Do you REALLY want to ride on an airplane piloted by a guy who's REALLY gotta go? What's gonna be one hell of a hard, fast landing...

--PP

Are you really so concerned about this 90 seconds with 2 or 3 FAs blocking the door that you want the airlines to spend millions redesigning their airplanes?

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What I want is for the flight crew to be vigilant and this crew was not. Unfortunately, this isn't an isolated incident and I find more and more crews who don't take it seriously.

So, I'd want to see the conversion cost, but yes, I would consider it.

i believe it's also sop on ua unless they have the pull-out gates that i've seen on some 57's and for me, when i osberve the cockpit door being opened in mid-flight, i stop what i'm doing, watch and wait until the capt/fo has returtned-and KUDOS to the f/a who noticed me watching and when the "pp-break" was over asked to speak to me in the aft galley. i was asked if was a leo and asked why. the f/a's response was that she noticed me "watching" and i simply told her-"not on my flight" (a bottle of wine was waiting very unexpectedly when i was de-planing with the purser's and capt's business card saying thanks). this would not be the first time i've been questioned but the other was a bit more obvious-take off roll las-sfo on a 37 w/me in 6c (first row of coach for you non-ua'ers ) and the door to the flight deck swings open as it wasn't locked properly. the f/a in in the f/s jumpseat gets up to try and close the door but can't so i get a great view of the flightdeck and crew not batting an eyelash as it was rotate, gear up and a very fast level at 3k feet to get the door closed but what the f/a didn't notice until after getting the door closed was that i had un-buckled and swung my legs across the aisle as did the person across from me in 6d. we were both asked to wait for the captain after landing and figured, "oh, $hit..."but it was a hearty thanks and travel vouchers for us.

I've seen one of the pilots come out to take a leak, then stand around in the galley chatting for a long period of time. On one occasion I had gotten up to go to the loo and the co-pilot came out, the cart came out, and there I stand (was in a window seat). And after he does his business, he doesn't go back in but I'm left standing there waiting to get into the toilet and he's having a good time chatting. Finally he goes back into the cockpit and the stewardess chastises me for standing there! It was both inconsiderate and also worrisome in terms of his being out of the cockpit that long and only the pilot and a stew in the cockpit. Now why there have to be two people in the cockpit and one is a stewardess is a bit of a mystery to me. If the pilot dropped dead, is the stewardess trained to take over? A co-pilot chatting in the galley in an emergency is not a lot of help.

You said the FA was standing there to block access. How is this not being vigilant? I see the drink cart used sometimes, but not all of the time. Mostly an FA just makes sure the pax are seated and that someone is facing the pax blocking the way whenever the door opens. I don't see any problem with that.

If the pilot dropped dead in the cockpit, the FA there IS trained to open the door to let the co-pilot in.

I want the FA supposedly standing guard looking at the passengers to make sure everyone stays seated. I also want them to minimize the amount of time the door is open. How does it take to open the door and swap out the FA for the pilot? Let's say 15 seconds. What were they doing with the door open and not looking at the passengers for the other 75 seconds?

I have seen exaclty 0 instances of the cart not blocking the door.

On LH from BUD to FRA the (smoking hot) flight attendant explained to me that their policy to was to use the video cameras to make sure all passengers were sitting before opening the door.

I will have to watch for the cart blocking the door. I have never noticed it. It's not a bad obstacle to put in someone's way.

What a chicken little festival we have going here Some folks are waaaaaaaaay overzealous about this stuff. No one is going to be 'locked in the flight deck'. The crews understand the risk, they are not fools, and the chance of someone leaping up and making it past a 3 or 4 crew members (not to mention the other passengers nearby) is just not measurable.

Even if someone gets into the flight deck, they are not going to get much done before a bunch of people get involved and that will be the end of it right there. If such a thing were to be attempted, I am going to place my bet on it being a disturbed person, and not a terrorist.

Let's not get too engrossed in hysterics. Measure risk and manage it.

Why are we still getting so bent out of shape over the flight deck door when cargo is not being screened, 5 years later?

Then one of the pilots would have to go out while the other relieves him/herself.

This wouldn;t work with me. If I were watching the ockpit door so intently, it would make the FA's nervous.

What this proves is that one shouldn't have to follow every instruction literally and blindly. Imagine a middle eastern looking man unbuckling himself as the cockpit door swings open.

Ever heard of the cock-pit in a milehigh clucb?