Question about long flights

[Invert]

Hi Captain Hutch (or anybody else who might know!),

On long international flights (I will going from SFO to Tokyo to Bangkok), is it generally the same crew throughout the entire flight or do they switch at the layover spot? Do they get to sleep at all during the flight?

I know boat captains are regulated to only 12 hours "on" at a time. Do airline captains/pilots have the same rules?

Thanks!

[Invert]

Whoops...thought of one more question.

Are trans-Pacific flights known to be more or less turbulent then cross-land flgihts? I know it can never be predicted, but what about "in general"?

Thanks again!

[mkahanek]

extra crew are carried and rotated mid flight to stay legal.

[Invert]

That's what I figured. I noticed they have reserved "crew seating" in parts of the cabin. I assume that is for the extras.

Any thoughts on the turb over the Pacific (actually, I think they hug the coast of Alaska and then up and around the coast of Asia).

[mkahanek]

my only flight to tokyo from houston was smooth as glass. And yes. Up around alaska and down china's east coast is the shortest route. If you take a globe and put a piece of string between your origin and destination you will see the general route that will be taken.

The crew rest seats are reserved on long flights for pilots and flight attendants as they rotate off duty.

[Captain Hutch]

Mkahanek is correct. And, not having piloted any transatlantic or transpacific flights I can't add any useful tidbits. As to overland or overwater, my experience has been that the transition between the two is usually a little bumpy, and I believe that the overwater might be slightly smoother, but I don't know for sure. :)

Hutch