following the departure correctly (which is not on the flight plan, but part of their departure clearance that links up to their planned flight route). They didn't accidentally arrive in Melbourne. It was intentional.

Are S/O's ever allowed to do take-offs or landings in normal operations? Or are they only trained how not to touch any of the buttons in the cruise and keep the air in the autopilot inflatable doll topped up?

Trained in most operations, but not approved to operate take-off/landing in normal operations. As an SO I was in the control seat for only one landing following an emergency.

 

[Flying Fox]

Just stumbled over this rather worrying video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kle80KB_s3I

Any idea about what is happening here?

Thanks

 

[Major]

Just stumbled over this rather worrying video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kle80KB_s3I

Any idea about what is happening here?

Thanks

This has already been discussed starting at post 9884

 

[jb747]

On the recent Air Asia incident considering they would've had to lodge a flight plan, would ATC have not picked up that they where flying in the wrong direction.

I think it was ATC who noticed they weren't following the SID. I'd be curious to know just where they would have ended up...the aircraft had no idea where it was, and their compass system was in error. They basically converted a very smart aircraft into the navigational equivalent of a Sopwith Pup (WW1).

 

[jb747]

Are S/O's ever allowed to do take-offs or landings in normal operations? Or are they only trained how not to touch any of the buttons in the cruise and keep the air in the autopilot inflatable doll topped up?

Long haul operations simply don't throw up enough take offs and landings to be giving them to any more people than absolutely necessary. It can be hard enough to keep the Captains and FOs current, without further diluting the number of sectors available

But, I think they'd rightfully be upset at the trite way you write off their qualifications. They do everything in the sim. In flight they could well be called upon to use any of the buttons. When QF30 happened, it was just luck that the FO was sitting with me in the coughpit at the time. It could easily have been either of us and the SO. I doubt that much would have changed. I would have been just as likely to let him fly the descent (as I did with the FO) whilst I worked the issue. And as far as I know, George is self inflating.

 

[mjt57]

At the other end, they come back about an hour before top of descent. There is no need for them to be there in the cruise.

If he's a particularly knarly old critter, I s'pose that you could insist that he join you for the cruise...