You win as a crew and lose as a crew.

The guy not flying is still responsible for making sure the guy flying is following the rules and complying with procedures and atc guidance

ASAP programs are all about pointing out the minor mistakes every pilot makes from time to time. Providing the data so that if a departure or arrival results in a bunch of deviations it can be modified if needed. They also give us pilots an opportunity to learn from others mistakes. Most of which we already know of, but the reminder to just FLY the plane is very beneficial- and there's the occasional new mistake or thing I didn't think of before reading of them.

All of which is great. I don't have enough time to always learn the hardway, and prefer taking the easy way and learning from someone else's mistake

"The guy not flying is still responsible for making sure the guy flying is following the rules and complying with procedures and atc guidance"

Most definitely. There is no, "He did it, so it's not my fault..." especially for the captain.

"ASAP programs are all about pointing out the minor mistakes every pilot makes from time to time."

I guess I'm trying to figure out how minor the mistake should be before you don't file an ASAP report. Considering the time of day we usually fly, I'm sure we make more minor mistakes than many, but that is often due to fatigue, not disregard of the rules or incompetence. Should we really file an ASAP for every trivial mistake we make (that could be several per flight, if we're being honest), or should we only file if we think it's a safety issue or we're concerned about being violated? It seems to me that some people are filing constantly...some are never filing, there has got to be a reasonable way that people do this.

During WW I, pilots who worried about staying alive didn't. Those who worried about missing a kill did. Today, conformance means covering your butt and a clean record: performance means getting the job done and food on the table. In both eras, those who are preoccupied with themselves lose; those who focus on their tasks win.

As for ASAPs, I don't know of any hard rules. Do what you think is right, not what others say or do. File one when you think it will benefit someone else. That's what it's for.

That's exactly what it's for though. To gather data on potential safety issues and hopefully identify them before they cause an accident. Lots of times I get complaints from pilots asking about why things can't be a certain way or how a certain service provided by ATC is substandard. That's fine, but without data, I can't make a case for it and magically change it. If ASAP is capturing that data on the other hand, then we have something and can make our case based on the data and get something done oftentimes.
The program is not intended just for violations, that's a part of it. It's intended to capture safety related data. Some of those might be related to violations, but if all we are getting is violations, then we or someone else hasn't done the job of selling and educating properly. It's about a lot more than violations. On the subject of violations though, if you have a sole-source violation or near-violation (ATC didn't report it), then it's usually 100% protected, again except in the case of some sort of gross negligence, which is obviously fairly rare. Sole-source means you as the pilot are the only one that knows it occurred, because no one else reported it and ATC didn't say anything. Although it is harder to investigate, ATC can still report things to flight standards and they can still come back and investigate, having filed an ASAP helps immensely again. If no one "witnesses" the violation, the intent of the program is to capture that data without punishing the "violator". That's the entire point.
Hopefully the above helps to explain it.

Thank you, JamesNoBrakes, that really helps. I feel much more educated and comfortable about filing an ASAP report. I appreciate your explanation, thank you!!

when in doubt, fill it out

Back before my company got cheap, they used to compile and print out quarterly ASAP booklets for any pilot to grab and read. Sounds dry as hell, but I and most everyone I knew read them voraciously. So many times, you read a guy's ASAP and think "Yeah, I could have done that" and you learn a lot from them.

Most of all, you learn that it's a zero-threat thing to fill out an ASAP. If you ASAP the Captain's tie as being stained, all they'll do is say "Not applicable." But a lot of ASAPs that appear trivial, end up saving a crews' collective butt.

And if one guy files, so should the other.

Here's a link to some of that "dry reading", published monthly. Seriously, it's a good read.

ASRS CALLBACK - Aviation Safety Reporting System

I'd just like to add: in my almost 25 years in the FAA (ATC), the only reason you'd be reported for a deviation is if separation is lost, or gross incompetence (which I've never seen).

If separation is lost, the computer detects it and everything's documented and blame has to be assigned to someone. The FAA certainly doesn't want it and will try to pass it off as a pilot deviation if at all possible (and FSDO will bounce it back and claim it's an ATC error so it's not always clearcut -- FSDO and ATC are competing branches).

But if separation is NOT lost, nobody wants tapes to be pulled. The controller doesn't want anyone scrutinizing everything he did over the past 30 minutes, the supervisor on duty doesn't, and the facility doesn't. If you're told "not a problem," that's the end of it. We don't do random audits of day-to-day operations, just occasional audio checks to monitor phraseology and professionalism.

Even if you're told to call in, that goes to the supervisor in charge and he will probably mention if separation was lost or not (or you can ask). If he says separation wasn't lost, he's just going through the motions and nothing will ever come of it. Just be contrite and polite.

Thanks for the post. However, I work for a legacy carrier and we have been told by our Flt Ops management (in bulletins ...) that over the last few years guys have been getting the dreaded "certified letter," months after an event -- usually a lateral deviation of as little as < 0.5nm on RNAV departures -- with nary a peep from the controller.

Are these campfire ghost stories?