I swear there was a thread on this, and I was just going to add this post.

Anyway, it appears the first officer locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately crashed the plane.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32063587

Not good.

What the hell...


Sent from my UAV using Disposition Matrix 2.0

crazy

Not to generalize but the question has to be asked.....religious affiliation???

Curtis I asked this based on ongoing world events

Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, has said that the co-pilot was cleared to fly "with no caveats". The BBC is reporting that "everything" about the life and affiliations of Mr. Lubitz (the co-pilot) will be analysed, including any religious affiliation, but at this point there is no known cause or affiliation with any terrorist group or terrorist motivation.

My thinking? Guy had a psychotic break.

Apparently one black box has been found, the pilot asking Mr. Lubitz to take over the controls, the sound of a seat being pushed back, and the sound of the cockpit door closing--the pilot likely took a bathroom break, and that was exactly what Mr. Lubitz was waiting for, the chance to lock the cockpit door. Passengers and other crew were apparently unaware of anything being amiss "until the very last moment", when screams can be heard. All aboard were killed "instantly", which, I suppose, is some weak comfort--but recovering bodies in the French Alps? Ugh. My deepest condolences to the families of the victims, including that of Mr. Lubitz.

594 would have.........oh f&*$ it....

For some reason they didn't have the procedure of having one of the flight attendants go and sit in the cockpit with one pilot while the other is in the lav.

The first officer probably locked out the pilot using a toggle switch on the center console (at least that's what they are saying based on the CVR audio)

Yet no group has come forward to claim it.

Very odd indeed though. This will now put a spin on the benefits of the locked cockpit door.

...and they want these maniacs carrying guns in there?! What if they just decided to start shooting everyone on the plane?!

/sarc

This.



There are several methods, of securing the door. Personally I don't like the electric options. I prefer the actions that require physical movement to secure the door.

Thats pretty easy to fix. My shop uses our employee badges as access badges for entry. Shouldn't be hard to set something similar up.

Easy in theory, but problematic. What if a hijacker catches the captain on shit break and gets his badge? Now said hijacker has access to the cockpit and the locking door is pointless. IMO pilots need a lav in the cockpit area.

Steve, get crackin!

This! Steve, drop everything else and get on this!

All pilots need to be mandated to wear Colostomy bags and Catheters.


Problem solved.

Yeah . . . could happen, we'll see.

The biggest problem, of course, is space. EVERY DAMNED INCH on an airplane like that is accounted for. Cockpit's too small, you say, and you want it an inch longer? NO WAY. Not enough legroom, everyone needs one more inch? Not gonna happen unless the airline can justify the loss of seats and revenue.

9/11 caused enough of an uproar that the government and industry justified the enormous expense of retrofitting the entire fleet with secure, bulletproof doors. (Yes, it's a lot harder than it sounds.) Will the Germanwings incident (combined with a few similar incidents in the past) be enough of a push to integrate a lavatory into the cockpit? I think it's unlikely, but possible.

On most commercial airplanes there is a lavatory right next to the flight deck door. Let's say we move the door back, and make that lavatory a part of the flight deck, for flight crew use only. Then, we need to add ANOTHER lavatory for the passengers to use. Adding that lav means the loss of one triple seat, roughly speaking, and that's a big revenue hit for the airline.

We'll see how it goes . . . I suspect the answer will be a procedural one. For example, require a flight attendant to go into the flight deck so there are always two people there.