Crew Rest

CREW REST

Question:  My question is, on long flights, are
pilots allowed to have time for rest, and if so,
how much time?  Also, what do you do to keep
occupied?
Chris Moroney, Biloela,.Australia

Answer:  This is a popular question and rather
interesting.  Judging from the types of inquiries
I get, it's apparent many passengers think pilots
must sit in the cockpit at all times, even on
really long international flights 

Fortunately, this isn't the case at all.  Flights
over eight hours require a relief pilot, while
flights over twelve hours require two relief
pilots.

Different airlines manage their cockpit crews
differently.  For instance, some airlines will
always have just one captain and one copilot,
plus one or two relief pilots, depending upon the
length of the flight.  Other carriers may carry
two full crews on long flights--that is, two
captains and two copilots. It just depends upon
the policies of the individual airlines how the
cockpit is staffed.

There are rest areas for the pilots (and for the
flight attendants as well) on long-haul flights.
Pilots may have bunks, designated cabin seats, or
both.  It depends upon the configuration of the
airplane, among other things.  Some airplanes
come equipped with bunks while others do not. 

Some bunk areas are located in the cockpit, such
as on the B-747, while others are located
elsewhere on the plane.   Sometimes, when I
joined my Significant Other, a B-747-400 pilot,
on some of his flights, I'd have the little
bunkroom all to myself as he and his copilot flew
routes such as Hong Kong to Singapore.  Only two
pilots were required to fly the plane on shorter
routes, leaving the bunks unoccupied.

Some of the B-777's I flew had a bunk area just
aft of the cockpit door, where the lavatory is
located on other aircraft.  The lavatory normally
located there was moved aft so it was situated
immediately forward of first class.  At first
glance, you wouldn't notice the bunk area as it
is covered by a door, but behind this door are
two bunks with blankets, disposable sheets,
pillows, a yellow light the cockpit crew can
activate to alert the sleeping crew when their
break is over, reading light and air vent.  It's
kind of like climbing into a cupboard, but 
comfortable enough once inside and the door may
either be left open, forming a privacy barrier
from the passenger cabin, or it may be closed,
depending upon the claustrophobia level of the crew
using it.  I could go either way and always
deferred to the second crewmember's choice, if
there was one.

Some B-777's don't have a bunk area.  Instead,
one or two seats at the back of the first class
cabin, depending upon the number of relief
pilots, are reserved for the pilots.  The seats
designated as crew rest areas have heavy
black-out curtains which may be drawn around them
and the seats, like the other seats in first
class, recline all the way to make a bed.  It's
just like any other first-class seat with private
video screen and all the other amenities.  The
curtain comes around in a slight curve on a
track, leaving a small space between the seat and
the aisle.  I always referred to this arrangement
as "pitching a tent in first class" and actually
preferred it over the small bunk area I described
previously.

The B-777 LR (Longer Range) has an upstairs area
that didn't exist on the B-777's I flew.  Click
here to see both the flight attendant rest area
and pilot rest area on the B-777 LR (Longer
Range), courtesy of Boeing, and I hope you'll
visit the rest of my Photo Gallery while you're
there. 
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=3
 

My first long-haul flight on the B-777 was from
Chicago to Osaka, which required four pilots.  I
had just finished up eight years on two-pilot
Airbus models (A-319 and A-320) so it seemed
quite strange, but very nice, to have two extra
pilots on board for takeoff and landing.  Relief
pilots don't just sit there doing nothing but are
active crew members during both the takeoff and
landing phase, helping to watch for traffic,
handling cabin announcements on request and doing
other ancillary duties.

Once finished with the initial climb phase, the
two relief pilots on my Osaka flight went to the
rest area to do whatever they wanted--eat, sleep,
read, watch a movie, eat some more, etc.  After a
few hours we swapped and my copilot and I went
back.  We traded off twice during this
all-daylight flight.  Breaks are normally shared
equally among crewmembers.   

On the return flight, however, it was dark most
of the way and we swapped just once, with each
set of pilots having about six hours or so of
rest.  Since I rarely sleep on airplanes, I
watched a movie, had dinner (and a hot fudge
sundae from First Class I absolutely didn't
need), read part of the book I'd brought, wrote
an "Ask The Captain" column and did a couple of
crossword puzzles.  Our time is our own to do
with as we wish when we're on our breaks.

As to how we pass the hours in the cockpit on
long flights, once we're in cruise there is quite
a bit to tend to, such as checking and
re-checking our route, destination and enroute
weather, communicating with both air traffic
control and the airline as necessary, etc.  In
between all that we might do some studying for an
upcoming check ride, insert revisions to our
flight manuals and do other busywork.

As for me, I'm big on sightseeing.  I like
watching for Northern Lights, interesting cloud
formations, rainbows, shooting stars, sunrises,
sunsets and all the other interesting and
beautiful phenomena one might see while cruising
along at 40,000 feet.
 

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