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| Germanwings plane crash: Could lessons have been learned from previous incidents? | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| As airlines and aviation regulators rushed to impose new rules on flight-deck access, a leading security expert said two previous incidents had highlighted how a “rogue pilot” could take advantage of an armoured cockpit door. | As airlines and aviation regulators rushed to impose new rules on flight-deck access, a leading security expert said two previous incidents had highlighted how a “rogue pilot” could take advantage of an armoured cockpit door. |
| Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, said the events mirrored Tuesday’s fatal crash in the French Alps. | Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, said the events mirrored Tuesday’s fatal crash in the French Alps. |
| In November 2013, the captain of a scheduled LAM Mozambique Airlines flight from Maputo to Luanda in Angola downed his Embraer passenger jet in Namibia. All 33 people on board died. Three months later, the co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 flying from Addis Ababa to Rome locked his colleague out of the flight deck, then diverted the jet to Geneva where he landed safely and sought asylum. | In November 2013, the captain of a scheduled LAM Mozambique Airlines flight from Maputo to Luanda in Angola downed his Embraer passenger jet in Namibia. All 33 people on board died. Three months later, the co-pilot of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 flying from Addis Ababa to Rome locked his colleague out of the flight deck, then diverted the jet to Geneva where he landed safely and sought asylum. |
| On both occasions the locked-out pilot had tried vainly to break through the reinforced cockpit door. | On both occasions the locked-out pilot had tried vainly to break through the reinforced cockpit door. |
| Mr Baum said: “These incidents highlighted the fact that the enhanced flight-deck door, designed to keep potential hijackers outside the cockpit, can also prevent crew and passengers overpowering an intruder, or pilot, should they manage to lock themselves inside. While it may keep the bad guys out of the cockpit, it can also keep the good guys out too.” | Mr Baum said: “These incidents highlighted the fact that the enhanced flight-deck door, designed to keep potential hijackers outside the cockpit, can also prevent crew and passengers overpowering an intruder, or pilot, should they manage to lock themselves inside. While it may keep the bad guys out of the cockpit, it can also keep the good guys out too.” |
| But an EU official in Brussels told The Independent that armoured cockpit doors had saved countless lives: “Hijacking has almost been eliminated since the reinforced cockpit doors were put into place and so many unlawful acts, many criminal attacks, have been eliminated.” | But an EU official in Brussels told The Independent that armoured cockpit doors had saved countless lives: “Hijacking has almost been eliminated since the reinforced cockpit doors were put into place and so many unlawful acts, many criminal attacks, have been eliminated.” |
| After the revelation that the Germanwings co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had locked the captain out of the flight deck and set the aircraft on its fatal descent, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued a “temporary recommendation” that airlines ensure a pilot is never left alone on the flight deck. Typically, if a pilot takes a break, the senior member of cabin crew will temporarily occupy the cockpit jump seat. | After the revelation that the Germanwings co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had locked the captain out of the flight deck and set the aircraft on its fatal descent, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued a “temporary recommendation” that airlines ensure a pilot is never left alone on the flight deck. Typically, if a pilot takes a break, the senior member of cabin crew will temporarily occupy the cockpit jump seat. |
| Some pilots have told The Independent privately that the changes are cosmetic, intended to reassure the travelling public. | Some pilots have told The Independent privately that the changes are cosmetic, intended to reassure the travelling public. |
| But the aviation expert Bjorn Fehrm said the presence of another crew member would reduce the risk of a pilot downing a plane: | But the aviation expert Bjorn Fehrm said the presence of another crew member would reduce the risk of a pilot downing a plane: |
| “The barrier to psychotic moments gets raised so that in the overwhelming majority of cases, it will simply not trigger. Should a premeditated or psychotic moment deed be triggered, the probability of it succeeding will be significantly diminished with a second person in the cockpit.” | “The barrier to psychotic moments gets raised so that in the overwhelming majority of cases, it will simply not trigger. Should a premeditated or psychotic moment deed be triggered, the probability of it succeeding will be significantly diminished with a second person in the cockpit.” |