# How do pilots stretch their legs on long flights if they are locked in the cockpit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 17, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478 "2010-10-17T20:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/1 "2010-10-17T20:42:34Z")
Since 9/11 pilots have been secured behing locked doors during flights. From the glimpses I have gotten of cockpits when boarding or deplaning, they seem rather cramped. Do pilots basically have to sit in their seat for the entire (sometimes quite lengthy) flight? Is there a lavoratory in there? ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/2 "2010-10-17T21:11:48Z")
They don’t spend the whole flight in there. The flight attendents will set up a drink cart as a barricade between the self-loading cargo and the lavatory and cockpit door, allowing the pilot to use the facilities. ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/3 "2010-10-17T21:14:36Z")
There’s actually a decent amount of room to stand up in the cockpit. [File:Indian Air Force IL-76 cockpit.JPG - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Air_Force_IL-76_cockpit.JPG) is the first image I found, and it has people standing up. (And a typical commercial airliner’s cockpit will be a lot less cramped than that.) I’m sure a Google image search will turn up a lot more, or just watch the scenes in Airplane! where the kid gets to see the pilots at work or the news footage of Pat Nixon being shown around the first 747 for a good video. Also, their seats are a lot more comfortable than coach passengers’. A lot of work goes into just about every aspect of cockpit ergonomics, from how to place a joystick so it’s in comfortable reach for both a 5’0" pilot and a 6’4" pilot to how to keep their legs happy on a long flight. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/4 "2010-10-17T21:55:36Z")
Forget comfort…I’m wondering how they manage to prevent blood clots in their legs! Being still, especially in a sitting position, for hours on end is a great way to get a DVT (deep vein thrombosis). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/5 "2010-10-17T23:53:52Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > They don’t spend the whole flight in there. The flight attendents will set up a drink cart as a barricade between the self-loading cargo and the lavatory and cockpit door, allowing the pilot to use the facilities. This. Pilots need to have breaks. They may leave the cockpit to to go back for a nap on long haul flights or to use the toilet or just stretch the legs on short haul flights. > [@WhyNot](#): > > Forget comfort…I’m wondering how they manage to prevent blood clots in their legs! Being still, especially in a sitting position, for hours on end is a great way to get a DVT (deep vein thrombosis). The same way as anyone else. Do foot exercises or get up for a walk. In the aircraft I fly [(Dash 8)](http://www.google.com.au/imgres?imgurl=http://web.me.com/macweather/blogger/maweather_files/de-havilland-canada-dhc-8-300-dash-8-cockpit.jpg&imgrefurl=http://aircrashobserver.com/e107/news.php%3Fitem.1808&h=326&w=436&sz=41&tbnid=ywhqmJwSrZuRGM:&tbnh=94&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddash%2B8%2Bcockpit%2Bphoto&zoom=1&q=dash+8+cockpit+photo&usg=__-yXNZLCPLqoBA_xbdSSDeLTI6Tc=&sa=X&ei=Xoq7TMiLMIPKvQOX0oHiDQ&ved=0CB4Q9QEwAw), I have room to slide the seat back and put my feet up on unused parts of the instrument panel. In fact in that photo there is a green scuff mark on the lower right corner of the left instrument panel which has probably been caused by years of captains resting their right foot there. That’s where my right foot sits when in the cruise and the other guy is flying. My left foot would be in a similar place on the other side (I have been known to set the altimeter setting with my foot but that only happens a couple of times per flight so doesn’t really count as anti-DVT exercise.) Passengers are a bit more confined than that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/6 "2010-10-18T00:20:46Z")
On a long-haul flight, there’s usually a 3rd relief pilot (who apparently will help fly it during the cruise, but is not present in the cockpit during takeoff or landing). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/7 "2010-10-18T01:22:07Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > On a long-haul flight, there’s usually a 3rd relief pilot (who apparently will help fly it during the cruise, but is not present in the cockpit during takeoff or landing). It no doubt depends on the company procedure but of the companies I’m familiar with the relief pilot would normally sit in one of the jump seats in the cockpit for the take-off and landing. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/8 "2010-10-18T02:52:34Z")
