An airplane's "co captain"?

[sam_gordon]

Has anyone heard of a copilot being referred to as "co-captain"?

And I'm specifically talking about a regional jet, not a long haul flight.

 

[disney_bob]

A pilot is a job. A captain is a 'rank'/designation. Usually they would be referred to as the captain and first officer. The PIC may have just simply used odd-phrasing to signify they were both captains. He probably shouldn't have done that.

/guess

 

[grimley1968]

I could see it happening if a co-pilot just attained the Captain's rank before the flight and the scheduled Captain was saying it as a sort of public "congratulations".

 

[DebbieB]

I've been on flights with 2 captains, they both have the 4 stripes. Of course, only one can be designated as in charge.

 

[bdcp]

We have two friends who are both commercial airline Captains. Both people in the cockpit flying the plain are fully designated Captains. One is usually senior to the other, but both are fully qualified to fly the plane. It's all about seniority in terms of who is "in charge" on the flight.

I'm not sure what difference it makes what their "title" is as long as they can fly the friggin plane.

 

[sam_gordon]

It had nothing to do with a pilot's announcement.

Our local news stations referred to the co-pilot as the "captain". When I called to point out the mistake, I was told he was the "co captain".

I had never heard of that term before, no one I talked to had heard it, so I thought I'd ask here.

And yes, there was no doubt they were referring to the copilot. In all later stories they used the title 'First Officer'.

 

[DebbieB]

A captain wears 4 stripes on his uniform, a first officer is 3 stripes. It's on the shoulder of their shirt or the cuff of their jacket.