Originally Posted by
Groundpointfife
Actually it is a discussion. To argue the point of safety...AF447.
Pierre-Cédric Bonin, the flying pilot was a company baby with only a few hundred hours (read his CPL training) before he was placed into jet transport operations.
How will putting a wet commercial certificate pilot next to a 1000 hour or if they can swing it a wet ATP Captain go? When we last saw guys getting hired with 250 hours and a wet commercial there were a lot less automated aircraft and more experienced Captains at the airlines with more automation. We really didn't have everyone upgrading in under a year onto jets. Mostly turboprop operators had quick upgrades, but people had to do a lot more hand flying.
Part of experience is knowing that the aircraft is not doing what you'd like, and having the sense to kick off the automation until it is on the correct path at an appropriate altitude. If the pilot feels it's appropriate to re-engage the automation, then they can choose to do so.
Mostly there needs to be more emphasis on curriculum for hand flying. The pitch/power (thrust) relationship.
Yeah but the "experience" they are getting to the 1500 hrs isn't this amazing quality that in and of itself making safer pilots. I had a 1300 hr CFI that can most likely kill most of us on the Private Pilot maneuvers fly me out to KS to ferry an airplane about a month ago. I can tell you that 95% of his "flying" is not flying at all but monitoring a student. I could fill a page worth of stuff this guy was VERY rusty of not dangerous on (ATC radio comms, hand flying and trimming the plane, looking down and then back up and we're 30 degrees off course, etc, etc...)
1500 is not a magical number, it is how they are being trained and how they are flying.