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> Ironic, considering the opposite is true for planes. Although I do believe only one is typically in control/“pilot” at any given time. In US civilian flying,
by redis_mlc 5y ago
> Ironic, considering the opposite is true for planes. Although I do believe only one is typically in control/“pilot” at any given time.
In US civilian flying, one is the pilot flying and the other is the pilot non-flying (usually operates radios, etc.) They usually alternate landings. Pilots study Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) to improve communications.
The Pilot in Command (PIC) is responsible for the flight (not ATC.)
Airplanes can be towed on the ground. Not sure how responsibility is assigned. It's pretty common for wingtips to collide during ground-handling, which grounds both planes.
- redis_mlc 5y agoI did a search and it looks like airline ground collisions are usually resolved via the courts. The towing company in one case with Virgin Airlines tried to muddy the waters with "no specific airplane model training" and "not enough lighting", which the judge laughed at since if an airplane towing company can't tow an airplane, what's the point of using them? FYI: a wingtip strike can cost a few million dollars to fix, plus the cost of grounding (AOG) for weeks or months, which is more millions, for an airliner. With small airplanes, most flight schools don't charge for AOG, but in the cases I've heard of, the loss of use was more than the repair bill and probably ended the student's career. The numbers were in the range of $5,000 in repairs and $10,000 - $20,000 for loss of use.