So this morning they would only release the name of one of the pilots. I was wondering at the time if that was because the unreleased name might be of Middle Eastern persuasion and they didn't want peeps to jump to conclusions. Now this evening the cockpit tapes reveal that one of the pilots who had left the cockpit was locked out and even tried to break the door down before the crash. 8 minutes of no cockpit communication....no mayday, no distress signal. Is this terrorism?
What realistic changes can be made to ensure something like this doesn't happen. I mean, you don't want anyone to be able to break into the cockpit. You can't have pilots walking around outside the cockpit with a key. Perhaps someone on the ground can open the door? I think it's just a case of a determined person finding a way to make it happen. At some point, you have to be able to trust people and the airlines have elected to trust their pilots which has to be the most reasonable solution even if it doesn't always work.
It is a failure of Lufthansa and European policy. In the US, whenever a pilot leaves the cockpit, a crew member must enter so that a pilot is never alone in case he collapses medically or behaves irrationally.
Definitely different perspectives. The Airbus and European system is strange. A pilot re-entering the cockpit must enter a code on a keypad but that can be overridden by the pilot inside for periods of 5 minutes. Airbus relies on a system that intends to limit human error and will override in terms of flying but that has proven to be a failure more than once. The co-pilot here had relatively few hours so matching him with a more senior pilot seems like the right idea....but I have to wonder why the pilot left the cockpit on what is a relatively short flight. That shouldn't happen and like red said, a pilot shouldn't be alone in the cockpit.
I didn't know that was the policy but it sounds like a good one. Not that it's fail proof though. what's a 110 lb female flight attendant going to do if a 180 lb co-pilot drives the plane into the ground? Hell, even if she could stop him physically, she doesn't know enough to fly the plane assumedly.
pretty soon pilots will be hooked up to every monitor known to man, heart rate, breathing, pulse and in the event of an emergency, these planes will have drone like control to lock the pilot out. just my opinion
On a more serious note, one would think with today's technology that ground controllers could send a data signal to lock and unlock the door.
This is incorrect. Only CASS-approved staff are allowed in the cockpit on 121 flights. Assuming that you mean flight attendant when you say "a crew member", flight attendants are not CASS approved. Pilots, mechanics, dispatchers and certain FAA personnel are the only one I am aware of that are allowed in the cockpit for part 121 flying. Part 91 is different, but there are no passengers so no one really cares. Pilots leave one person in the cockpit to us the rest room ALL the time.
