Both pilots reportedly left cockpit during 'mid-air row' https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2018/0109/931981-airline-pilots-mid-air-row/
While i would consider the female pilot's future employment more favourabley, the mental state of her male colleague was even more of a reason to remain in the cockpit. She risked being locked out of the cockpit had events deteriorated further.
No but you should fire them if they storm out of the cockpit when they're in control of 300 lives. Indian airlines have a lot of problems but they did the right thing here.
You're assuming that he was visibly/perceivably mentally off kilter. I read that one pilot is allowed to leave the cockpit. So it must be fairly standard? Although to be fair the pair of them being entangled in a personal squabble is itself cause for worry and non standard.
Yes, one can leave the cockpit. This story also seems strange to me because having been in the cockpit on a short flight (Saigon - Singapore) once, there are 3 of them in there, a senior pilot, his co-pilot and an assessment pilot. I was also told that for long international flight it's standard procedure to have 3 so one can rest every 4 hours to maintain alertness. The flying itself was pretty mundane. Nearly everything was automated and all they need to do was being in contact with air control every 15 minutes or so. The only real manual works was for take off and landing, so probably the male pilot thought it ok to briefly leave the cockpit after he's just made contact.
He had just physically assaulted his co-pilot; we've had fatal accidents as a result of verbal bullying in years past, let alone actual force. I'd have supposed thet the Germanwings disaster was lesson enough in that regard.
They are allowed to have one pilot for short periods of time. There was no immediate danger but it's not about that. One of them was refusing to go back to the cockpit at all, you cant have someone in command of an aircraft who can break down like that. The rules aren't there for when things are mundane though. They're there for when something goes wrong and both of them need to be there alert and ready, not fighting each other or sulking in the galley.
Oh I agree that they both fecked up massively and deserve to be fired, just guessing the thought process behind the action. It is dead quiet inside the cockpit so if you are in the biz for long enough it probably doesn't seem like a big deal to pop out for a minute or two when plane is airborne 30,000 feet on a chartered course.
Yeah, fair enough. I guess the responsible choice for her would have been to stay the course and then file a complaint after the plane was grounded.
Jet Airways has had a lot of issues over the last few years. Have read quite a few reports of other stuff happening in the cockpit.
Here are more details. - Both the pilots are senior commanders in the airline. - The "co-pilot" (the male pilot) was actually senior to the "captain" (female pilot) in the airline and was filling in for someone else. - Both of them are in a relationship. - During the first 'argument' the captain was slapped by the co-pilot and she left the cockpit in tears and refused to go back. The cabin crew eventually persuaded her to go back in. - Subsequently they had another 'argument' and the captain left the cockpit again. This time she wasn't listening to the cabin crew so the co-pilot asked one of the cabin crew to be in the cockpit while he went to the galley to get the captain back. - Both of them came back and landed the plane. After which both were fired by the airline. - The DGCA (regulatory body) is conducting an inquiry whether the co-pilots license should be cancelled in light of the aforesaid.
Long gone and no one cares, but I've just heard that they're married. Makes it a little more interesting.
