I wonder did you see this story about passengers on a Canadian plane having an unsettling in-flight experience after the pilot found himself locked out of the cockpit after a trip to the toilet?
Instead of slipping back inside, the Air Canada Jazz pilot was seen banging on the door and talking to his first officer on an internal phone. Crew members were forced to take the door off its hinges to let him back in.
Now then, I am a nervous flier at the best of times and so the prospect of watching the Captain trying to bash down the cockpit door to get IN during the flight feels me with dread! Can you imagine what was going on in the minds of all those nearby passengers as they watched this burlesque unfold? I'm not sure if they offered in-flight drinks but I would have required some form of sedation after viewing this incident!
That reminds me of an old "Far Side" cartoon that showed two pilots in a cockpit and one of them exclaims "Oh no! The fuel light's come on! We're all going to die! Oh wait. My mistake. That was just the intercom light."
Posted by: Emily | August 31, 2006 at 06:57 PM
It's a wonder there were't a spate of cardiac arrests.
I was flying home once and the pilot gave his usual bit and then said "I'm particularly pleased to be here as it is the first time I've flown".
People started to look 'round to judge the reastions of everyone else when he finished off"....to Belfast this morning.
Posted by: aileen | August 31, 2006 at 07:28 PM
During a terrible storm on a flight I took they announced "Ladies and Gentlemen, the crew need your Help." My life flashed before me and then they announced they needed change because they were serving the drinks and didn't have small bills.
Posted by: mahons | August 31, 2006 at 07:50 PM
I'm a security hawk, and I'm not happy that those cockpit doors -ever- open in flight.
I have, several times --after Sept 11-- seen flight attendants open the door to pass a meal in, etc. with their backs turned to the passenger cabin. Any bad guy in the first rows could have lunged right into the cockpit.
I complained to the airline in writing, and they said "the action you describe is not consistent with our procedures". Yet it still happens.
I know that there are backup procedures that the passengers aren't aware of, but I am not as comfortable as I'd like to be on this.
My understanding is that El Al crew don't leave the cockpit. Period. Even if its a flight from Tel Aviv to New York. Much as I realize the, ahem, practical issues that could present a problem with the El Al approach, I like it.
Posted by: The Phantom | August 31, 2006 at 08:53 PM
If the crew were able to remove the door by taking off the hinges So could terrorists
Posted by: The Troll | August 31, 2006 at 10:18 PM
Phantom,
I agree.
Troll,
Great point.
Posted by: David Vance | August 31, 2006 at 10:29 PM
Well I guess I am in the minority once again when I say that I am heartened that he had such a hard time opening it.
As for terrorists taking the hinges off the doors - - aint gonna happen. Not in this day and age when it is the passengers who restrain the kooks in the cabin. Remember 'Let's Roll'? We don't sit down and shut up anymore.
Posted by: Monica-Philadelphia | September 01, 2006 at 01:54 AM
What a great stroy to read.
Posted by: texas oncologist | April 20, 2011 at 04:20 AM