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A crew rest compartment (crew rest) is section of an airliner dedicated for breaks and sleeping by the staff.
Crew rests may be located above or adjacent to the passenger compartment. Crew rest compartments are normally segregated, with separate compartments for the flight crew and the cabin crew.
On long flights, crew members may sleep in the crew rests during their break periods. Federal Aviation Regulations have provisions requiring crew rest areas be provided in order to operate a long flight by using multiple crew shifts.
Passengers are restricted from accessing crew rest compartments by regulations, additionally their entrances may be secured by locks and may require ascending a ladder to access.
Crew rests compartments may not normally be used during taxi, takeoff, or landing maneuvers (TT&L). In flight crew rests that contain standard seats, an exception may be made to allow seated crew during TT&L.
The Federal Aviation Administration defines three classes of crew rest facilities, the types required to be available depend on the number of crew and the duration of the flight. Crew rest periods may be provided in higher classed rest areas then required, for example some airplanes may not have a class 2 rest facility, providing breaks in a crew rest.
Rest facility classifications from highest to lowest: