I lost my sim partner right before ORCA training. The actual sim instructor had extensive experience on the 756 and was really good, however the instructor who filled in for seat support had no clue. When we lost the engine just past the CP she didn’t know how to manage the aircraft. She tried to argue my plan and the instructor intervened and told her that she was wrong. In the debrief I told her that if she is going to instruct this stuff, she should learn it first. She admitted that she had never flown in either the Pacific or WATRS airspace and that she needed to go do that to gain the necessary experience to teach students.

Flying in oceanic or even the WATRS airspace is completely different than anything most people have done at the regionals or flying fighters prior to getting here. A quick CBT WOM test and a familiarization sim session is pretty weak training. There’s a reason why we require WB crews to receive training in the aircraft with a LCA, perhaps we should be doing the same thing on the NB fleets. Make it a qual for both seats requiring a checkout with a LCA, however that would cost money so we know where that idea will go.