Cabin check
The crew's inspections of the cabin: equipment and security before boarding, walk-throughs in flight, a sweep after landing.
Definition
Cabin check covers several distinct inspections. Before boarding, crew check their assigned safety equipment — extinguishers, oxygen, life jackets, torches — against the checklist and search the cabin for anything suspicious. In flight they walk the cabin at set intervals to monitor passengers, lavatories and galleys, and during long crew rest periods a minimum number of crew keep checking. After landing they sweep the cabin for left items and damage.
What it means for you
Cabin checks are the invisible discipline of the job: the pre-flight equipment check is a legal requirement you sign for, and a missing extinguisher discovered in the air is your name on the report. In-flight checks are also where the medical events, the smoker in the lavatory and the passenger who has had too much are caught early, which is why airlines specify how often you walk the cabin on a night sector.
In practice
On an overnight British Airways 787 to Boston, two crew stay on duty during the bunk rotation and walk the darkened cabin every twenty to thirty minutes, checking lavatories and sleeping passengers.
Related terms
4 terms- Cabin secureSafety & trainingThe crew's confirmation to the flight deck that the cabin is ready for take-off or landing: seatbelts, galleys, exits and crew seated.
- DisembarkationFlight operationsPassengers leaving the aircraft after arrival — followed by the crew's cabin sweep, and, on a turnaround, the next boarding.
- SEPSafety & trainingSafety and Emergency Procedures — the core safety syllabus every cabin crew member is trained and re-examined on.
- LavatoryAircraft & cabinThe aircraft toilet — a fire-protected, smoke-detected compartment that cabin crew check, stock and secure throughout every flight.