Today I'm posting a question from a young lady who is going to be a pilot. Despite her fair share of challenges in Malaysia, she is working hard to make her dreams come true.
Yesterday she sent me a great question. Something that I have been asked on numerous airline interviews, in one form or another. I will pose this question to you...
You don't have to be a pilot to answer...
What Would You Do?
How should the first officer respond if he knew the captain is making a wrong decision…e.g flying into thunderstorm cloud / ignore the decision height / having conflict idea to proceed or return back to base and mostly the answers I got from the sites will be: First officer should be assertive in voicing out his concern..., but they left it hanging there…
What IF the captain ignore the First officer. First officer continues to nag at the captain? hahaha
I know physical violence is not allowed in the cockpit.... so what should the FO do?? some people said, FO should report to the management about the captain's behavior after arrival (ONLY if they make it down safely)
So during the mid flight crisis, how should it be done? Trust the captain's decision because of his vast experience? FO worry/think too much so he should listen to the captain?
Also I know it is all depends on the severity of problems… for e.g, what if FO think it is a big deal but captain is confident that the problem doesn't affect the flight…
I was asked on an interview ... "The weather has gone below minimums, and your captain is going to continue. He say's, 'I've done this a million times. No problem. Besides, I have a hot date tonight.' What would you do?"
These are good questions. Not only for an interview, but to think about how you would respond, prior to being in a situation that could mean life or death.
Be safe, and enjoy the journey.