Narrative:

I wish to comment on an increasingly alarming trend in our south american operation. Specifically; I wish to address the controversial decision to drop all 'special qualifications' airports for first officers as well as some for captains and how it is catching up with us. To be more specific: our very high airports surrounded by mountainous terrain. Among the pilots that actually fly these trips; it is a unanimous opinion that this was an extremely foolish decision made by a flight department led by non-pilots. Having said that; there was one saving grace. And that was the vast experience and professionalism of the ZZZ based pilots. Most ZZZ co-pilots in this operation have such vast knowledge of south american operations; culture and language that even though that they have never been in a particular airport; they could successfully complete the mission with only a small compromise in safety. This has changed! Over the last year; I have flown with retuning furloughed pilots and junior pilots returning from military leave. One particular case was a relief pilot that has 1) never flown an all nighter. 2) never flown with a three-man crew. 3) never flown to south america. And where was it that this pilot first flew to in order to meet his basic qualifications? The answer is; one the world's highest airports surrounded by terrain even higher. I hope that the problem with this is crystal clear. Now this problem is worse. For the month of september there are many out of base tdy's into ZZZ. I just flew with one. A self-described professional relief pilot with zero knowledge of south america. He had absolutely no situational awareness of where we were or what we would do in an emergency and really didn't know where bolivia was located in relation to the rest of the world. Let me be clear; he is a fine person; and a fine pilot but he had no business sitting in the right seat going to this airport on his first experience in this theater (without a check airman to boot). To begin with; it is unfair to him to put him in such a situation without the proper training. Not to mention; the passengers who trust us. Once again; the saving grace was an experienced relief pilot in this venue as well as me with 11 years of south american experience and over 500 trips to this airport. The co-pilot in question flew his one and only trip there and will now go back to his regular job as a relief pilot to europe. (His line was built that way -- another safety concern). No harm done. But what happens when a person like this gets paired with a tdy captain on his first solo trip and a relief pilot on his/her trip there? What if this crew is now scheduled in one of the new flat panel airplanes that few of us have any training in?an anesthesiologist and a neurosurgeon are both doctors and both well-trained professionals. But their jobs are completely different! A relief pilot to europe and a copilot to high altitude airports in south america are both pilots and well-trained professionals. But their jobs are completely different! ZZZZ isn't kansas city! Quito isn't grand cayman! And tegucigalga isn't like flying relief pilot to europe! Furthermore south america isn't a standard operation! The map display isn't filled with blue circles to land if there's a problem! Radios; radar and repeaters routinely fail there. There is a language problem. Even for those of us fluent in spanish and portuguese there's still a communication problem. There are volcanoes; 20;000 foot tall mountains and thunderstorms that sometimes require deviations of hundreds of miles. Years ago these points were stressed by the flight department. Now it's just 'another airport' that can be flown by anyone. The recent influx of out of base tdy's seem to bear that out. In closing; virtually all line employees that I talk to think that our margin of safety has greatly decreased in the last few years. In fact; many pilots and mechanics that I speak to seem to think that a catastrophic accident is inevitable; perhaps over due. Even in the flight academy many give the impression that a serious accident is factored into our operation; just like a snowstorm in chicago. I hope that this doesn't happen; but the trend is certainly going that way.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier pilot addressed his concerns about his airline's reduction in required 'special entry qualifications' for flying in South America; especially to very high altitude destinations.

Narrative: I wish to comment on an increasingly alarming trend in our South American operation. Specifically; I wish to address the controversial decision to drop all 'special qualifications' airports for First Officers as well as some for Captains and how it is catching up with us. To be more specific: our very high airports surrounded by mountainous terrain. Among the pilots that actually fly these trips; it is a unanimous opinion that this was an extremely foolish decision made by a flight department led by non-pilots. Having said that; there was one saving grace. And that was the vast experience and professionalism of the ZZZ based pilots. Most ZZZ co-pilots in this operation have such vast knowledge of South American operations; culture and language that even though that they have never been in a particular airport; they could successfully complete the mission with only a small compromise in safety. This has changed! Over the last year; I have flown with retuning furloughed pilots and junior pilots returning from military leave. One particular case was a relief pilot that has 1) Never flown an all nighter. 2) Never flown with a three-man crew. 3) Never flown to South America. And where was it that this pilot first flew to in order to meet his basic qualifications? The answer is; one the world's highest airports surrounded by terrain even higher. I hope that the problem with this is crystal clear. Now this problem is worse. For the month of September there are many out of base TDY's into ZZZ. I just flew with one. A self-described professional relief pilot with zero knowledge of South America. He had absolutely no situational awareness of where we were or what we would do in an emergency and really didn't know where Bolivia was located in relation to the rest of the world. Let me be clear; he is a fine person; and a fine pilot but he had no business sitting in the right seat going to this airport on his first experience in this theater (without a check airman to boot). To begin with; it is unfair to him to put him in such a situation without the proper training. Not to mention; the passengers who trust us. Once again; the saving grace was an experienced relief pilot in this venue as well as me with 11 years of South American experience and over 500 trips to this airport. The Co-pilot in question flew his one and only trip there and will now go back to his regular job as a relief pilot to Europe. (His line was built that way -- another safety concern). No harm done. But what happens when a person like this gets paired with a TDY Captain on his first solo trip and a relief pilot on his/her trip there? What if this crew is now scheduled in one of the new flat panel airplanes that few of us have any training in?An anesthesiologist and a neurosurgeon are both doctors and both well-trained professionals. But their jobs are completely different! A relief pilot to Europe and a copilot to high altitude airports in South America are both pilots and well-trained professionals. But their jobs are completely different! ZZZZ isn't Kansas City! Quito isn't Grand Cayman! And Tegucigalga isn't like flying relief pilot to Europe! Furthermore South America isn't a standard operation! The map display isn't filled with blue circles to land if there's a problem! Radios; RADAR and repeaters routinely fail there. There is a language problem. Even for those of us fluent in Spanish and Portuguese there's still a communication problem. There are volcanoes; 20;000 foot tall mountains and thunderstorms that sometimes require deviations of hundreds of miles. Years ago these points were stressed by the flight department. Now it's just 'another airport' that can be flown by anyone. The recent influx of out of base TDY's seem to bear that out. In closing; virtually all line employees that I talk to think that our margin of safety has greatly decreased in the last few years. In fact; many pilots and mechanics that I speak to seem to think that a catastrophic accident is inevitable; perhaps over due. Even in the flight academy many give the impression that a serious accident is factored into our operation; just like a snowstorm in Chicago. I hope that this doesn't happen; but the trend is certainly going that way.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.