Is the weather ever good when you get that far south?

Re. second question.

I read here that when one of the pilot or co-pilot leave the cockpit, they're replaced by another crew member. So there are always, at minimum, two people in the cockpit. How does this change when there is a supervising co-pilot?

Looks like there is only 1 day this week that the swell is below 10 feet and back up to 25-30 ft next weekend

W0X0F can obviously answer this better than I can, but I suspect (and he might have even said this) that the minimum number of people doesn't change and the check pilot or dead heading pilot still count as a person towards that minimum.

I assume Goose is trolling but I honestly don't even know anymore here.

I would guess they save the raw data. It would be useful for a bunch of things and storage is cheap.

w-t-f

this thread is getting really dumb

Just ignore it and maybe it'll go away.

Gumball took the ignore it route with his syphilis and here we are.

what if the plane never existed?

Are you people just dumb or do you think you're being funny?

pretty sure it was said before when there's 2 pilots and 1 has to leave, an attendant joins in the cockpit.

when we have 3 pilot, albeit 1 is a trainee co-pilot, this is a better situation than having 1 pilot + attendant.

----
I hate secrecy and weirdness. Governments and Malaysia Airlines are really good at this.

I think the US is. Not sure when it will get there though.


Here's a visual of what is thought to have happened at the beginning of the flight.




I wonder if the rise and fall between 3 and 4 could have knocked people out.

Maybe one of the passengers was a Malaysia Airlines employee which would make both statements correct.

Pretty sure it can be both.

That is true.

No. The pilot (Captain) was the check pilot. Thus, there were two pilots on board.

W0, what's the difference between his first five flights and his sixth one?

Aussie guy just said

'Until we find a piece of wreckage this is all just speculation'

Ooo Malaysia won't like that

The fifth flight must have completed the company's requirements for IOE (Initial Operating Experience). IOE comprises the first X number of hours of actual revenue flights for the newly trained pilot. The company has special check airmen who fly with the new guy and complete the training process, taking what they have learned in the classroom and simulator and adding to it the real world operational requirements.

For domestic operations, IOE might be 20 hours of line flying, but it is up to the check airman to determine if the new pilot is ready to go and he could require additional time. For international operations, IOE might require a minimum of two international trips, which could mean several days and 40-50 hours of flying. It varies from company to company.

(btw, when I say "new" pilot, I just mean new to that aircraft and/or seat. Thus a 757 FO who upgrades to MD-88 Captain will require IOE in the MD-88. In that case, the check airman flies as the First Officer for the new Captain.)

Oh, interesting. I thought the check pilot was usually a third person.

So it's just a title? No practical differences?

The only time there is an extra pilot added (who would sit in the jump seat) is when he is doing a line check, which is different than conducting IOE. I think Captains get a line check from a company check airman once a year, and there may be other random checks made also. Of course, the line check airman is actually evaluating both crew members.

The whole point of the line check is to make sure that crews were doing things according to company standards. But that's kind of like putting a cop in the back seat of your car to see if you operate your car properly and within legal limits. Guess what? Most people can fake it while they're being watched.

Both Chinese and Australian planes have spotted debris in the search area, it's as yet undetermined whether this belongs to MH370.

Not just a title. The IOE check airman has been through special company training to do that job. I was a check airman at my previous company and I conducted IOE and line checks. In preparation for IOE, I spent time in the simulator with another instructor who would play the role of the new pilot I'm training. He would purposely do things wrong or not in compliance with company standards. For example, he might over-rotate on takeoff, or call for flaps before slowing to the proper flap speed.