Husband and Wife teams
CRMDEEN_at_aol.com
Mon, 8 Sep 1997 10:50:04 -0400 (EDT)
While I have no knowledge of any research being done, there is in the
military a lot of "couple teams". Personally, I'm not in favor of them
flying together. There is too much at stake, both for the crew behavior, and
personal responsibility.
I once observed a situation on a MOST (LOFT) scenario. The pilot in
command was an officer and instructor. The flight engineer was female,
enlisted, and was just returning to work from maternity leave. As the crew
was cleared onto the runway for take-off, the PIC called for a "lineup"
checklist. On that checklist, the engineer is required to ensure that a
particular circuit breaker is pulled, to prevent a device from operating in
flight. She could not see any circiut breakers were out. She then left her
seat to search for the CB. While she was looking at the correct panel, she
could not locate the CB. The tower reminded the aircraft that an immediate
takeoff was requested, as there was inbound traffic. The engineer was not
complete with the checklist, and out of the seat. The pilots and the
navigator each were looking at her and not saying anything. In reality, it
was not time-critical that the CB be pulled during the take-off. They could
have easily executed the takeoff, then pulled the CB during the departure.
The crew sat in the aircraft, not speaking, and the copilot was unsure as
to how to respond to the radio pressure from the tower. Finally, the
engineer found the CB, returned to the seat, and the aircraft departed.
The PIC and engieer are married. The pilot is quite good at the flying
skills, and she was quite unskilled at her engineer duties. It was a very
poor team. The copilot and navigator were also at a loss on how to behave.
Married couples flying together? Not a good idea, in my opinion.
Greg Deen
HTI