Originally Posted by
mother-
From my understanding there are only two differences:
-If they sit on the right or the left
-The Captain is ultimately responsible for the aircraft
Adding to that a bit - I'm told on flights where the crew rotates between active flying & mandatory rest you might have a FO (First Officer) in the left seat at some point. On a rotating crew of 3, for example, you might have 1 Captain & 2 FOs or it might be 2 Captains & 1 FO working the flight. The FO would have the same training, just not the hours & certification needed to be Captain.
For example, when AF 477 crashed in the Atlantic out of Brazil a few years ago, 2 FOs were on the flight deck & the Captain came up apparently too late in the game to make a difference....per a fascinating article in Popular Mechanics.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/prin...11877?page=all