Originally Posted by
FliFast
For instance, my experience recalls that the Capt on the taxi-out did most of the work, while the F/O sat there and marveled what it would be like to be a Capt. In addition, I never got the fascination with the whole turn on/turn off the checklist items, light-gadget that was unique to American Airlines aircraft. From student pilots to airline crews most of use a piece of paper to challenge and respond.
FF
Flifast, I was wondering why it took you so long to chime in.
F/Os at AA are very busy on the taxi out completing the long taxi/before TO checklists we have, as you can see from my posts above. As such, certain tasks that at other airlines are the F/Os job, are delegated to the CA here at AA. The two that I am aware of are the "cabin notification PA", always made by the CA...("Flight attendants, prepare for takeoff") and the "takeoff imminent chime" given to the F/As when cleared onto the runway. Everything else is the F/Os job. So, I'm not quite sure where you get the impression that we are just "sitting there." I know I'm pretty busy on taxi out.
Regarding the mechanical lighted checklist... well, it's been proven in several safety studies/audits that the mechanical checklist is the safest thing out there. Why? Every item can not be closed out until it's been called out and verified. In addition, if we return to gate or are interrupted, the whole thing needs to get re-opened and started from scratch. It's exactly the reason why today's airplanes have "electronic" checklists on the displays- for safety. The old "paper checklist" is only as good as your memory when it comes to remembering if you've done an item. With the mechanical, you KNOW it's been done - and closed out. This is one aspect where I am glad AA is different.
Like you, when I came to AA, I was not too impressed with the mechanical checklist. After a few quick taxis and returns to gate, I quickly came to appreciate its value. If we find out that the Spanair MD80 crash was due to retracted flaps/slats - after they returned to the gate and then hustled back out - you can clearly see that, through the use of a paper checklist, it is a lot easier to forget an item has been completed. At AA, the whole mechanical checklist would've had to have been reopened and closed out, one item at a time.
Different horses for different courses. I'll agree 100% that we wish we had TWA's friendly culture here.
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