A320
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200; Flight Crew Total 5000
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors
I was the First Officer and the monitoring pilot on this flight. The Captain on the flight was my boss. In our jumpseat was our [Company Superior]. To say that is stressful would be an understatement. Not only did I want to impress my boss but I wanted to impress our [Company Superior]. While flying [Company Superior] asked me to point out a couple of landmarks to our passengers that he thought they would enjoy seeing from the air. On our descent into LAS he saw the Hoover Dam ahead and to the left. He nudged me and said to let the passengers know that we would be flying over Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam on our descent. I made a quick announcement without thinking. Someone in the back of the aircraft filed a safety report with the FAA saying I broke sterile cockpit procedure when I made the announcement. I do not remember the exact altitude I made the announcement or if we were or were not in sterile cockpit at that point. I should have been more attentive and payed closer attention to our altitude and if we were in sterile cockpit. Another safety report filed on the same flight arose because the three of us took a picture together while we were cruising across the country. This picture was taken out of sterile while we had the autopilot and auto-thrust engaged. I have been counseled by the FAA and they have said that the picture is not a big deal since it happened out of sterile cockpit. They refreshed me on our sterile cockpit procedure and I will work to uphold that in the future. Again; I do not know if we were above or below 10;000 ft. I just made a quick PA without thinking. To correct this I will work on being more attentive in the future.
While descending into LAS with our [Company Superior] in the jumpseat he tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to make an announcement to the passengers letting them know we were early and to point out that the passengers on the left side of the aircraft had a great view of the Hoover Dam. As he requested I made the announcement. A deadheading pilot reported this to the FAA because it allegedly came after a double chime indicating we were in sterile cockpit. I do not recall the exact altitude of my PA. [The [Company Superior]] also took a picture of [the Captain] and I while above sterile with the autopilot and auto thrust engaged. This picture was also turned into the FAA.I have read and reviewed our sterile cockpit procedure and will work to be more attention so a mistake like this does not happen again. I will also make sure that I remind our jump seaters of our PED (Portable Electronic Device) policy in the future.This crew member could have come and talked to us directly after the flight or they could have gone through pro standards. They should be reminded of the multiple avenues to address a situation before getting the FAA involved. An easy explanation such as we chimed the FA's early could have addressed and closed this subject out without risking anyone's career. But now that I'm hearing about this 4 weeks after the flight I do not have exact answers or even remember the situation.
A320 First Officer reported allegedly making PA during sterile cockpit environment.