"NEVER EVER EVER leave one person behind a locked cockpit door."
So true, true. As a PAX, this worries the hell out of me to this day.
Just some PAX nostalgia here if I may ----- In the late 1960's I flew Canada-UK frequently in my job. I would often skulk up to the Purser on the 707, and ask him if I could visit the cockpit. I was never refused by the Captain, and as an engineer myself , I received some of the most interesting education of my life. AND the flight crew, all four of them actually used to enjoy explaining things to me - for a while anyway.
I know it's a bygone era but........... the cockpit door was frequently opened; the CC would offer coffee or whatever to the flight crew. The navigator would receive a fax about traffic conditions on the M4, which he would pass back to the Purser for general consumption. There was no chance whatsoever that the aircraft would be left without a competent person awake, up there at the controls. None.
AND the Captain would be asleep for short periods, - with everyone's consent - not that this mattered to him of course! He had a schedule, and everyone knew it.
Then, as we approached the west of Ireland, the Captain would suddenly wake up without any prompting and say to me, - OK, off yer go, we have to start working now.
Some years later I used to frequently ride the Air Canada DC8 overnight east bound flight from Vancouver to Toronto, with stops in between - known affectionately as the "red-eye." There were two drivers - new avionics. But the cockpit door was almost always open, and the contact between the flight deck and cabin crew almost continuous. I was told that AC flight crew had minimum 12 hr. stopovers.
I felt truly safe in those days.
Last edited by Roger Dixon; 8th Feb 2011 at 04:24.