Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers before take-off

When did the gay steward become such a common stereotype? Around World War II. As Phil Tiemeyer points out in his book Plane Queer: Labor, Sexuality, and AIDS in the History of Male Flight Attendants , a new book which proved an invaluable resource for this post, the first flight attendants, in the late s and s, were actually men, and were expected to be traditionally masculine. Because of this, early uniforms for crew and pilots were also often military-inspired, featuring stripes, pilot wings, and caps some of these elements persist in uniforms today.

Most Boeing s and s have a secret staircase that leads up to a cabin where pilots and flight attendants can sleep. Some of the planes have a separate area for pilots with reclining chairs and a bathroom, while others have bunk style beds for the crew to grab a few hours of rest.

Aircraft performance The NTSB attempted to reconstruct the aircraft’s performance based on reports from witnesses and survivors. Witnesses reported that the plane attempted to climb at a higher than normal angle, and that the plane rolled from side to side and appeared to be out of control. Engine 3 had separated from the empennage.

Witnesses on the ground claimed that one of the engines was on fire, but although the engine was badly crushed from ground impact, there was no sign of fire or heat damage. Delta officials quickly reacted to questions about the ‘s operating and maintenance condition by pointing out that the original factory engines from when the plane was initially purchased by the airline had been replaced in the last few years by a newer model that ran more quietly and used less fuel.

They also stated that there were no known mechanical or maintenance problems with the plane prior to the flight the vibration reported by passengers was the compressor surging mentioned above. After conducting airplane performance studies, the NTSB determined that the events of Flight could only be explained by the aircraft attempting to take off without its flaps and slats extended to the proper take-off configuration. However, the cockpit voice recorder CVR tapes recorded extensive nonessential conversation, including about the CVR itself and how on Continental Airlines Flight crew discussions were recorded about the dating habits of the flight attendants.

The CVR also showed that prior to takeoff, the flight crew was distracted by chatting with a flight attendant about the upcoming presidential election , drink mixes and various other topics unrelated to the operation of the aircraft. Of the flight crew, the first officer was most actively engaged in these nonessential conversations, with the captain only occasionally joining in.