aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

in addition to the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft.

Requirement

Historically, large aircraft had several personnel on the flight deck, such as a

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

, a

flight engineer A flight engineer (FE), also sometimes called an air engineer, is a member of an aircraft's flight crew who is responsible for monitoring and operating its complex aircraft systems. In the early era of aviation, the position was sometimes referr ...

, and a dedicated radio operator. Improvements in automation and reliability have reduced this to two. Many aircraft require a minimum of two flight crew. The minimum crew requirement will be stated in the aircraft manuals by the manufacturer. In the European Union, all turbo-propeller aeroplanes with a maximum approved passenger seating configuration of more than nine and all

turbo-jet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...

aeroplanes require two pilots.EU OPS (965) Subpart N, Ops 1.940 Composition of flight crew

Role

Control of the aircraft is normally shared equally between the first officer and the captain, with one pilot normally designated the "

pilot flying In commercial aviation with a two-person flight crew, the pilot flying (PF) is the pilot operating the flight controls of the aircraft. The other pilot is referred to as the pilot monitoring (PM) or pilot not flying (PNF). Before a flight departs, ...

" and the other the "pilot not flying", or "pilot monitoring", for each flight. Even when the first officer is the flying pilot, however, the captain remains ultimately responsible for the aircraft, its passengers, and the crew. In typical day-to-day operations, the essential job tasks remain fairly equal. Often the first officer will log time as pilot in command under supervision (PICUS), for the purpose of working towards an

airline transport pilot licence The airline transport pilot license (ATPL), or in the United States of America, an airline transport pilot (ATP) certificate, is the highest level of aircraft pilot certificate. In the United States, those certified as airline transport pilots ...

. Traditionally, the first officer sits on the right-hand side of a

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...

(" right seat") and the left-hand side of a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

(the reason for this difference is related to, in many cases, the pilot flying being unable to release the right hand from the cyclic control to operate the instruments, thus they sit on the right side and do that with the left hand). On a long haul flight, there may be multiple captains and first officers on board, to act as relief crew. While the captain rests, the senior of first officers sits in the left-hand seat, as for example on

Air France Flight 447 Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications and mi ...

. Some airlines have the rank of " junior first officer", for pilots who are not yet fully qualified. Modern airliners require two pilots. When a junior first officer is undergoing training, a

safety pilot In aviation, a safety pilot is used during pilot training. Instrument training During training for instrument flight under visual meteorological conditions, a safety pilot is a pilot who helps maintain visual separation from other aircraft, cl ...

will sit in the

jump seat A jump seat (sometimes spelled jumpseat) is an auxiliary seat in an automobile, train or aircraft, typically folding or spring-loaded to collapse out of the way when not used. The term originated in the United States c. 1860 for a movable car ...

to monitor the junior first officer and the captain. A junior first officer is sometimes known as a second officer. After a certain number of flight hours and experience, a first officer can be promoted to senior first officer. A senior first officer will typically have at least 1,500 hours flight experience. A first officer may be older or have more experience than a captain. A captain may choose to return to a first officer role to take a job at a different airline. Some pilots prefer to remain a senior first officer than pursue an upgrade to captain, due to the benefits of

seniority Seniority is the state of being older or placed in a higher position of status relative to another individual, group, or organization. For example, one employee may be senior to another either by role or rank (such as a CEO vice a manager), or by ...

References

Bibliography

* Harris, Tom
How Airline Crews Work
HowStuffWorks.com website, June 14, 2001. Retrieved September 2, 2014. * Smith, Patrick
Patrick Smith's Ask The Pilot: When a Pilot Dies in Flight
, AskThePilot.com website, 2013, which in turn cites: *Smith, Patrick
Cockpit Confidential: Everything You Need to Know About Air Travel: Questions, Answers, and Reflections
Sourcebooks, 2013, , .
''Flying the World in Clipper Ships''
at flightjournal.com, 2007. {{commercial air travel, state=collapsed Titles Occupations in aviation

Requirement

Role

See also

References

Bibliography