MIT,
Are you a graduate by any chance?
Please also be aware that if you are an engineer "signing off" any work on an aircraft as "seviceable and fit for flight", the responsibility for that work can in some cases last for years and in others for the life of the aircraft. The responsibilty doesn't stop when the aircraft does.
I do agree that pilots have great responsibility, but so also do the little rag hands who fix the things.
In reply to your question it may be worth considering the mandatory "g" loadings these sort of structures must be designed to withstand. Also if it is a compartment it must meet the airconditioning design limits and fire regulations-- I would have thought that from a human factors point of view it must be essential for the person to be able to lie down completely--not semi-reclined as in most business class seats.
[This message has been edited by SchmiteGoBust (edited 12 November 2000).]