Narrative:

Our flight was diverted from its original destination to gjt. This was an unplanned alternate. En route to gjt as the crew readied for the approach; it was revealed that neither pilot had previously landed at gjt. At this time; the alternate airport binder was retrieved from the first officer's ship set. The first officer and the captain discussed the lack of a second set of approach plates and the lack of direction from the flight training department as to the recommended SOP for commencing an approach with only one set of approach plates and airport diagram available. It was decided that the captain would retain the airport diagram and the first officer; the pilot flying; would retain the approach plate.luckily; this was a VFR daytime approach. After landing; the crew--while viewing the many mesas; mountains and steep terrain in the immediate area of the airport--questioned the safety of having only one approach plate for this airport. Had this been an IFR approach and landing in actual IMC; having only one set of approach plates for this airport would have severely hampered the flight crew; having only one approach plate between two pilots can quickly generate a situation akin to single-pilot operations. All aspects of CRM are greatly reduced when critical information contained on the approach plate is only available to one pilot. Once the decision was made for the pilot flying to retain the approach plate; the pilot not flying was left without any of the critical information such as terrain/obstacle clearance and crossing altitudes.I question the decision to provide only one set of approach plates for this and the many airports which may serve as our destination airport whether an alternate airport or not. If having only one set of approach plates is indeed a safe operation; why are ship sets equipped with two sets of approach plates for most airports? This is an unsafe situation. For the benefit of saving money--if that indeed is the reason for not properly equipping our ship sets--we are risking the safety of those who entrust their lives to us. Consider having to fly a single-engine approach; in a snowstorm; to this mountainous airport without an approach plate available for each pilot. Are we allowing our level of safety to be less; so we can save pennies? Would it be an acceptable defense of an accident to claim that the pilot was unaware of an obstacle height because the only approach plate was across the cockpit in the other pilot's chart holder?what is the acceptable/recommended SOP for operating with only one set of approach plates? If operating with only one set of approach plates; would it be acceptable to bypass the nearest suitable airport (as in the case of a engine failure in-flight) to proceed to a more suitable airport in which both pilots would have the benefits of an approach plates available for immediate review? With the common practice of operating with minimal staffing of flight attendants; what is the recommended procedure in case of a pilot incapacitation and a need arises for material only contained in one of the ship sets that is not available to the remaining pilot? If operating with only one set of approach plates for two pilots [on diversions is deemed acceptable]; will the ship sets be reduced so the flight crew will only have one set of approach plates for all airports?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain addressed his concerns regarding the carrier's practice of including only one copy of each terminal chart for diversion airports in the on board ship set.

Narrative: Our flight was diverted from its original destination to GJT. This was an unplanned alternate. En route to GJT as the crew readied for the approach; it was revealed that neither pilot had previously landed at GJT. At this time; the alternate airport binder was retrieved from the First Officer's Ship Set. The First Officer and the Captain discussed the lack of a second set of approach plates and the lack of direction from the Flight Training Department as to the recommended SOP for commencing an approach with only one set of approach plates and airport diagram available. It was decided that the Captain would retain the airport diagram and the First Officer; the pilot flying; would retain the approach plate.Luckily; this was a VFR daytime approach. After landing; the crew--while viewing the many mesas; mountains and steep terrain in the immediate area of the airport--questioned the safety of having only one approach plate for this airport. Had this been an IFR approach and landing in actual IMC; having only one set of approach plates for this airport would have severely hampered the flight crew; having only one approach plate between two pilots can quickly generate a situation akin to single-pilot operations. All aspects of CRM are greatly reduced when critical information contained on the approach plate is only available to one pilot. Once the decision was made for the pilot flying to retain the approach plate; the pilot not flying was left without any of the critical information such as terrain/obstacle clearance and crossing altitudes.I question the decision to provide only one set of approach plates for this and the many airports which may serve as our destination airport whether an alternate airport or not. If having only one set of approach plates is indeed a safe operation; why are Ship Sets equipped with two sets of approach plates for most airports? This is an unsafe situation. For the benefit of saving money--if that indeed is the reason for not properly equipping our Ship Sets--we are risking the safety of those who entrust their lives to us. Consider having to fly a single-engine approach; in a snowstorm; to this mountainous airport without an approach plate available for each pilot. Are we allowing our level of safety to be less; so we can save pennies? Would it be an acceptable defense of an accident to claim that the pilot was unaware of an obstacle height because the only approach plate was across the cockpit in the other pilot's chart holder?What is the acceptable/recommended SOP for operating with only one set of approach plates? If operating with only one set of approach plates; would it be acceptable to bypass the nearest suitable airport (as in the case of a engine failure in-flight) to proceed to a more suitable airport in which both pilots would have the benefits of an approach plates available for immediate review? With the common practice of operating with minimal staffing of flight attendants; what is the recommended procedure in case of a pilot incapacitation and a need arises for material only contained in one of the ship sets that is not available to the remaining pilot? If operating with only one set of approach plates for two pilots [on diversions is deemed acceptable]; will the ship sets be reduced so the flight crew will only have one set of approach plates for all airports?

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.