Sir-I agree with John Laming (Letters, Flight International, 3-9 September) suggesting that two captains up front would answer the dreadful failures we are witnessing associated with a lack of airmanship on the part of many in command of big aircraft.
Under the terms of the Chicago Convention, the state should ensure that "safe, sound and efficient" civil aviation is provided by the airlines they authorise. Over and over again, we see pilots in command, striving to land to keep on schedule, when they should be making a new approach or diverting.
The modern pilot in command learns in a simulator, and while this is a wonderful training aid, it is not a real aircraft and will never give that vital flair of understanding of the environment of flight which we used to call airmanship.
MAURICE McGREAL
Auckland, New Zealand
Source: Flight International
