When I was flying with Northwest from Amsterdam to Memphis (non-stop, A330) 2 weeks ago, I saw that...........

Question

...... there were two captains (4 stripes) and one 1st officer (3 stripes). So I was asking why there are 2 captains? I knew that, when the flight is something like 9 hours or more, there are often 3 crew members. But I thought that there would only be one captain, and 2 1st officers (so the 2 1st officers would fly a portion of the cruising, while the captain would be there for take-off and landing). So why is that so? And how is it managed? Is the 1st officer flying with one captain, and after 4 hours or so, the other captain changes with the 1st officer (and that there would be 2 captains in the flight deck then)? Who would be the "captain in command" then?

AND: When we arrived in Memphis, I saw that the whole flight crew was leaving the plane max. 10 minutes after the last passenger was leaving. I always thought that there would be a lot of paper work to do after engine shut-down?! Why are they so fast?

Answer 1

Some airlines have a "Cruise Captain" for inflight relief of the other crew, especially on long sectors.  The Pilot in Command is usually designated by the company, maybe based on seniority or experience.

As already mentioned, it may also be a Check Captain.

Answer 2

Must have a captain in a seat at all times. So if the flight time exceeds the limit you need two. Simple. No, don't even ask if two 1st officers can occupy the pilot seats instead. Uh uh uh. PIC is designated for each leg and will sit at the controls. And they just had nine hours to do paperwork.

Answer 3

Take off, turn on autopilot, cruise on unless a problem occurs (turbulence or mechanical). On USAF airplanes, the flight engineer is the one that monitors the systems on the aircraft that need it. Otherwise, there is a master warning panel. We maintenance folks refer to the flight engineer as the idiot light.

Unless the crew has a major problem, they just leave as fast as they can to get to happy hour and the gentleman's clubs. No reason to stick around. It's up to the crew that is going to fly to make sure everything is good to go.

Of course, I don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll get plenty of thumbs downs and be ridiculed by people I could care less about if they feel that way.

Answer 4

All they have to do after they land is write down fuel load,oil level, time in and any discrepancies about the a/c . Then they are out of there. That flight only requires 1 flight crew due to time it takes to fly.

Answer 5

Defects are written as they occur, rest of the paperwork can be done anywhere.

Answer 6

there are a number of reasons why you saw 2 captains;

1) one could be dead heading and sitting in the jump seat

2) one may have been close to maxing out their time this month and they needed someone to bring the bird home

3) the other one was a check pilot which is the most likely scenario

When I was flying the paper work was always done in the office except when I was at a remote site and then it was done in the cook house.

Answer 7

Paper work would be done in the comfort of an office, not on the plane.  The crew would deboard the plane quickly so that it can be cleaned and used again for another flight.

As far as the number of crew members?  Perhaps some of them were not official.  Airline employees, especially pilots, can travel for free and often do not sit with the passengers.