Seat AD Will Interfere With Pilot Naps Say Airlines

Three European airlines have protested an AD they say will prevent their pilots from having a decent in-flight nap. On Oct. 8, the FAA issued a final rule for the AD that will require flight deck seats on most Boeing 787s to be modified to limit the amount they can recline. The agency says that in some circumstances, a pilot could be hit in the head with a flight deck door decompression panel if the flight deck suddenly decompresses. The panel is a section of door designed to prevent structural damage by letting loose if the pressure differential between the cabin and the flight deck exceeds one PSI.

The AD says the panel could injure or even kill a pilot but KLM, Air France and British Airways all said the very remote chance of the panel actually hitting a pilot doesn't match the real risk of pilot fatigue if they can't have their "controlled rest." An individual also commented that the AD will protect only about 0.01 percent of pilots. The FAA said it disagreed with the commenters and that it "determined through risk analysis that the risk to flight crew is unacceptable and that delaying this action would be inappropriate." The AD takes effect Nov. 12.