Captain guards the yoke...

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ZapBrannigan

ZapBrannigan

If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
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...
 
When I'm flying with @DPApilot and it's his turn to "move the movie-thing", I just disconnect his yoke entirely and fly surreptitiously with my feet. No one's embarrassed, everyone wins. Protip.

PS. Seriously, it's adorable when he "lands" the airplane. He claps like a seal and smiles like a thousand suns. I think we could base an Easter Seals campaign on him.
 
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.
 
Yeah that would suck to fly with someone like that. The Captain will probably have a stroke with that kind of stress in their life.
 
The FO was very senior. I think it bothered me a lot more than it bothered him.
 
I've had that happen to me in the past. It annoys me, but it's always guys who are either 1) Generally scared of their own shadows, or 2) New to the jet and still think you'll hit the tailskid if you look at it wrong. I usually give a ration of good-natured hell in response. But really, it's a bad idea in a long-bodied plane like the 767. Someone shoving forward on the yoke to try to prevent a tailstrike is a great way to slam the nose gear down and actually total the jet. It really takes a lot of work to knock the tail.
 
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Do YOU want to be the one to tell him that he's not actually flying, you monster? I didn't think so.

I should add that he tried to eat the thrust reversers shortly after this was taken.
 
It is so annoying to me when people do that and I would probably have to say something to him about it. Either that or just bust out my own hover hands on each of his legs to see if he realizes how distracting that is. Same goes for a CFI hovering over a yoke while a student - of any level - lands or worse, does a power on stall.
 
Or they just don't let you fly at all. Like my last job. The astounding thing was that when I finally got a chance to do the paperwork I discovered that it only took a few minutes barring a MEL writeup.

I wonder where those "senior captains" went when I was cleaning the aircraft. Probably having a "senior moment".
 
I would never literally guard the yoke, but it's prudent to have your feet in position near the rudders and your hands conveniently in reach of the yoke just in case a last minute thing goes awry in the flare or near the ground. I think that is prudent advice for the captain as well as the F.O. I have had to take the airplane once in 25 years and it was literally a one or two second decision under 100 feet AGL. I would of hated to be digging around in my flight bag for something or been elsewhere at that moment. As with most things, a good balance is normally the best answer.
 
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