Were they all on the flight deck ? Do relief crew sit on the flight deck for take-off on this aircraft / Airline ? If so, are they part of the operating crew, which could impinge on their ultimate, eventual, duty hours available ?
1. Yes, they were on the flight deck, as EK in its sublime wisdom decided that augmenting crew do not need a normal seat.
2. No, they are not part of the operating crew, as EK in its sublime wisdom does not want them to participate in vital operations, such as calculating TO weights or doing outside checks etc.
3. No, these hours do not count. They can only log the hours in the drivers seat as augmenting crew.
At EK, due to its sublime wisdom, the augmenting crew have three functions:
1. To be a pain in the a$$ during cockpit prep, TO and Ldg, because they are confined to sit in the two jump seats without any assigned task, therefore basically beeing only a element of distraction.
2. To be forced to lay down in the torpedo tube in the most remote part possible of the aircraft. This tube does not allow at all sitting up or eating. You can barely drink and read and can only watch the screen if your spine resembles the one of Houdini. During your sometimes 7 hours of torture, you are not allowed to sit in a empty pax seat to decently rest or eat, even if the whole class is empty (unless risking beeing reported by one of our collegues on board).
3. Augment the operating crew, which remains the best part of the flight.