Regarding whirlcool's comments in reply 91
I was in the jump seat on a Challenger 601 flying out of the Bombardier Tucson service center a number of years ago. It was a windy day with some substantial gusts that were messing with our AOA probes(angle of attack) so we were struggling with an AOA miss-compare warning. The pilot had hoped that once we were taxiing the problem would correct itself. Well it didn't, and we got airborne with no reliable AOA data. Both pilot and copilot were so involved in sorting it out that normal procedures were overlooked until it was resolved. This resolution came fairly early during climb out, but once the issue was finally settled we discovered another problem.The cabin altitude was climbing along with the aircraft. To make a long story short, the problem with the AOA probes so completely dominated everyone's attention that the engine bleed air switches were never selected and the APU was never shut down, meaning we had climbed up to an altitude were the APU(auxiliary power unit)was struggling to operate, let alone provide enough bleed air to pressurize the aircraft. Once we realized what had happened it was quickly corrected, but it was a rare opportunity for me to witness how even a well trained crew can make mistakes and overlook things when they become distracted. Unfortunately, quite a few crashes where pilot error is blamed, involve the same sorts of distractions and overlooked procedures. I used to wonder how it could happen, but not anymore.
As for certain pilots creating dangerous cockpits through their domineering management style, I was on board another Challenger 601 out of Van Nuys on a routine maintenance flight(to perform an air driven generator drop check)when I witnessed a truly arrogant little dork in the left seat mess with the copilot to point were I'd almost swear I saw smoke coming out of his ears. We were simply supposed to fly out over the Antelope Valley, make several small turns while performing our check and return to the airport. The pilot was busy doing the check as we came up to the first scheduled turn, so the copilot called the tower to let them know we'd be changing course. At this point the pilot laid into him for contacting the tower without checking with him first, after all he was the captain and nothing should be happening in his cockpit without his knowledge. Five minutes later the pilot is still involved in the drop check as we approach the next turn. Not wishing to step on his toes again, the copilot asked for permission to call the tower and alert them about the next change of course. The pilot was very involved in what he was doing and didn't respond, so the copilot asked again. Now the pilot came unglued, accused the copilot of being incompetent, asked him if he needed permission to wipe his nose, and basically told him that "a good copilot wouldn't be pestering him for permission to do every little thing! Can't you see I'm busy? You know what needs to be done, just do it!" At this point the tower contacted us and let us know that we'd failed to contact them at the correct time and we'd missed our turn. Frankly, the entire situation was so ridiculous I could hardly believe what I'd actually seen. The copilot and I had a long talk about the situation after we landed, and he ended up taking another job soon after that. The pilot in this case was a complete freaking nightmare, and there's no doubt in my mind that any aircraft where he's flying left seat is a dangerous place to be.
