Sunbird123; (post #48)
I think that there are too many distractions in the modern cockpit.
Too many people coming in with papers to sign which breaks the routine of the crew. They then try to do more than one item at once to get back on schedule.
Data entry has always been a problem not just with airlines.
and,
Payscale; (post #53)
Thats what went wrong in MEL, to my understanding.
Too many engineers with techlogs, fuelers with fuel slips, cabin crew with sandwiches and coffee groundstaff with bloody walkie talkies, dispatchers with load sheets with LMCs. All wanting the Captain attention and wanting an on time deaprture..
EK has changed since then, but still not very sterile. Engineers can fill out the log in silence and dont talk on mobile while doing it..
Send the fuel slip with the engineer
CC should stay away until called for.
I dont need to see the ground staff.
Let me sign the load sheet electronically
Now let get down to the business of briefing.....
From the FARS:
(a) No certificate holder shall require, nor may any flight crew member perform any duties during a critical phase of flight except those duties required for the safe operation of the aircraft. Duties such as company required calls made for non-safety related purposes as ordering galley supplies and confirming passenger connections, announcements made to passengers promoting the air carrier or pointing out sights of interest and filling out company payroll and related records are not required for the safe operation of the aircraft.
(b) No flight crew member may engage in, nor may any pilot in command permit, any activity during a critical phase of flight which could distract any flight crew member from the performance of his or her duties or which could interfere in any way with the proper conduct of those duties. Activities such as eating meals, engaging in non-essential conversations within the cockpit and non-essential communications between the cabin and cockpit crews, and reading publications not related to the proper conduct of the flight are not required for the safe operation of the aircraft.
(c) For the purposes of this section, critical phase of flight involves all ground operations involving taxi, takeoff and landing, and all other flight operations conducted below 10,000 feet, except cruise flight.
Note: Taxi is defined as "movement of an airplane under its own power on the surface of an airport."
The decision to make the sterile cockpit on the ground a priority has already been partially made at some carriers. At a former company, it was policy that the F/A's did not interrupt the cockpit preparation until the time came for the briefing, which was signalled by the captain. Many times the briefing to the In-charge F/A took place in the cabin, prior to boarding the passengers and before cockpit preparation.
I don't think the same policy applied to maintenance, fueler, load-sheet acceptance, extra cockpit occupants such as regulatory (check) personnel, maintenance personnel (for test flights) etc. Each of these groups has their own time schedules and needs and usually have to be at other places quickly - those needs have been permitted to override the need for a undistracted cockpit preparation and have thus made our reaction to such interruptions almost automatically accomodating, - it is "part of the job of being an airline pilot to manage distraction", we are told. And to an extent, that is true. One key is necessity.
Most country's aviation regulations provide for some requirement for the sterile cockpit.
However, as indicated by the bolding Para (c), the rule does not apply in perhaps one of the most critical "phases" of flight, cockpit preparation for departure.
Here, the commercial priority of an on-time departure is privileged over the orderly preparation of the cockpit.
Constant interruptions such as MEL resolutions, F/A briefings/passenger issues) are permitted and supercede the need for the same sterility these regulations provide for in the air.
While the most important priority is the accurate preparation of the cockpit, commercial priorities are understandable as are the decisions from the captain on various dispatch matters which must be resolved prior to departure. The intent of any policy or regulatory provision and therefore future recurrent training regarding would be to provide for an orderly cockpit preparation without interruption, (
from sitting down/adjusting seats and turning on the IRSs, to the completion of the takeoff briefing and including FMS entry of preliminary load data and the emergency briefing).
The objections and cited problems, and we can think of a number of them, will be based solely upon commercial and economic priorities, not flight safety priorities. Commercial priorities cannot be dismissed but must be instead accomodated. MEL items must be dealt with and sometimes they will even be a part of the cockpit preparation. Such issues must obviously be dealt with; the notion is "minimal distraction/interruption" - complete sterility is not likely possible.
At present, anyone with the need and who is not provided with at leasst some guidance regarding such cockpit interruptions, feels free to do so without further thought.
I doubt if some form of regulatory intervention would come about without strong airline lobbying but to my knowledge the issue has never been described or addressed in any formal way by any of the usual advocacy groups. Perhaps it is time?
PJ2