Originally Posted by
flyburg
THR RED ACC, brother!!
What if the captain bangs on the door to let him in but the copilot claims he's having psychotic episode!! What to do?? Legally she's obliged to open the door!
Think that's far fetched? I remember a incident on a jet blue flight where the captain developed such an episode!! Granted, the second person on the flight deck happened to be an off duty pilot, but what if there was not an off duty pilot onboard?
Wow, what choice would. A CA face, the copilot which a strange look on his face claiming the captain is crazy or the copilot is crazy. Just saying!!
In that incident, the reporting says it was crystal clear to everyone which crew member was bonkers and which one was not. In real life, a flight crew member would need to have a very compelling case to lock the second pilot out and I can not imagine a flight attendent not being able to work out which of the crew had lost the plot in this situation.
I find it quite concerning that European pilots are both so afraid of their cabin crew (i.e. they are a real risk of incapaciting the pilot and taking over the aircraft while watching the door) and so easily distracted by cabin crew's looks and charm that they can't concentrate on flying. The US carriers all seem to employee pilots who are able to concentrate enough to fly while cabin crew man the door for their copilot to answer the call of nature.