Can kids visit the cockpit on BA flights?
Can kids visit the cockpit on BA flights?
Author
Discussion

cailean

Original Poster:

917 posts

202 months

Sunday 14th August 2011
quotequote all
We are on a 8 hour flight next week on BA (777) and my 6 year old son would love to visit the cockpit. He often plays around with MS Flight Simulator and loves planes (takes after me!). Is this allowed now or are such visits still banned following 9/11. Would he be allowed to visit with me, without me or not at all?

odyssey2200

18,650 posts

238 months

Sunday 14th August 2011
quotequote all
IIRC 9/11 ended that little treat.

Shame I did it when I was 7.

Boatbuoy

1,975 posts

191 months

Sunday 14th August 2011
quotequote all
Certainly not before or during the flight, but you could try your luck once the plane is at the gate. Maybe ask the cabin manager before landing? Not the same as doing it during the flight, which was always a treat during flights I took as a kid/teenager. Sign of the times sadly.

DieselGriff

5,160 posts

288 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
As others have said no, in fact I think it is now a gross misconduct offence for the flight crew to allow any non crew member onto the flight deck in a number of airlines. (I think the large moustached ex RAF pilot flying for one of the cheap airlines faced the sack for allowing a well know rugby international to view the cockpit mid flight)

As has been mentioned you might get a look in once landed and you ask nicely.

croyde

26,285 posts

259 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Fekin' terrorists.

It was a treat I enjoyed as a kid and even up to my late 30s on a Qantas 747 from Sydney to LA. The pilot was ex Australian Airforce and commented that up in the cockpit he kept forgetting how big the bu66er was biggrin

Shame my lot can't enjoy what I did.

Shuvi Tupya

24,460 posts

276 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
It really is a shame frown

The last time i asked if i could 'go and see the cockpit' was in 2000 and i got to be in the cockpit for the last twenty minutes of the flight AND the landing at Luton Airport!

Very cool indeed, even if i was 32 hehe


croyde

26,285 posts

259 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
As a big treat my Dad would take us out to the observation deck at Heathrow in the 70s to watch the planes. Saw my first Jumbo there.

Terrorists put paid to that as well.

jenkotvr

688 posts

203 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Easyjet are your ones for allowing cockpit visits...

4 Weeks ago, I went in prior to takeoff, pilots were really helpful explaining how much weight for take off, weather en route etc I couldn't shut them up. It made my holiday. Post landing I went in for pictures and sat in the first officers seat.



Just ask!

mrloudly

2,815 posts

264 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
DieselGriff said:
As others have said no, in fact I think it is now a gross misconduct offence for the flight crew to allow any non crew member onto the flight deck in a number of airlines. (I think the large moustached ex RAF pilot flying for one of the cheap airlines faced the sack for allowing a well know rugby international to view the cockpit mid flight)

As has been mentioned you might get a look in once landed and you ask nicely.
Pablo Mason, one of the most ridiculous dismissals ever...

fatboy69

9,424 posts

216 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
it was a ste reason for sacking him however we all know that 'rules are rules' & rules cannot be broken blah blah blah.. its bks isnt it?

a few months ago at my son's school they had one of their regular 'show & tell' lessons where the kids had to bring in things that they had done or things they had made & tell the class what they had done.

one of the kids said he hadnt brought his 'show & tell' with him because it was too big so the whole school was ushered out onto the playing fields & told to look skywards.

the lads' 'show & tell' then arrived.

in the form of a very large army helicopter......

turns out his dad was an army pilot so he asked if 'daddy could bring his big chopper' to school!!

the dads' c/o said that he couldnt however the c/o then apparently said that on the day in question he would be 'unavailable' for a few hours so if the dad wanted to borrow the helicopter he could - he was also told that if he scatched it, damaged it or crashed it he would be in quite a lot of trouble when he got back to base!!!!

needless to say he did borrowed the aforementioned helicopter, landed it at the school & let the kids spend 3 hours crawling all over it.

he then took it back - undamaged obviously - much to the amusement of his c/o who simply asked him if he had had a good day & was his helicopter back in one piece?

the next day the aircrew found some items that some of the kids had left on the helicopter & they could not understand from where the items had come from. i dont think that they ever found out either.

so rules are meant to be broken. you just have to hope that you dont get caught!!!

