I tried to get into the the cockpit of a pegasus 737-800 on the way to turkey,nota hope,even the women sitting next to me on the flight was turkish living in ireland and she explained to them and still refused,on the way home which was late at night, i was asleep for the whole journey,i was told when i woke up the cockpit had been open for nearly the whole journey-sickener

Unfortunately flight deck visits are not allowed because of security, which I agree with. If you remember a few years ago a foreign gentleman gained access to a BA flight deck and jumped on the skipper disengaged the a/p and put the a/c into a dive. This was controlled by the f/o and the large man was removed, restrained and the prosecuted. I do not think that non professional aviation people should be allowed access. The only people who should be allowed access during flight (by prior arrangement) are:-

CAA Inspectors for inspection purposes.
Aircraft Engineers carrying out engineering checks.
Air Traffic Controllers for fam flights.
There is a list somewhere of acceptable people.

Sorry for you guys who are enthusiasts for Aviation but you have not been security checked and at the moment security is paramount, not just for us but for you as well.

Regarding a PPl visit to the flight deck. Yeah, not a problem but not in flight. Come visit us on changeround and we can have a chat. Don't forget that the men causing 9/11 were only PPL's. I'm sorry to say that a PPL is not a reason to visit a commercial airliner flight deck whilst in flight. The first time I went on my flight deck (B777) was straight from the sim.

Someone said earlier that a visit to the flight deck enhanced safety. This is not true for me as I fly in controlled airspace all the time. VFR pilots do not come into my plan. More to the point PPL's/VFR guys need to visit ATC units to understand the meaning of all classes of airspace, separation standards and airmanship. In controlled airspace we (IFR) should not have any problem with VFR at all, leave it to the controllers.

I don't want to be negative or discuraging but at the moment but safety is first. Where there's a will there is a way. Eventually.
Enjoy the ride, drink the wine and beer, eat the food, and lets all get there safely.

ILS 119.5

piginsh1t,

I can speak for AF but not for all the French.
No Captain would allow visits to the cockpit as it is the rule. We have a locked cockpit policy that until now I didn't see anyone breach. However most Captains accept company staff on jumpseat (priority to pilots and CC).
If someone wished to have a look at the cockpit before disembarking, I would suggest asking a CC before descent because it requires some asking. The cockpit crew are always very busy with ramp agents, technicians, fuel etc while pax disembark, and I expect that a request at that stage wouldn't be welcome.