Pilot locked in toilet causes accidental terror scare

[26er]

Talking of keys, as you were, in the late fifties at Chivenor the Sycamore SAR helos of 275 Sqn had an AA box key in the cockpit so they could telephone for help!

n.b. for all you youngsters, the Automobile Association had dedicated roadside telephone boxes for distressed members of the Association, who were also issued with a key on joining. There was one of these boxes on the highest point of the road from Braunton to Ilfracombe.

[ShotOne]

What were the cabin crew doing while this pantomime unfolded? And why didn't the F/O call them before initiating WW3 with ATC? It's not as if the helpful passenger was about to have gained access to the flt deck.

[RobertS975]

I believe that this was a 50 pax ERJ with a single FA who apparently was in the cockpit when the pilot left for the lav.

[glofish]

This mediocre play of dumb safety procedures and dumber security measures reminds me of the medieval knights who tried to protect themselves with heavy armor, to the point they could hardly move, notwithstanding fight anymore.

[Tankengine]

I would have thought it was way more important to have the single flight attendant in the cabin to supervise pax than to sit on pilot's knee!

[Sky Slug]

I would have thought it was way more important to have the single flight attendant in the cabin to supervise pax than to sit on pilot's knee!

Uhhh, not quite. Flight attendants have a specific position to stand or sit in the cockpit while we are using the restroom. In today's world of reinforced cockpit doors it's crucial that there is another member of the crew in the cockpit at all times while a CA/FO is in the lav.

[grounded27]

You buy them books, you send them to school and.....

[Oakape]

Flight attendants have a specific position to stand or sit in the cockpit while we are using the restroom. In today's world of reinforced cockpit doors it's crucial that there is another member of the crew in the cockpit at all times while a CA/FO is in the lav.

I know of a number of airlines where this is not done.

[Gordomac]

JW411

Great post. I do concur with Burger Thing. Fabbo start to my day too. Gees; Laker 10's. I was on the first course of DE, non type rated for BAC 1-11. Non coms still got a chip, I see. Nevermind. Oh, but, back to thread. Last company, after 9-11, invented a very complex toilet procedure. Only one Check Capt stuck to the procedure because he wanted to demonstrate. On a L/C , he told me that he needed a comfy break but asked me to listen in to the correct procedure. Called up the CA looking after us and said...." R1c ?" 'Yes Captain',...."I wish to go to the toilet". I heard her drop the phone & I giggled, quite a lot .

[aterpster]

Tankengine:

I would have thought it was way more important to have the single flight attendant in the cabin to supervise pax than to sit on pilot's knee!

I think that would depend whether she was a real looker and also quite amorous.

[mat777]

Best one I've heard was one flight (I forget which airline, plane etc) where one of the Pilots went for a lav break, and whilst he was gone the second pilot went to request a drink from an FA... being shortly post 9/11 the latter pilot had forgotten about the self-locking cockpit door, and both of them had to break it down to regain access to the flight deck

[stepwilk]

I know of a number of airlines where this is not done.

My understanding is that if an air-transport aircraft has a single F/A--i.e. a 50-passemger Embraer--that one F/A needs to be in the cockpit whenever there's only one flight crew at the controls, in order to open the cockpit door for the second flight crewperson in case the first has, say, a heart attack.

[Letayou]

Stepwilk is correct, at least for the aircraft in question, a Delta Connection flight. I worked as an FA on 50-seaters until very recently, and that is the protocol.

[Oakape]

My understanding is that if an air-transport aircraft has a single F/A--i.e. a 50-passemger Embraer--that one F/A needs to be in the cockpit whenever there's only one flight crew at the controls, in order to open the cockpit door for the second flight crewperson in case the first has, say, a heart attack.

How does the number of F/A's make any difference here? If you have only two pilots, regardless of the number of F/A's, you will have an issue if the remaining pilot is incapacitated when the other leaves the flight deck. Most aircraft are operated by only 2 pilots these days & no airline I have worked for on 2 crew aircraft has a requirement for a F/A to be in the flight deck when one of the pilots leaves for any reason.

[Sky Slug]

I know of a number of airlines where this is not done.

In my previous gig with a regional, the flight attendant was instructed to stand between the door and the flying pilot. Of course, with small items like that, it was rarely adhered to the "letter-of-the-law." Besides on the flight deck of the CRJ-200, you're within inches of everything.

[Dream Land]

How does the number of F/A's make any difference here? If you have only two pilots, regardless of the number of F/A's, you will have an issue if the remaining pilot is incapacitated when the other leaves the flight deck. Most aircraft are operated by only 2 pilots these days & no airline I have worked for on 2 crew aircraft has a requirement for a F/A to be in the flight deck when one of the pilots leaves for any reason.

I think you need to check around, all outfits I have worked for since 9/11 have had this SOP, I thing it began mainly due to the fact that cameras were not yet being used.

[wiggy]

no airline I have worked for on 2 crew aircraft has a requirement for a F/A to be in the flight deck when one of the pilots leaves for any reason.

The requirement certainly does exist in some airlines in some circumstances.

[Traffic]

This sounds on a par with the Monty Python skit from Japan about 2 years ago on a domestic 734 flight where some old biddy failed to exit a kazee at TOD.

Out of the cockpit appeared the F/O armed with the crash axe. Whilst trying to turn the door into scrap he managed to cause his arm some damage with said axe....

Removable hinge pins are pretty standard but unknown to most of the youngsters who now inhabit the sharp end of a/c

[Tankengine]

It is not the case with my own airline.

As I said - it is crap, way more important for a single flight attendant to supervise pax [what if they are loitering near door or lav? the F/A may never be able to leave the cockpit!]

The rule is BS!


aterpster, that goes without saying!

[Dg800]

How does the number of F/A's make any difference here?

I think the point was that if there is a single F/A and if he/she is required to be on the cockpit side of the door while one pilot is taking a break, then there will be no F/A on the passenger side able to assist said pilot in the lav... Everybody please take their mind out of the gutter right now, thank you.