I heard that the pilot of the plane was as qualified to fly a 777 as putting someone in a position of power who has never worked a day in his life.
At least the captain had hours of experience flying a 777 simulator vs. hours of community agitating and whatnot for our CiC.
So far what I've heard in various media reports it was the captain's first time landing a 777 although he had 40-something hours flying one, and that it was also the first officer's (copilot, right seat) first time he was also wearing his instructor's (if that's the correct term?) hat that required he keep an eye on, offer suggestions, advice, etc. to the inexperienced captain.
I thought some of that sounded a bit odd so I talked to a friend yesterday who's a Delta captain currently flying Boeing 767s and I was quite amazed at what I learned. I specifically asked him if a pilot's first landing attempt with a plane full of passengers seemed odd in any way. He was quick to say no, and added the first time he actually flew, including takeoff and landing, a 767 was with a full load of passengers from Dallas to, ironically, San Francisco. Prior to that it had been many hours in simulators 'learning' to fly the 767, emergency procedures, and everything else they're required to know about the plane, systems, etc. He even got his 767 certification based on simulator 'check rides' with instructors.
Then on his first flight he was paired with a first officer with tons of 767 flying experience and instructor qualified. Don't recall now if he said that was required of U.S. carriers or just standard operating procedure the industry has adopted, but a stark contrast to reports the 214's first officer had never acted as instructor before.
Found this interesting too. The new 767 captain was further required to fly his first 50 hours with a qualified instructor, sort of. To show the emphasis they put specifically on learning the nuances of takeoffs and landings in new aircraft, the 50-hour requirement was reduced by one hour for each time a new captain performed both the takeoff and landing during a flight leg. So friend's first flight was the start of a 3-day trip during which he did all the takeoffs and landing for a total of 12 flight legs, and thus reducing his 50-hour requirement to 38 hours, but also minus whatever hours of flying time those 12 legs added up to.
Just some things to keep in mind next time you decide to put yourself inside a sleek metal tube that'll hurtle you along at 500mph, 6 or 7 miles above terra firma.
