One of the apparent factors in Tuesday’s crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 was an internal door-locking mechanism that prevented the chief pilot from re-entering the cockpit once the plane began its fatal descent.
That locking mechanism is a standard feature on major airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration has required since 2002 that all airplanes flying in the U.S. include it for their cockpit doors.
The locks allow the person inside the cockpit to override any attempt to open the door from the outside, effectively sealing off the cockpit. The purpose is to prevent terrorists or any other threatening individual from being able to access the flight deck by obtaining a key or code to unlock the door. In the Germanwings’ case, it allowed the pilot who crashed the plane to maintain control even after his intentions became apparent to the rest of the flight crew.
Federal officials say they don’t know if the mandate requiring the locks should be revisited. “It is far too early to speculate on what effect the Germanwings incident will have on any FAA regulations,” said an agency spokesman.
Congress is holding off for now as well. “Given that there’s an ongoing investigation, the committee has not taken a position on this,” said Jim Billimoria, communications director for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
A Senate source involved in air safety policy who requested anonymity said they could not think of anyone in government or the private sector who ever warned of — or even even contemplated — the scenario that happened Tuesday. The debate has revolved around how best to ensure that pilots are capable and trustworthy and, more importantly, how to keep the bad guys out of the cockpits. What to do if the bad guy was already in the cockpit wasn’t an issue, the source said.
The FAA spokesman noted that the regulations also require that “when one of the pilots exits the cockpit for any reason, another qualified crew member must lock the door and remain on the flight deck until the pilot returns to his or her station.” That would be a flight attendant or relief pilot.
The apparent purpose of the rule is to prevent a lockout scenario since the other crew member would then be able access the internal lock mechanism. The German airline authority, Luftfahrt Bundesamt, does not have such a requirement. It allows only one pilot to be in the cockpit, according to a BBC report.
Until 2001, federal regulations required that cockpit doors be secure but allowed other members of the flight crew to have keys. After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, many feared that terrorists could obtain the keys or coerce a crew member into providing the unlocking code.
On Jan. 22, 2002, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta issued the new rules intended to ensure that no one could break into a flight deck. “Fortifying cockpit doors is a critical part of assuring the safety and security of our aviation system,” he said.
The George W. Bush administration required that the door “be designed to prevent passengers from opening it without the pilot’s permission. An internal locking device will be designed so that it can only be unlocked from inside the cockpit.” It also required that the doors be designed to resist “penetration of shrapnel from small arms fire or a fragmentation device” such as a hand grenade or small bomb.
On Thursday, French prosecutor Brice Robin said, based on the recordings in the plane’s “back box,” that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, was alone in the cockpit when the plane began its descent. The recording indicates that the chief pilot left, probably to use the bathroom, and was locked out by Lubitz. The co-pilot then intentionally set the plane to crash. The pilot can be heard attempting to re-enter the cockpit, to no avail. The cockpit itself is silent but Lubitz is believed to have been alive until the impact, which killed all 144 passengers and six crew.
Robin said the co-pilot had no known ties to terrorist groups.
Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, had certified him fit to fly.
