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Aircrew member
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aircrew members, often just called aircrew, may include pilots, flight attendants, navigators, TACCOs, flight engineers, signallers, observers, (air) gunners, weapons specialists, loadmasters, rescue swimmers or divers, and various electronics system operators depending on the age during which the aircraft operated and the type of operations. General aviation aircraft may have only a pilot. Large passenger jetliners such as Concorde typically had no more then 7 inflight cabin staff aircrew members and 3 flight deck crewmembers. Later generation wide body aircraft may have 10 or more flight attendants and at least two pilots. Military aircraft have at least one and possibly as many as 70 crew.
Some military aircraft may also have divisions between the flight crew and the mission crew, or tactical crew. Large passenger aircraft operators almost always differentiate between the flight crew and the flight attendants (Cabin Crew).
In the United Kingdom, the Air Navigation Order, which is an act of parliament, makes clear who the members of the aircrew are. Just because someone is working on the aircraft does not automatically make them part of the aircrew. For example manufacturer's representatives working on the flight deck to study the operation or behaviour of equipment are not members of the aircrew. This definition is justified as such personnel are certainly not in control of the aircraft and not responsible for the progress of the flight.
There is also an article with historical information on aircrew badges/wings of the United States Army Air Forces, as well as information on those aircrew who worked on the Norden bombsight during World War II.