Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Physiological - Other; Time Pressure; Training / Qualification; Workload
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Environment - Non Weather Related; Company Policy; Human Factors; Procedure
On this flight I was operating as the First Officer. During pre-flight we received the bag sheet. The ramp crew notified the Captain that there was a cat in the baggage compartment. He seemed to be concerned with the cat back there. I could not care less if the cat was riding on the wing of the aircraft or in the baggage compartment. The Captain then proceeded to make a PA and ask if the owner of the cat was on the aircraft. We are now very close to our scheduled push time. As a Captain I am becoming very annoyed with what he is doing as we have more important items to attend to; for example we have to fly the plane!!! Unbeknown to me the Captain has now removed the cat from the baggage compartment and the cat is now in the flight deck; the main cabin door just shut and the flight door is locked. All of this seemed to happen within a split second; and without my input. After all the doors had been shut; I asked the Captain what exactly is going on. He had some sort of plight for the cat to be in the baggage compartment. I further explained that I am allergic to cats. In fact it is the only thing I am allergic to. I am trying to apply every CRM trick in the book and others I have picked up over the last 15 years of being in this business. Not only has the Captain put us at risk with a live animal we know nothing about; its crate is now blocking an exit; I am allergic to Cats; and he has completely put his own feelings about how much he loves cats above the safety and security of everyone else on the aircraft. I was basically told that I would have to remove myself from the trip after he had now dropped the brake and blocked us out; and would have to explain this to the chief pilots.Normally I am a line Captain; and I would never put my First officers and passengers in this type of situation. The threats include among many: Blocking of an emergency exit. Possibly sick; or dangerous animal exposure. Exposure to illness. Ignoring the repeated concerns of the First officer and subsequently inappropriately forcing the decision. Unsecured object in the flight deck. Violation of company policy. First Officer is allergic to Cats.Although I have a significantly more senior line Captain position within the company than the Captain on this flight; I chose to sit in the left seat as I am very confident in my ability to operate the aircraft from the left and right seat proficiently. The Captain when asked did not share that confidence; so I made the decision to leave myself as the First Officer on the dispatch release and not call and have it swapped.I will not allow this to happen again; either as acting as the First Officer or Captain. It is now a day away from this incident and I am starting to feel the effects of being exposed directly to cat in a closed area. As a Captain I would never force something like this on any crewmember as it was done to me. I have had time to reflect what happened and I hope this report contributes in some way to prevent this in the future.
An EMB-145 Captain placed a passenger's cat and crate in the cockpit before takeoff; ignoring the First Officer's objections to blocking the exit. This violated company policy and ignored the First Officer's objections because of his cat allergy.