Jaunted

Cat II qualifications

Hi there, I don't know where this pap about a level 5 pilot has come from. Basically when you fly the aircraft, there are 2 levels of qualification on the Dash 8 - you are either Cat 1 or Cat 2. Cat 2 basically means that you can fly the aircraft down to a decision altitude of 100 feet above the ground and with 300m visibility. Cat 1 generally means 200 feet above the ground with 550m visibility. Due to the nature of the entire Cat 2 training, it is natural that a level of experience is required. In this company, it is 50 sectors past your line check, provided that you have done the required work in the simulator, and complete 3 practice Cat 2 approaches during your line training. This is not an abnormal situation - it is estimated that there are quite a few pilots out there in various airlines who are not All Weather OPs qualified due to various reasons. In view of the nature, neither pilot did anything wrong and acted to the best of their ability under a difficult circumstance. Unfortunately, this is getting misreported everywhere. The facts of the matter: 1/ The First Officer was not Cat 2 qualified despite undertaking the simulator training. 2/ The pilots with FlyBE are exceptionally well qualified and remain some of the best within the industry 3/ At no point was sfety jeopardised 4/ The decision to divert back to a suitable airfield, although it will attract critics, was the right one. 5/ You have to be qualified in order to fly any aircraft to the level that we do. Not sure if this clarifies any points at all, but feel free to drop me a line should you have anymore. Cheers, A FlyBE F/O

Ah!

Thanks for the info. Actually we agree that we'd rather he turned back, it does all make sense ... lots of reports mentioned the level 5 thing - "the captain said, 'Unfortunately I'm not qualified to land the plane in Paris. They are asking for a level two qualification and I only have a level five. We'll have to fly back." - but it sounds like they got it wrong.

where do you get your info from?

Seriously! once again I found a flaw in your postings.. the flight was from Cardiff to Paris... London has nothing to do with it!. I don't want to sound like an angry douche, but whenever you post something about the UK or involving someone from the UK you seem to make stuff up!