Originally Posted by
250 or point 65
Beyond that is the "is" up in the air? If pilots are equally rated for the plane, does anyone care who the PIC is unless there is an accident?
Sometimes making it clear who is ultimately in charge of the flight =is= the difference between a smooth flight and an accident.
A flight with both control seats occupied by pilots, no matter what their relative experience, levels is in fact a 2-pilot crew and you won't have to look too hard in the NTSB and probably the ASRS database to find examples of what can happen when roles are not understood.
Forget FAA logging rules completely - they are an artificial construct created and interpreted by the FAA to accomplish only one thing - count hours and other items toward the acquisition of FAA certificates, ratings and qualifications.
And forget enforcement for a moment also. When the airplane hits a ridge because the pilot flying the approach to that golf destination read the chart wrong and his buddy wasn't told to cross-check and maybe call out all altitudes, who is to blame hardly matters, except for the NTSB, the pilots trying to learn from forums like this one, and the friends and family of the deceased..
It's almost a pure safety of flight issue. There are professional pilots here (not me) who fly in 2-pilot crews. I'd guess that some of them will probably tell you that a lot of the PIC's role is is about management - the clear delineation of roles. That what a lot of CRM is about.
Is there any guidance about whos certificates are going to be turned in?
Not really.
The person who the FAA figures out was the PIC will almost always be held responsible for a violation because he is in charge. First Officer misses a checklist item on preflight? Captain is looking at a suspension.
But don't make the mistake that some do of thinking that the PIC's ultimate responsibility for the flight means that the PIC is the only one who can or will be held responsible. In that preflight example, both the Captain and the FO will likely be looking at an enforcement action and suspensions.