Pilots aren’t allowed to talk about this below 10,000ft

There are many hours to while away during a long-haul flight. While small talk between the first and second officer in the cockpit might pass the time effectively, it has its limits. The

Sterile Cockpit Rule or Sterile Flight Deck Procedure forbids pilots from making smalltalk with each other once the plane has descended below 10,000ft. According to the rule, pilots must

“avoid non-essential conversations” past this point, so they are entirely focused on their “their essential operational activities”. The code reads: “Sterile flight deck procedures are meant

to increase the flight crew members’ attention to their essential operational activities when their focused alert is needed.” Crew members and pilots are banned from “eating meals, engaging

in nonessential conversations… and nonessentials communications between the cabin and cockpit crews, and reading publications not related to the proper conduct of the flight”. The 10,000ft

rule applies to takeoff, taxi and landing. Followed by all aviation authorities including the EU, the UK and the US, the procedure has been in place for more than three decades. It was

instigated in 1981 in response to a tragedy which struck in 1974. Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was about to touch down in Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, United

States. But the plane fell short of the runway, a crash that killed 72 people on board. Visibility was poor due to heavy fog but an investigation found the cause of the crash was partly due

to “the flight crew’s lack of altitude awareness at critical points during the approach due to poor cockpit discipline”. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), crew

were discussing “non-pertinent” topics including “politics” and “used cars” during the descent. They also became distracted while trying to point out the Carowinds Amusement Park tower

nearby. The rule has caused some confusion since it was introduced. In 1995 a Japan Airlines flight attendant failed to mention that a passenger door seal had separated after takeoff because

of the procedure. But fire outbreaks, smoke in the cabin, any abnormality during takeoff or landing or fuel leakages are all cause to break the Sterile Flight Deck silence. There is also a

special system to ensure pilots who hate each other are never rostered on the same flight.