Flying 'blind'

[Josh F]

Have a look how low this crew are sitting on this old classic. Neither one can see over the glareshield (http://www.airliners.net/photo/KLM---Royal/Boeing-747-206B/1376719/L/&width=1024&height=695&sok=&sort=&photo_nr=&prev_id=&next_id=).

[John C]

That looks pretty close to the correct eye height to me...

[Bill S]

That's an old Pratt & Whitney powered one I think.

Anyway the correct position is so that your eye-line is lined up with the line of the glareshield, so yes those blokes would seem to be a bit low.
(Often hard to tell in a photo though)

[Adam P.]

Far more interesting, for mine, is the fact that this is a photo of PH-BUF, the aircraft involved in the Tenerife disaster....

[Robert Zweck]

My family flew in PH-BUF a couple of days before its accident,

Not me, I always struck PH-BUC between Sydney and Amsterdam

[Will T]

It looks to me like the aeroplane is in the cruise (the F/O's altimeter appears to read 33,000ft). For reasons of comfort and utility (eg. pulling out charts and manuals) it's fairly normal to slide one's seat back a little during the cruise, away from the 'correct eye position' for approach and landing. This has the effect of 'lowering' the pilot's eye position relative to the correct eye level.

Obviously the controls - including rudder pedals - need to be completely within the reach of the Pilot Flying at all times, but the eye position isn't so important at Flight Level Nosebleed. On the other hand, and as Bill says, the 'approach eye position' is such that one looks straight down the top of the coaming, and with the top of the control column not obscuring any of the primary flight instruments/displays (in the 744, anyway).

Probably not a problem in an Airbus, where the control column isn't in the way!