Originally Posted by
thrufru
While I was still employed at Miami Air, I supplied photographic evidence to the Union (who in turn supplied it to the FAA) of the crew rest seats. The pictures included plumb lines and provided for the ability to accurately assess the recline angle of the seats. The FSDO signed off that the angle had to be great than 45° to be considered "near flat". The angle on each aircraft was less than that with one installation being only 42° in full recline. Too bad nothing ever came of that.
They more than likely had engineering data from the seat manufacturer showing the recline angle that the inspector trusted more than your photos. The FAA views most data coming from union sources as union/management negotiation tactics.