Looking at areas of responsibility

Sir - Capt Mark Zucal makes an interesting and valid point about the flight engineer not being responsible to the chief pilot (Letters, Flight International, 9-15 April, P37).

I have not flown an aircraft with a flight engineer, but I do agree that being responsible to the chief pilot will make the first officer much less likely to challenge a captain's actions.

With the demise of the flight-engineer position, cockpit organisation has been re-arranged, by default.

Is the answer a general upgrade of the first-officer position and perhaps the creation of a "chief first officer" to whom all first officers would have to answer?

John Kizas

Athens, Greece

Source: Flight International