Camera in the cockpit, yes or no?

[anawanahuanana]

You are an employee of the company, operating the company's aircraft on their behalf, with the purpose of getting the company's customers to their destination safely, wearing a company uniform and getting paid for the privilege. What makes you think that you are entitled to privacy in those circumstances? In my opinion, a camera mounted facing forward above the flight deck door should be mandated. A vast amount of people the world over are subjected to constant CCTV surveillance at work. What makes pilots any different?

I understand that it is a great expense to certify and install such systems, but the decision as to whether or not it is an acceptable expense does not belong to the flight crew. It may only give a small improvement in clarity post accident, but then why do we still not use FDRs that only record 8 parameters? Because more information is better in an investigation.

Picture the scene: You are the PM on AI171. The PF has shut down both engines for his own reasons after rotation. He then asks you why you shut them down. You, surprised by what is happening, simply reply that you didn't. By then, it's already too late, and it's goodnight for you both. On release of the final report, in the absence of video data, and the fact that the CVR can't determine who moved the switches, the finger of blame is pointed firmly at you as the PM, in an assumption that the PF would have been too busy at that stage to do it and could have simply nosedived the aircraft if he had intended to crash. What a wonderful, lasting legacy you have now left on the world. Your family shamed and shunned, and left without financial compensation. The real culprit, now in the clear, can be lauded as an unwitting victim in your evil plan who tried valiantly to save everyone. But at least you had your privacy.