Interesting to see what the general public thinks. Sterile cockpit works on paper, it does not always work in real life. How many times have I been waiting in line for take-off behind a dozen jets at the holding point. The aircraft is not moving, no-one is doing anything, it is fine to chat or snap a picture rather than falling asleep (remember, we wake up at 3-4 am 5 or 6 days in a row but no safety issue there). The 10,000ft rule is there because approaches and departures tend to be the busiest parts of the flight and we dont want pilots distracted, playing on their phone or talking about things that are not related to the flight itself. An approach into FCO (or any major airport for that matter) requires both pilots to be very attentive to whats going on, especially in bad weather. And this starts well above 10,000ft. On the other hand, flying a straight-in approach into a small airport, you wouldnt notice any difference above and below 10,000ft. The rules dictate that it is not ok to take a quick photo on this arrival while it is fine in cruise when avoiding thunderstorms. A lot of rules are written by office people and they tend to disregard common sense. As pilots, we know whats right and whats wrong. Pressing one button to start a Gopro requires no attention whatsoever. Having a cabin crew inside the cockpit in the cruise is, however, a big and obvious distraction, with both pilots turned towards the back of the aircraft, half-listening to the radio, yet it is allowed and encouraged by the authorities. Id like to see the author of the post below try to stay awake on his last day of the week, after a 3am wake-up, on a 6h cruise with nothing to do but to watch his instruments. Boredom, fatigue and complacency are much bigger threats than a camera. Whats your opinion on this? (by the way, a lot of these photos are taken from the jumpseat)
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 16:31:07 +0000
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