the interpersonal distance minimal, thus further increasing the captain’s authority
[Physical Closeness Matters].
Here are some excerpts from the CVR transcript provided in the NTSB report.
We begin as the captain and the first officer discuss where they are going to stay that
night, a passage that seems to imply a rather large power difference between them:
First Officer: it’s not the Radisson or anything?
Captain: yeah right.
First Officer: no are you serious with this thing .. travel?
Captain: no I’m kidding it’s the Holiday Inn.
First Officer: they have a Holiday Inn in .. in ah l’ Falls? so then I assume
they have a bus?
Captain: they have a van.
First Officer: and they ah don’t care if it’s a four o’clock ah -
Captain: nope because they’re also taking our people to the airport
besides us.
First Officer: ah (that’s right). do we get our own room?
Captain: no you’re going to have to room with me and it’s only a
single bed so there’s a little carpet at the base of my bed and you can curl
up at the base of my bed .. course you get your own room ... you’re under
contract now ... this is ALPA [Air Line Pilots Association] contract.
The captain then asks about the time:
Captain: what time were we out of the gate.
First Officer: fifty-two
10