TorqueVR

1,969 posts

228 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Jnkotvr's right. My wife and I flew Easyjet with out 4 yr old grandson this time last year and when I found a seat I was all alone as they had disappeared in to the cockpit and sprog gave the flightcrew a 1st class grilling on the lines of "what's this for? and what does that do? etc. Mrs Torque was very impressed at their invitation and how good they were.

davebeast

139 posts

184 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
+1 for Easyjet, been in the cockpit a couple of times when landed, and once last year mid flight.

croyde

26,285 posts

259 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
davebeast said:
+1 for Easyjet, been in the cockpit a couple of times when landed, and once last year mid flight.
I thought mid flight was no longer allowed since 9/11.

Love the story about the Army helicopter above. Brilliant.

Mojocvh

16,837 posts

291 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
croyde said:
As a big treat my Dad would take us out to the observation deck at Heathrow in the 70s to watch the planes. Saw my first Jumbo there.

Terrorists put paid to that as well.
Er no they didn't knee jerk reactions did however!

croyde

26,285 posts

259 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Yeah! Knee Jerk reactions to terrorist threats. So maybe both to blame then. Can't have one without the other biggrin

FuzzyLogic

1,668 posts

267 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Air France also allow it apparently (or don't give a to$$ about the rules)... A friend regularly spends hours on the flight deck with them although he is French!

cailean

Original Poster:

917 posts

202 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Real shame. My boy has his book ready and questions for the pilot.... The flight is to Tobago so I will try and get in after landing. Hopefully when the crew see the lovely blue sea, sand, coconut trees blowing in the breeze they will feel relaxed enough to say yes.

One of my friends used to fly inter-island hopping in the Caribbean and I have sat in the jump seat with him flying for the whole flights, almost not wanting to talk in case I disturb them but they talked about all sorts of things almost non-stop as it was fairly low stress routes.

As a kid I used to fly unaccompanied into LHR on BA in the 1970s and 80s and always got a cockpit visit and got my flight log book filled in with the flight details (altitude, speed, miles flown, name of crew). So sad that is all gone.

Sifly

572 posts

207 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
We're happy to let the kiddies into the flight deck whilst on the ground,
especially when escorted by a 'Yummy Mummy'!!! biggrin

ApexJimi

27,649 posts

272 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
fatboy69 said:
it was a ste reason for sacking him however we all know that 'rules are rules' & rules cannot be broken blah blah blah.. its bks isnt it?

a few months ago at my son's school they had one of their regular 'show & tell' lessons where the kids had to bring in things that they had done or things they had made & tell the class what they had done.

one of the kids said he hadnt brought his 'show & tell' with him because it was too big so the whole school was ushered out onto the playing fields & told to look skywards.

the lads' 'show & tell' then arrived.

in the form of a very large army helicopter......

turns out his dad was an army pilot so he asked if 'daddy could bring his big chopper' to school!!

the dads' c/o said that he couldnt however the c/o then apparently said that on the day in question he would be 'unavailable' for a few hours so if the dad wanted to borrow the helicopter he could - he was also told that if he scatched it, damaged it or crashed it he would be in quite a lot of trouble when he got back to base!!!!

needless to say he did borrowed the aforementioned helicopter, landed it at the school & let the kids spend 3 hours crawling all over it.

he then took it back - undamaged obviously - much to the amusement of his c/o who simply asked him if he had had a good day & was his helicopter back in one piece?

the next day the aircrew found some items that some of the kids had left on the helicopter & they could not understand from where the items had come from. i dont think that they ever found out either.

so rules are meant to be broken. you just have to hope that you dont get caught!!!
That kid must've been on cloud 9!!

Brilliant stuff.

anonymous-user

83 months

Monday 15th August 2011
quotequote all
Ask during the flight and most airlines will allow you or your kids in after landing when the engines have been shut down.

Please don't announce that "the computer does everything" and then "they don't even touch the controls" as a dad said to his kid in front of me the other day. It's a bit rude really hehe