Did passengers see view from cockpit?

Press, 28 May 1979, Page 1

Did passengers see view from cockpit?

By

LES BLOXHAM,

travel editor

What the captain saw from the cockpit was possibly seen by many of the passengers on the DC 10 as it plunged to the ground after take-off at Chicago on Saturday. Video cameras on the fight decks of American Airlines’ DClOs allow passengers to watch in colour take-offs and landings on television screens.

American Airline decided to share the sights and sounds of the fight deck with their DCIO passengers in 1976, an innovation which although de-

cried by other airlines as potentially frightening, soon proved popular among travellers. In March, I had the opportunity of observing the system on a flight from Washington to Los Angeles. Headsets were distributed while the aircraft was still on the ground. The television screens were switched on as we taxied towards the runway.

The camera, which seemed to be mounted high at the rear of the flight deck, gave a clear view through the windscreen over the captain’s right shoulder. The camera was

switched on as we climbed through cloud about three minutes after take-off. It was switched on again as we descended over San Bernardino several minutes before touchdown at Los Angeles International Airport. The ground-to-air communications could be listened to on channel 12 of the in-flight entertainment system for the entire journey. During the flight, I asked a hostess whether the transmission of the flight deck activity would be cut hurriedly in an emergency. “The situation has never arisen,” she replied.