Originally Posted by
Cohiba
The Training Dept wants to put DGS into the Simulator as a seat filler for a pilot getting a checkride during recurrent and initial training. No medical, no license, no age limit, doesn't even have to be qualified....not a good thing. Can't even fail the DGS since he doesn't have a license but the seniority list pilot could fail because of some old geezer who hasn't been in the cockpit for years.
I have personally done this twice, once for the 73N once for the 88.
I can say based on experience hat this is a really bad idea.
I went to training by myself both times and was promised seat fillers but got different DGS seat fillers for 303, 304, 403 and 404. Each seat filler was different, most not standardized, one hard of hearing...
All the instructors told me it was "good that I'm by myself, because I will get more attention." In reality the instructor tries to play pilot, instructor and sim controller simultaneously with predictably poor results for each position.
The DGS guys are nice but a CRM disaster.
They don't fly the line anymore and there are many that never had an airline job (no disrespect to the DGS guys)
Training needs to be done with current line pilots sitting in A and B seats period, no exceptions.
Checking in the sim needs to be done by current LCAs for quality assurance so we don't get the disconnect between the sim and OE.
Even though I haven't experienced it I have a feeling the PNWA training setup was more consistent and of higher quality.
Cheers
George