Flight engineer

A flight engineer is an aircrew member who is responsible for monitoring aircraft systems in flight and for checking the aircraft before and after each flight. In civil operations and some old military aircraft the flight engineer sits behind the pilot and co-pilot, facing a side panel of gauges and indicators. Modern military flight engineers have that person sitting between the pilots (see P-3 and C-130H). He is the aircraft systems expert onboard and responsible for toubleshooting and suggesting solutions to in-flight emergencies as well as (civil) computing take-off and landing data.

Modern airliners do not require flight engineers, although they are still found on older models such as the Boeing 747-100 and -300, Boeing 727, Lockheed L-1011, and McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Newer aircraft monitor systems automatically, by computer, and report malfunctions directly to the pilot-in-command and the copilot.