what to do about a dangerous captain

[Paradoxus]

I'm a type-rated LR-JET FO for an on-demand pax op on my first rotation with the company. The guy I'm paired up with is rather spacey in the cockpit; plauged by an almost catatonic demeanor even at times when the workload is low, not to mention when the pressure is laid on us. On top of this, he is insulting both verbally and non-verbally, creating an almost intolerable work environment.

Upon confrontation on the ground, he becomes hostile, further lording his position over me. We are no longer on speaking terms outside the airport.

My question is this: should I turn this guy in? I'm new, and the risks are enormous. I've done my best to document everything that has happened, in case I need to produce evidence in the future.

 

[ultrarunner]

Have you gone to the CP yet?

 

[Paradoxus]

Not yet...still deciding exactly what to do. Being new might remove much of the benefit of the doubt from me. I know I cannot go another rotation with this guy. If I make that request, however, my newness to the company will likely knock my credibility down a few notches--apart from the inevidable "why" and subsequent explanation I'll have to give.

This coupled with the fact I really have no desire to cause the termination of guy with a family to feed. To be honest, I wish there were another way of resolving this.

 

[xjcaptain]

I may have missed it.....What exactly did the captain do that was dangerous?

 

[ultrarunner]

I can't imagine this guys behavior is some big secret. I'm sure others have brought this to your company's attention.

 

[Peanut gallery]

Be carefull

I agree, what has the CA done that is so bad in terms of safety. Clearly the two of you have a disfunctional relationship that does not promote safety, but beyond that there is little concrete evidence other than you guys seem to have the inability to play nice/nice.
With the limited amount of data that you have provided as a CP I probably would begin to form some opinions. I probably already have an opinion about the CA because he has been there for awhile. If it is favorable then you may in fact be the problem as we move forward in the resolution.
Any conflict between two crewmembers will be viewed as failure of both individuals. In the end there is a company to run and personality issues probably will not be tolerated. As a manager, Save'em if you can otherwise cut your losses, but you can bet that as a enterprise they will move forward with the least expensive option that yields the best results.
This may be saying goodbye to the new guy on the block.

Just be carefull and attempt to seek compromise instead of conflict./

Just my .02

 

[WhiteCloud]

Not yet...still deciding exactly what to do. Being new might remove much of the benefit of the doubt from me. I know I cannot go another rotation with this guy. If I make that request, however, my newness to the company will likely knock my credibility down a few notches--apart from the inevidable "why" and subsequent explanation I'll have to give.

This coupled with the fact I really have no desire to cause the termination of guy with a family to feed. To be honest, I wish there were another way of resolving this.

What's the truth here? I'm assuming you've tried to settle this with the pilot on a personal level. If there is still a real problem with this guys flying you need to bring it to the CP's attention. Have a meeting to discuss the situation with the CP and get some advice for getting along with this guy. If the guy is a real problem they know about it already. You seem to have a lot of reasons why you're not doing what you view as the right thing. Worried about losing your job? We all have our price.

 

[Say Again Over]

You say he is dangerous, if he won't change this behavior you have no choice but to turn him in to the CP, refuse to fly with him.

 

[Kenny]

Paradoxus,

I can sympathize in a major way with you on this; I had a very similar situation. I talked to friends of mine that were in the left seat about the issues that were occurring in the cockpit and when I finally realized that the situation wasn't going to get any better I went to our pro-standards.

The bottom line is; do you feel the two of you could work together if the "Fit hits the Shan?" If not, then it would be unsafe for you to continue flying with this guy.

With my own situation it came out months later that this guy had had some major issues with his FO's and was known amongst management for being "difficult". Remember it's not so much what you say to the CP, if you decide to go to him but rather how you say it.

Good Luck.

 

[Paradoxus]

Having never experienced quite this situation before, I am still at a loss what exactly to do. I've been everything in the way of respectful with this individual; allowing him to save face on obvious screw-ups with a concerted tactfull effort just seems like the right thing to do. This morning, however, he busted our altitude and speed restriction on the Dalton departure out of KTEB in a split second, while I was running our after T/O checklist, COMPLETELY ignoring my call-outs/warnings. I have, of course, got to fill out yet another NASA report on the incident as he busted our altitude/speed resistrctions beyond what is acceptable.

I suppose the blame is equally on my shoulders, as I am required to monitor everything happening. It cannot be ignored, however, that I cannot see/prevent EVERYTHING happening when it is not my leg apart from taking the aircraft from this guy.