Pre-Departure Flight Deck Chaos
A discussion topic / question for pilots, technicians and other airline staff...
Getting to the aircraft, we often find technical personnel in the flight-deck, frantically working on the aircraft to facilitate dispatch. This kind of work (increasingly in modern aircraft) sees them re-setting computers, selecting switches, and dashing in and out of the E&E-bay.
Fair enough so-far... The guys are doing exactly what they're paid to do.
What I'm concerned about is that we so often end up trying to set the aircraft up while these guys are still working. I feel that we should stay out the way until they're done... and then go in to the flight-deck, and get things sorted out. As for the delay... put it down to "Aircraft Snag"... Not necessarily "Technical" (as in... who is to blame for the delay). My point here is that we should take the schedule seriously, but not as seriously as safety.
If however, we're already up front, and a techie comes into the FD, I feel that he should't just start doing his work (chatting on a blaring two-way radio, moving switches, calling for, or just leaning over and selecting ECAM / EICAS pages, etc) without due concern for what is taking place in the two front seats (briefings, checklists, radio, nav' way-point insertions, etc). This of course, all happens while trim-clerks, ramp agents, and cabin-crew are also moving in and out of the FD to get things done.
Is this a common problem, or is the culture unique to our airline?
My big issue is that this is a huge distraction, and in an information rich environment, things can easily get buggered-up.
Just interested...
Cheers,
Pitch&Fan