Fly Damnit

Duties of a Captain and First Officer

Well if you are wondering why there is two pilot in the cockpit/flight deck read this up. This is because there is a difference between Captain’s and a First Officer’s duty. First Officer will now be known as FO. Read on…

Introduction

Picture of a b737 flight deck

Before entering the aircraft, it’s the FO’s duty to get the weather, flight plan, PTC card, Voyage report, fuel and everything. The captain verifies the things FO do only. The captain will sign any documents concerning fuel and maintenance document. This is because in the end, the plane is still the Captain’s responsibility.

Note*: On the ground the Captain will always be the commander. And the FO will be doing the support duties. On air, there is Pilot Flying (PF) and Pilot Monitoring (PM). If the captain is PF, the FO will become PM. And if the FO is PF the Capt is the PM.

Note*: Note that Pilot Monitoring is the new term used for MAS because they want to standardize the terms with the Boeing’s new procedure. The old term is Pilot Not Flying.

In Theory

Picture of a b737 area of responsiblity

Upon entering the aircraft the Captain and FO have to do the separate checks. The captain will sit on the left and the FO will sit on the right. Every check is divided according to areas of responsibility, The captain will take one side and the FO will take the other. Below is an example of area of responsibility if the Captain is the Pilot Flying and the FO is the Pilot Monitoring.

For example; if the Pilot Flying requires any changes in the Pilot Monitoring’s area of responsibility, he just ask for it. If he wants Flaps 5, he will just say “Flaps 5”. Then the Pilot Monitoring will select Flaps 5 for him.

Right Hand Sector

There is two types of sectors. The Captain as PF, and the FO as PM (as stated in the previous paragraph). The other one is Captain as PM, and the FO as PF. This is called a Right Hand Sector (RHS). Where the FO does the flying and the Captain as Pilot Monitoring.

But since there is only one control steering on the left side, the captain will always be in command on the ground. Some airlines might have 2 control steering. But MAS has only one. Therefore, the First Officer as the Pilot Flying starts during Take Off, cruise, up to landing. Before Take Off, the captain will say “You have control” when giving control to the FO as Pilot Flying. After the aircraft lands, the captain will take over by saying “I have control” and the First Officer reverts to support duties. I hope this is not confusing.

Actual flight

In an actual flight, most of the time, the First Officer will do everything. Although the captain sits on the left, the FO will do the FMC and everything. They split they sectors 50-50. Some flight there will be 2 Captains flying together, so the pilot on the right will have to do the First Officer’s Job.

Company Standard Procedure and Callouts for MAS:

“Monitor engine and flight instruments. If any malfunction occurs before V1, call out System & condition. If I decide to reject takeoff, I will announce ‘REJECT’, simultaneously close thrust levers, disengage A/T, apply maximum braking either manually or RTO autobrakes, manually deploy speedbrakes and maximum reverse thrust. Monitor my actions & call out any omissions. If a malfunction occur at or after V1, the takeoff will continue and there shall be no action below 600’ AAL.”

“For RHS sector, any malfunction b4 V1, I will do the reject and you will revert to support duties. If a malfunction occurs at or after V1, the takeoff will continue and you will continue flying the aircraft until I announce “I have control” a which point you shall handover controls & revert to support duties.

Should you have any doubts on the safety of the flight, do not hesitate to bring it to my attention.”

Emergency

In an emergency, the captain will do the abort or even reject the Take Off if he thinks the plane is not safe to fly. Every decision is the captain’s responsibility.

(Reference OM NP 10.8 & NP 10.9)

In general, phase of flight responsibilities are as follows:

Pilot flying (PF):

• flight path and airspeed control
• airplane configuration
• navigation

Pilot not flying/monitoring (PNF/PM)

• checklist reading
• communications
• tasks requested by PF
• start levers, fire switches and irreversible actions

During Training

During training, like the simulator session, the pilot sitting on the right will do all the flying. Exactly like the Right Hand Sector. The only difference is that the FO will do the reject and fly during in emergency. This is for training purposes only. Where if it was an actual flight, the captain will take over.

It might sound a little bit confusing. But it might be clearer after I post the actual checklist. Recently, (around February) MAS changed their Normal Procedure and area of responsibility for the 737 and some fleets. So many pilots might also be confused. And for those who just joined me. MAS stands For Malaysia Airlines System.

I will do a post specifically on Pilot Flying and Pilot Monitoring later and add a link for simplified preflight procedure here. Maybe a link to a full proper preflight procedure too. Come back later for part II