THE COCKPIT INSIDE AND OUT!
Inside the Cockpit
Isn’t it the best office ever? The view outside from your office changes every second, and every single day of work is different. Working in the cockpit can be pleasant and stressful at the same time. Working with a captain or a co-pilot that you have never known, and having to sit next to him/her for hours can be very uncomfortable. There will be awkward silences where both try to avoid making eye contact or talk between them. Pilots are trained to be able to work effectively and to communicate clearly to their colleagues regardless knowing them or not. The scary thing is when they don’t communicate to each other despite of their age or seniority, which could lead to error. Take Korean Airlines Cargo Flight 8509 for an example. The cause of the crash was from Pilot error, the relationship between the crews was biter, and communication was disturbed by culture issues and the relationship amongst each other. After the fatal incident in the United Kingdom, Korean Air has been advice to re-train the pilots to promote a freer atmosphere in the cockpit.
The cockpit is just a section of an aircraft. The truth is, it is extremely dry with low humidity. Pilots tend to complain a lot about the dryness truth. Some pilots requested a damp towel from the cabin, to rest along the consoles or even wrapped around their faces to moisten up the their nostrils and perhaps their working environment , otherwise some may have to face the irritancies of nose bleeds, dry lips or worse dry hard skins like those on fishes. After the movie Flight hit the cinemas and after receiving many awards, many people look at pilots in a rather “different way” .The movie Flight was just a movie, about an intoxicated airline pilot played by Denzel Washington who crashed his plane. Later on the investigators detected alcohol levels on his blood stream leading and escalating into a bigger problem for Denzel. At the end , he was sent to jail. Let’s face it, drinking and driving is a crime. Flying with alcohol influence is also a crime, a bigger crime, when you have 200 or so passengers behind your back. Pilots may not have contact with alcoholic beverages 8 hours to their flight. It’s not that glamorous isn’t it?
Outside the Cockpit
Is it true that pilots have sex or an affair with flight attendants? Or is it true that pilots become pilots just to cheat on their wife or girlfriends? Yes and no. Pilots are ordinary humans like us, there are good and bad people in the society. Who knows, your husband could jet off to Vegas for a layover and then Rome the night after, he could’ve done a one-night stand with escort service or a normal affair with an aircrew.