> [@falcotron](#): > > There’s actually a decent amount of room to stand up in the cockpit. the first image I found, and it has people standing up. (And a typical commercial airliner’s cockpit will be a lot less cramped than that.) > > just watch the scenes in Airplane! where the kid gets to see the pilots at work or the news footage of Pat Nixon being shown around the first 747 for a good video. > . I think the Boeing 747 jumbo jet, designed 50 years ago back in the 1960’s, is a lot different than most other commercial jets today. While it is true the old 747 had a lot of room for pilots and flight engineer, other planes I have seen have had very small and very cramped pilots cabins. Flying was fun back in the 1960’s, for everybody. It is a different world today. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/9 "2010-10-18T03:51:59Z")
Do people think they do not get up? Heres one for you they take naps on long flights ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/10 "2010-10-18T04:09:12Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Do people think they do not get up? Heres one for you they take naps on long flights Well some people erroneously think the requirement for a locked cockpit door means it can’t be opened for any reason in flight. It’s not surprising that they then wonder what pilots do on 16 hour sectors. ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/11 "2010-10-18T05:04:15Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Well some people erroneously think the requirement for a locked cockpit door means it can’t be opened for any reason in flight. But if the air crew can open the door, how do we keep terrorists safe from pilots? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/12 "2010-10-18T05:06:48Z")
> [@falcotron](#): > > But if the air crew can open the door, how do we keep terrorists safe from pilots? Passengers would never allow it to happen again ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/13 "2010-10-18T05:54:09Z")
> [@falcotron](#): > > But if the air crew can open the door, how do we keep terrorists safe from pilots? Well, the pilots can take the terrorists down with abrupt control inputs so they don’t need to get back into the cabin to be all heroic. If you mean to ask how do we keep the pilots safe from the terrorists, well the locked cockpit door, like many other post 9/11 security measures, is a feel-good-lets-be-seen-to-be-doing-something exercise that does more harm than good IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/14 "2010-10-18T07:00:54Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > If you mean to ask how do we keep the pilots safe from the terrorists, well the locked cockpit door, like many other post 9/11 security measures, is a feel-good-lets-be-seen-to-be-doing-something exercise that does more harm than good IMHO. How so? I mean, the old-school type of hijacking was to tell the pilots “fly this plane to Havana or we start killing the passengers.” That could still happen, but no worse than before. Seems to me the locked door prevents a worst-case scenario of using the plane as a weapon to kill even more people on the ground. Or even if the door isn’t strong enough to keep them out forever, it could give the pilots time to call for help or prepare to fight back in some way. What harm does the locked cockpit door do? (And I thought you guys called it the “flight deck”.) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/15 "2010-10-18T08:36:44Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How so? I mean, the old-school type of hijacking was to tell the pilots “fly this plane to Havana or we start killing the passengers.” That could still happen, but no worse than before. Seems to me the locked door prevents a worst-case scenario of using the plane as a weapon to kill even more people on the ground. Or even if the door isn’t strong enough to keep them out forever, it could give the pilots time to call for help or prepare to fight back in some way. > > What harm does the locked cockpit door do? > > (And I thought you guys called it the “flight deck”.) I hadn’t given the flight deck/cockpit nomenclature much thought but I normally call it a cockpit. I’m not sure if I can adequately express why I dislike locked cockpit doors but I’ll try. It places a barrier between the crew and the passengers. It means that the cockpit visits that used to brighten the lives of numerous young kids (and adults) are no longer possible. You spend half your life away from home and then on the odd occasion that you have your family travelling with you, you’re not able to show them where you work or what you do. It’s a small thing I know, and it’s hard to see it being called “harm” but it’s just one of a number of declines in working conditions pilots have put up with over the last couple of decades. What good does it do? Not much. It’d be nice to think that the pilots would stoically keep the door locked while the terrorists methodically slit the flight attendants throats but I think most would open the door soon enough, if only to buy some time. Not to mention that, as we’ve found out here, it’s not possible for the door to stay locked for the whole flight. No, the thing that will really prevent another 9/11 is the passengers, they know now that any hijacking situation could be very bad for them. I would think that these rules would probably prevent half hearted old style hijackings but anyone who was motivated the way the 9/11 characters were shouldn’t have any trouble getting through a locked door per se. I don’t disagree that a strong lockable cockpit door is useful to have, it’s just that the draconian regulations for their use are a bit over the top. ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/16 "2010-10-18T09:30:47Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Well, the pilots can take the terrorists down with abrupt control inputs so they don’t need to get back into the cabin to be all heroic. If you mean to ask how do we keep the pilots safe from the terrorists, well the locked cockpit door, like many other post 9/11 security measures, is a feel-good-lets-be-seen-to-be-doing-something exercise that does more harm than good IMHO. It was a joke. Not a particularly funny one, but I’ll be glad to make it even less funny by explaining it. If the door lock doesn’t go both ways, those poor defenseless terrorists have no protection against rogue pilots. But you make a good point. Even locked in the cockpit, the pilots can do all kinds of things to make the terrorists’ lives complicated. Won’t somebody please thing of the terrorists? On a more serious note, I agree with you on the locked door. Every pilot I’ve spoken to says it’s a minor but still annoying hassle for no real benefit, and I’m inclined to believe the pilots know more than I and the rest of the general public about this. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/17 "2010-10-18T09:50:15Z")
> [@falcotron](#): > > It was a joke. Not a particularly funny one, but I’ll be glad to make it even less funny by explaining it. If the door lock doesn’t go both ways, those poor defenseless terrorists have no protection against rogue pilots. I saw the funny to start with, I just wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not :). In general the whole post 9/11 security seems to be very much a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, meanwhile leaving the doors on other barns that do still have horses in them wide open and also leaving smaller barn doors that the public can’t see open on the original barn allowing a horse to enter the barn so it can bolt once more if it so chooses (and if it can get past the mob of sheep that are willing to risk their lives to prevent the horse from bolting because they saw what happened to the sheep involved in the previous horse bolting incident.) Or something. ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/18 "2010-10-18T10:39:45Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > In general the whole post 9/11 security seems to be very much a case of closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, meanwhile leaving the doors on other barns that do still have horses in them wide open and also leaving smaller barn doors that the public can’t see open on the original barn allowing a horse to enter the barn so it can bolt once more if it so chooses (and if it can get past the mob of sheep that are willing to risk their lives to prevent the horse from bolting because they saw what happened to the sheep involved in the previous horse bolting incident.) Or something. To the extent that there was a sentence in there, I agree with it 100%. 🙂 But this isn’t anything new. It isn’t even peculiar to democracies. People are always trying to solve last year’s problem rather than next year’s, and people always put an easy solution ahead of a tough one even if the easy one doesn’t work. And it’s not even 100% bad. For one, the reason you still have a job is that people were willing to start flying again, and the reason people were willing to start flying again is that they thought, “Gosh, with all these draconian measures making flying a huge pain in the neck for me, imagine how much harder it must make things on terrorists, so I guess I’m safe.” But it’s still a lot more bad than good. Especially since these feel-good measures make everyone think the problems are all solved, when we haven’t even made a dent in them. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/19 "2010-10-18T15:09:19Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Seems to me the locked door prevents a worst-case scenario of using the plane as a weapon to kill even more people on the ground. Or even if the door isn’t strong enough to keep them out forever, it could give the pilots time to call for help or prepare to fight back in some way. > ) I think American pilots are allowed to carry guns, so yeah, the armed American pilots could hold out against terrorists and keep their cabin door locked literally forever. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-pilots-stretch-their-legs-on-long-flights-if-they-are-locked-in-the-cockpit/557478/20 "2010-10-18T16:00:29Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > Do people think they do not get up? Heres one for you they take naps on long flights Being told that by an airline pilot made me feel much safer when flying. > [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > Well some people erroneously think the requirement for a locked cockpit door means it can’t be opened for any reason in flight. I have seen a British airways pilot stand in the doorway to the cockpit having a chat with the cabin crew.