> Snapper y7mail.com.invalid> wrote innews:21spb4tq30u61u2ilhnuvhtis1br6piiod@yarwho.com:
>
>
>

>> From the latest Crikey Daily, author of this article, Ben Sandilands,
>> erstwhile airline reporter and critic.

>

>> The original article has two photos, one of an FA sitting in the
>> captain's seat, then another of the FO doing the same.

>

>> Obviously I can't post the message in its intactness here. But the
>> images are blurred to hide the people's identities.

>

>>    ----[start of original article]-----

>

>> Stewardess in the pilot's seat: Flying High on Jetstar
>> Ben Sandilands writes:

>

>> Why is a flight attendant sitting in the captain’s seat of a Jetstar
>> A330 in level flight at around 250 knots airspeed?

>

>> And who else was on the flight deck when the first officer posed in
>> the same seat after or before the 305-passenger jet appears to have
>> slightly changed its heading?

>

>> CASA says it doesn’t act on anonymous photographs.

>

>> We obscured the faces of the flight attendant and first officer, but
>> Crikey will send CASA the unedited images.

>

>> There are enough breaches of air safety regulations implicit in these
>> images to result in criminal prosecutions.

>

>> The sender of these images points out that the first officer may well
>> have proper cause to be in the left hand seat in providing relief to
>> the captain, or for training purposes if it wasn’t a flight carrying
>> passengers.

>

>> However, the air safety regulations only allow appropriately licensed
>> and qualified persons to occupy a control seat while an aircraft is in
>> flight.

>

>> The anonymous emailer lists several risks in the situation of the
>> flight attendant in a pilot’s seat.

>

>> An instruction for a change in heading or altitude by air traffic
>> control may not be acted upon.

>

>> She would be incapable of responding to a TCAS or automated collision
>> alert system warning which is triggered when aircraft are converging
>> courses, and depends on the pilots of each flight diving, climbing or
>> changing course according to a computer generated instruction.

>

>> In an emergency procedure caused by a cabin depressurisation or an
>> engine fire she would be occupying a seat urgently required by a
>> pilot.

>

>> Our informant is critical of the pilot culture at Jetstar and says,
>> "Due to an industrial requirement of keeping costs low promoting
>> pilots in house, the experience, safety culture and compliance with
>> simple regulatory requirements have been neglected.

>

>> "Alan Joyce [currently Jetstar CEO pending taking over that role at
>> Qantas] stated some time ago his concerns that bringing in qualified
>> crew would 'pollute the Jetstar culture' . One must wonder exactly
>> what culture he is trying to protect."

>

>> Jetstar this morning launched a full inquiry into the matter and has
>> also notified CASA of its inquiries.

>
> Don't know what the situation is at Jetstar but at many airlines when a
> pilot goes for a leak one of the flight attendants will come into the
> cockpit until he/she returns. Means someone is there to open the door to
> let him/her back in so the remaining pilot doesn't have to get up.
>
> What's the three striper doing in the Captains chair?
>
> Command/upgrade training perhaps?
>
> So how's this for a scenario......command trainee goes for a leak,
> flight attendant enters cockpit for a few minutes and plonks herself on
> the left seat to chat to the check and training captain in the right
> seat until the trainee comes back.
>
> Now is that so sinister?