Expert: D. Norkus - 8/27/2006

Question

Dottie,
  What does a first officer do on the plane? In the crash in KY, the first officer was the only one to live. I was just wondering what his job was.
Thanks,

Dianne Gidley

Answer
Dianne

A "First Officer" is the contemporary term for a co-pilot. (Like the term "flight attendant" and not "stewardess" is now PC.)

The job of a F/O is exactly the same as the captain save for the fact they are not legally responsible for, nor sign the paperwork accepting the aircraft for flight. The captain is "directly responsible for the safety of the flight and is the final authority as to the safe operation of the aircraft" per the FAA regulations, regardless of whether they are actually flying.

Both the Captain and the F/O go through the same airline training program with a few minor differances. To read about what such training is like, see this link-

http://www.jetcareers.com/content/view/40/63/

Many are under the impression that the F/O doesn't do much or only the captain flies the plane but that is not the case. Typically, the crew will trade off flying duty with the F/O flying the aircraft every other trip while the captain handles the radio and vice versa. Every airline F/O hired becomes a "future captain in training" from their first airline flight. They share 95% of the same duties as the captain.

Dottie