Sihai network: on July 10, Air China flight ca106 flew from Hong Kong to Dalian. During the cruise phase, the aircraft had a cabin altitude warning, the crew released the passenger oxygen mask manually, declared a state of emergency (Mayday), and implemented an emergency descent. The oxygen mask in the cabin fell off. After the operation danger was removed, the aircraft continued to fly to Dalian, and finally landed safely.
Recently, an oxygen mask fell off on Air China flight ca106. The civil aviation administration responded at a press conference on the 13th that the first pilot mistakenly shut down the relevant air conditioning components without informing the captain due to electronic smoke, leading to insufficient oxygen in the cabin and altitude warning in the cabin. The detailed reasons are under investigation and verification. If the investigation is true, we will strictly investigate and deal with them according to laws and regulations. Can we smoke in the cockpit
From a legal point of view, according to the rules for the operation qualification of large aircraft public air transport carriers (ccar-121-r5) (note this number):
No one shall smoke on an aircraft operating in accordance with these rules.
However, it should be noted that although R5 was released on August 29, 2017, R5 has given each carrier (airline) a two-year and four-month transition period due to the heavy work of the evolution and implementation of the rules for airlines to adjust. That is, before December 29, 2019, all airlines can temporarily implement the provisions of the previous version (R4).
In ccar-121-r4, the problem of 'on board smoking' is described as follows:
When the "no smoking" signal light is on or the "no smoking" sign is displayed, no smoking is allowed in the cabin;
Do not smoke in the toilet of the aircraft;
Do not touch, damage or damage the smoke detector installed in the aircraft toilet.
In addition, there is no other statement, so the situation of "ca106 crew smoking in the cockpit" can not be said in the transitional period if the crew violates the rules.
With the law, we can combine reality. Can we smoke in the cockpit? Should we force pilots to give up smoking? In fact, it's a problem that is hard to be discussed on the table in this industry.
At the beginning of the world civil aviation industry, there was no smoking ban on the plane, including in the cabin. At that time, the airlines also divided the cabin into smoking area and non-smoking area, but with the frequent air disasters caused by the fire on the plane, various hidden dangers continued. In 1992, representatives of 153 members of ICAO met and decided that airlines of all countries must prohibit passengers from smoking on international flights before July 1, 1996. At that time, CAAC was even more advanced. In 1988, it was clearly stipulated that all registered civil aircraft cabins should be non-smoking, and the corresponding non-smoking signs should be hung in the obvious positions.
But back in the cockpit, many captains are old smokers. If smoking is forbidden in the cockpit, will there be a hidden danger to flight safety? This can't be proved, and it's hard to see the corresponding consequences objectively.
In many times, especially at night, during a long flight, the captain and the copilot are sitting in cramped space, with their eyes on the screen, their ears listening to the conversation and ready to operate. In addition, there is nothing to do. People who are not born in flight may find it hard to understand the sleepiness and weariness. Don't forget that they have a lot of psychological pressure in the face of all kinds of unexpected situations that may occur at any time.
For some pilots who have been smoking for a long time, if they are not allowed to smoke, they will be on pins and needles. (but another angle: will secondhand smoke have the same effect on non-smoking units?)
Of course, writing these doesn't mean that I think smoking in the cockpit is right, but the environment of the plane and the special type of work of the pilot, the public should also consider the realistic factors when denouncing. In the industry, it will take a long time for the civil aviation industry to solve this problem.
At the same time, we should also advise that we all know that smoking is harmful to our health. Instead of trying our best to ban smoking in the cockpit, we should remind the pilots to pay more attention to their bodies. Flying is not good for their bodies. Staying up late and smoking, why bother themselves. If you can give up, you'd better give up.