Originally Posted by
pilot64golfer
I specifically said they were "qualified"
It wasn't any different I'm sure.
No..... you old fart.
You specifically said they were NOT qualified.
Originally Posted by
pilot64golfer
Yes. Relief pilot is a better description. IRO traditionally was a pilot that was not qualified to takeoff or land, and only for inflight relief.
In any case it was a lousy job, but necessary. In recent years we had a captain on the 767 that would use the IRO as a cruise pilot, with the philosophy that he wanted himself and the landing FO as fresh as possible for the approach. He didn;t care if the IRO was asleep in the jumpseat. He is retireed now, but I have been tempted a few times to adopt his practice on some of the more challenging trips.