Beards & Flying
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: I wouldn't know.
Posts: 4,499
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Tattoos and piercings where visible are not allowed and reason for immediate dismissal. Only exception are earrings for female pilots or cabin attendants.
That is pretty clear cut in our manual and backed up by labor law.
That is pretty clear cut in our manual and backed up by labor law.
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Germany
Age: 47
Posts: 402
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As far as I know there are no requirements to be beardless in Australia except if you work for Qantas, they have a rule that no beards are allowed for pilots
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: New Forest
Age: 83
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nautica Hirsuta.
As a lifelong professional sailorman, I've worn a full set for fifty years. Never had a problem with BA masks in any of the dozens of fire fighting courses I've done over decades. Proper Captains (nautical ones) do not do moustaches - only half dressed 
.
.
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Germany
Age: 67
Posts: 1,777
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Tattoos and piercings where visible are not allowed and reason for immediate dismissal. Only exception are earrings for female pilots or cabin attendants.
That is pretty clear cut in our manual and backed up by labor law.
That is pretty clear cut in our manual and backed up by labor law.
How tattoos and piercings can affect the ability of a pilot do his work in the state of the art?
Who can explain it in detail?
It seems to me that this labor law has nothing to do with the art of flying or flight safety ...
Some might even perceive the scent of discrimination ...
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: I wouldn't know.
Posts: 4,499
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Never said it was about flight safety although one could argue that piercings are a case of flight safety as they quite often cause injuries during evacuation training.
It is of course about appearance to the paying customer. Many of them don't exactly like goth cabin attendants or punk pilots. That said we are of course free to pierce areas of our bodies that are not usually seen (the tongue is deemed visible) and wear tats where it is usually covered by the uniform. Going on a discovery voyage after work can be a very pleasant pastime...
It is of course about appearance to the paying customer. Many of them don't exactly like goth cabin attendants or punk pilots. That said we are of course free to pierce areas of our bodies that are not usually seen (the tongue is deemed visible) and wear tats where it is usually covered by the uniform. Going on a discovery voyage after work can be a very pleasant pastime...
Modern military masks have a mechanism that forces the mask onto the face. There would be less leakage with a beard than with a standard airline mask.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Perth Western Australia
Age: 57
Posts: 808
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The thing about not getting a good seal on the oxy mask is something I've found to be a myth.
It's just for appearances to the public.
It's just for appearances to the public.
This seems like an issue that a simple study with some people, decompression chamber and a variety of masks would solve.
And throw in a few smoke bombs into the mix as well.
A casual look at the issue would indicate their has to be at least some reduction in performance, but is it significant?
The reason is as I mentioned just above, they are an on-demand type mask and so don't have to hold in any pressure as such. As soon as you breath in, the regulator senses a slight drop in pressure (don't need much) and starts pumping in oxygen in either diluted or 100% flow depending on what you've selected.
As long as there's a bit of a seal on the edges of the mask it'll work fine. I can see that perhaps a tiny little bit of smoke might get sucked into the mask if the seal was particularly bad but probably not enough to cause discomfort.
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Manchester
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Beards
Beards should be banned if you fly with passengers. Imagine their fear if a bearded pilot were to be seen leaving the flight deck.
"Oh dear I thought it was a pilot at the wheel! Looks like we have a geography teacher or local councillor instead, We are all doomed"
"Oh dear I thought it was a pilot at the wheel! Looks like we have a geography teacher or local councillor instead, We are all doomed"
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Florida
Posts: 93
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Our masks have a placard that states "Beards May Not Seal." Yet, we have no restrictions in place for beards.
I'm still waiting for the day a pilot refuses to fly with a bearded pilot because he can't be assured the other guy's mask will work adequately when needed. It's a serious safety issue that gets shrugged off...until it becomes a "contributing factor" in an investigation.
I'm still waiting for the day a pilot refuses to fly with a bearded pilot because he can't be assured the other guy's mask will work adequately when needed. It's a serious safety issue that gets shrugged off...until it becomes a "contributing factor" in an investigation.
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 13
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Flying beads
It's all a fur-fy (pun intended), with over 2000 hrs logged with the actual oxygen mask covering my mouth I can vouch for the fact that it does not leak with a full beard, I wore a beard for 33 years until some so called chief pilot or whatever at Ansett threatened us with our jobs if we didn't cut them off. Started re-growing it the day I retired. When I first started in the job in the back of a DC3 I did a de-comp check with the RAAF and the operator there told my boss that the beard makes a labyrinth seal with the face and can in most cases be a better seal than skin. The test was to FL350 and about 80% of ops were above FL250. As you suck to breath the mask squashes against the face, it is supposed to be tight as well anyway. The note on the side of most masks I used only stated that it hadn't been tested for use with a beard, not that it didn't work with a beard, it worked for me and thousands of others
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Earth
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Do you have a long beard or a trimmed one ?
I've seen saudi, indian or pakistani pilots with long beard and I was asking myself if it's really going to interfere with the oxygen mask in case of decompression, I have one myself but trimmed well not so trimmed definitely not a 3 days beard more a one month.
TY
I've seen saudi, indian or pakistani pilots with long beard and I was asking myself if it's really going to interfere with the oxygen mask in case of decompression, I have one myself but trimmed well not so trimmed definitely not a 3 days beard more a one month.
TY
I read somewhere that Adolf Hitler's short trimmed moustache was the style worn in the trenches during the Great War to ensure a good seal around a gas mask, whilst still looking German! By wearing it, he was overtly reminding everybody "I fought in the trenches too".
Clearly the Royal Navy still wear them
I tried growing a moustache once, itched like hell and made me sneeze so I shaved it off. My wife assures me that a beard would be a very bad thing and likely to have a detremental effect on my love life. That worries me far more than the very rare occasions I might ever wear an oxygen mask.
Just found on an RAF website:
G
Clearly the Royal Navy still wear them
I tried growing a moustache once, itched like hell and made me sneeze so I shaved it off. My wife assures me that a beard would be a very bad thing and likely to have a detremental effect on my love life. That worries me far more than the very rare occasions I might ever wear an oxygen mask.
Just found on an RAF website:
Muslim men are permitted to wear short, neatly trimmed beards. However, for occupational or operational reasons, where a hazard clearly exists, Muslim men may be required to modify or remove facial hair to such an extent as to enable the correct wearing of breathing apparatus, oxygen masks or respirators. Notwithstanding this, Muslim men will not be required to shave their beards in order to perform Nuclear, Biological and Chemical training drills.
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Toronto
Age: 79
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
One must accept that facial hair is a consequence of testicular production of testosterone. Some believe it to be the male curse to have to shave regularly. Those males who have a surgical or medical castration for cancer don't have to shave their faces. Perhaps those who feel that all men should appear beardless have other issues that they may wish to discuss with their therapist.
I remember being told that the reason for the ban on beards was that, if greasy, contact with 100% oxygen would cause spontaneous combustion - anybody out there willing test the veracity of this hypothesis - a fitting experiment for some of those manly types?