Definition
The enclosed area at the front of an aircraft where the pilots sit and operate the controls, instruments, and systems used to fly the aircraft. On pressurized aircraft, the flight compartment is part of the sealed pressurized section along with the passenger cabin.
Plain English
The cockpit — the room at the front of the aircraft where the pilots sit and fly the airplane.
Context Anchor
In pressurized aircraft discussions, you may see this term when the FAA is describing crew actions, oxygen use, warning systems, or what happens during a loss of cabin pressure.
Derivation
‘Flight’ refers to flying; ‘compartment’ comes from Late Latin compartiri, meaning ‘to divide into parts.’ Together it describes a separated, dedicated section of the aircraft set aside for flying it — distinct from the passenger cabin or cargo area.
Why Pilots Care
On pressurized aircraft, the flight compartment shares the same pressurized environment as the cabin, so failures in pressurization, smoke, or fumes affect the crew directly. It is also the area covered by sterile cockpit rules and crew-specific oxygen requirements.
Intuition Check
Do not read “flight compartment” as the whole inside of the airplane. Here it means the specific area where the pilots control the aircraft.
Example Sentence 1
Before engine start, the captain completed the flight compartment checks while the first officer briefed the cabin crew.
Example Sentence 2
In the event of a cabin pressure loss, oxygen masks deploy first in the flight compartment.