Air carrier flight crew allows cabin attendant to occupy the cockpit jump seat on a flight for which...

Narrative:

The delay of the captain's inbound flight delayed our current flight and so the aircraft was quickly boarded and we were made aware of the 'full' status of the aircraft. A flight attendant was among the passengers trying to get on our flight. Several times during the boarding process; while the captain and myself were completing our cockpit duties; the flight attendant presented herself to the cockpit. Captain told her to stand-by so that we could complete required cockpit checks and checklists uninterrupted. Upon completion of our oral briefing the flight attendant reappeared once more; along with the passenger agent who were anxious to close the aircraft door. It was at this point that the possibility of her sitting in a cockpit jumpseat was mentioned. I was made aware of the fact that this flight attendant had been in the cockpit several times that day while complying with a rule which requires a flight attendant to remain in the cockpit should a pilot have to leave to use a restroom. We briefly spoke of new hire flight attendants who sat in the cockpit jumpseat during new hire training for observation and educational purposes. It was not until later; that I realized that we had potentially (unintentionally) possibly not fully abided by the company's operations manual.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew allows Cabin Attendant to occupy the cockpit jump seat on a flight for which all the cabin seats were occupied.

Narrative: The delay of the Captain's inbound flight delayed our current flight and so the aircraft was quickly boarded and we were made aware of the 'full' status of the aircraft. A Flight Attendant was among the passengers trying to get on our flight. Several times during the boarding process; while the Captain and myself were completing our cockpit duties; the Flight Attendant presented herself to the cockpit. Captain told her to stand-by so that we could complete required cockpit checks and checklists uninterrupted. Upon completion of our oral briefing the Flight Attendant reappeared once more; along with the Passenger Agent who were anxious to close the aircraft door. It was at this point that the possibility of her sitting in a cockpit jumpseat was mentioned. I was made aware of the fact that this Flight Attendant had been in the cockpit several times that day while complying with a rule which requires a Flight Attendant to remain in the cockpit should a pilot have to leave to use a restroom. We briefly spoke of new hire Flight Attendants who sat in the cockpit jumpseat during new hire training for observation and educational purposes. It was not until later; that I realized that we had potentially (unintentionally) possibly not fully abided by the company's Operations Manual.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	825696
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 5500 Flight Crew Type 19140
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Air carrier flight crew allows cabin attendant to occupy the cockpit jump seat on a flight for which all the cabin seats were occupied.