Originally Posted by
Seat62K
Where airlines allow passengers to board before flight deck crew, is there a rule that when this happens the flight deck door must be locked (or otherwise guarded)? I'd hate to think that the flight deck could be accessible to passengers
.
At Air Canada it is an everyday occurrence. Pilots often arrive (late due to aircraft swaps) to find the aircraft fully boarded, fully fuelled, with the APU running, flight deck door wide open, and the jump seat passenger standing in the galley.
This is not a safety problem as the Flight Attendants are responsible for the aircraft and the APU has full fire protection and auto shutdown capabilities.