Captain guards the yoke...

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I was bored so I looked up the flight.

ZapBrannigan said:
Was on the jumpseat of a large regional airline during my commute home tonight.

Was the copilot's leg but I couldn't help but notice that any time the copilot was flying, the captain guarded the yoke... like he was about to save the day or something?

As I see if there are only two solutions to that kind of CRM problem. Number one, let the captain fly. Number two bludgeon the captain's arm with a fire extinguisher until he lets go.

Seriously... two pilots on the controls at the same time?! Can't see anything bad coming from that...
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The captain is a very senior "flightless bird" from the school house. He is not very happy about having to do
line rotation and flies about 40 hours a year.

ZapBrannigan said:
The FO was very senior. I think it bothered me a lot more than it bothered him.
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The FO is not very senior by Eagle standards. He is a late 2011 hire with about 2,600 in type.
 
You sure we are taking about the same flight? FO seemed very senior. (or put on a great show)

And Captain was talking about taking a job at FSI or higher power if said regional went out of business, but worried that schoolhouse guys would get there first and there would be a lot of competition.
 
I actually just had this happen to me! I laughed out loud when I saw her do it when we had a bit of a crosswind on landing. I just let my flying do the talking though. Can't reason with someone that insecure. Funny thing was, she flew like crap herself. Apparently, she does this to everyone.
 
DPApilot said:
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You know the longer I've been gone, the worse the behavior seems. After less than a year at the current gig I'm flying as PIC with contract pilots with a heavier aircraft than the X out of shorter runways.

The behavior at my last job was just astounding and guarding the controls or not allowing the SIC to fly was just the tip of the iceberg.

Of course they managed to nearly destroy a Falcon 900 at RIL, due to terrible planning and flying skills that wouldn't allow one to "fly out of a wet paper bag". The individual responsible for that is now the head of training.
 
pullup said:
I keep my hand in my pants, Al Bundy style.
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Like a true professional, I might add!

al-bundy-fathers-day-dads-married-with-children-ed-oneill.jpg
 
typhoonpilot said:
Welcome to my world. There is much less forgiveness in the world outside of major U.S. carriers. Pilots are responsible for their mistakes and not protected by unions.

Agreed, everyone had smashed one on at some point. It's just there is a different level of tolerance to mistakes at some carriers.
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I'm hoping it's just a language or word issue but I can assure you that I am indeed responsible for any mistakes I make as a captain at a US Carrier. I do have a Union for resources, but they don't negate any irresponsibility on my part. And "smashing one on" to me means something different than a firm landing. I don't know you but you come across as a little holier than thou by saving every flight you operate by being this supreme instructor pilot. Again, I'm hoping that it's a communication issue because I can assure you that we US carrier pilots can hold our own against any foreign carrier out there. People make mistakes and it's the ones who recognize their own vulnerability that in actuality are the safest pilots out there. Without question , the most unsafe pilots I've flown with are check airman and instructor pilots who think they are much better than they are and who think they know more than they do.
 
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Dugie8 said:
I saw it a lot at Piedmont. The common thread was the "comfort" level of the Captain in the left seat. IE, even when things were going well they seemed a step behind. It had nothing to do with the Captain's time in type or as a Captain either, it was simply a personal level of confidence that was either there or not.
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Back in 2005-2006 I worked at Piedmont and as a reserve FO I flew with a lot of different captains and none of them, not even my IOE captain did this. I had one crusty captain constantly yell at me about using the autopilot too much, but that was it. All of the captains I flew with had a high level of respect for the FO's, and were very laid back. That was my experience anyway.

If a captain did guard the controls while I was flying, I would definitely say something.
 
ZapBrannigan said:
You sure we are taking about the same flight? FO seemed very senior. (or put on a great show)

And Captain was talking about taking a job at FSI or higher power if said regional went out of business, but worried that schoolhouse guys would get there first and there would be a lot of competition.
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3210 left about an hour late and had somebody by your name on the jumpseat. :)

Ron isn't a ADP, I believe he only does ground schools. Also I looked again and the FO is a 2011 hire but was at Comair before Eagle and has about 4,000k in type.

It is really scary the amount of information an average employee can get from our system.
 
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Gonzo said:
Yea, Andy is a really good guy. The story sounds like Ron, he gave me a ear full one day after being in our jumpseat becuase I turned off the FD on a nice day.
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heck I've gotten yelled at for not turning off the FD on a nice day.
 
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I have had a Captain take the power levers from me. I was slowing down for entry into the pattern according to profile, and he shoved them back to cruise power saying we were in a hurry. Not a fan of Captains like that.
 
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