Fri, Feb 17, 2017
Says Hardened Deck Doors Are Only A Partial Solution To Cockpit Security
The downing of four commercial airplanes and loss of nearly 3,000 lives on 9/11 was due, in part, to inadequate protection of the aircraft flight deck. Shortly after 9/11, Congress and the FAA required the installation of hardened flight deck doors on most commercial airline aircraft as one of many new layers of security. The hardened flight deck doors are an important improvement to security, but they are not a complete solution to preventing unauthorized individuals from entering the flight deck. The flight deck door must be opened during flight to provide for pilots’ biological needs and for operational requirements related to safety.
As events have demonstrated, Americans still remain vulnerable to terrorist attacks. There have been at least 52 hijacking attempts around the world since 9/11. The U.S. government has repeatedly and recently confirmed that aviation, in particular, is still a target of radical terrorists and the threat of hijackings is real.
Since 2003, two major airlines have voluntarily installed a lightweight, inexpensive wire mesh, called a flight deck secondary barrier, on hundreds of their aircraft, which is permanently mounted between the flight deck door and the cabin. Boeing and Airbus offer the secondary barrier as equipment on new aircraft. Installation of retrofitted secondary barriers on aircraft already in the fleet represents a minimal cost, as they can be added at a cost of approximately $5,000 per aircraft or even less.
During the 114th Congress, legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate (i.e., H.R. 911 and S. 911) to address this issue by mandating secondary barriers for all commercial passenger operations. A version of these bills, which mandated secondary barriers on all new aircraft, was included in both the FAA reauthorization bill that passed the full Senate and the House counterpart that passed out of committee. (Note: The House never voted on a full FAA reauthorization on the floor during the 114th Congress.)
(Source: ALPA news release)
More News
Omnidirectional Approach Lighting System ODALS consists of seven omnidirectional flashing lights located in the approach area of a nonprecision runway. Five lights are located on t>[...]
"Polaris Dawn, the first of the program’s three human spaceflight missions, is targeted to launch to orbit no earlier than summer 2024. During the five-day mission, the crew >[...]
Also: 1800th E-Jet, Uncle Sam Sues For Landing Gear, Embraer Ag Plane, Textron Parts A friend of the family reported that Lt. Col. (Ret.) Richard Glenn Rutan flew west on Friday, M>[...]
Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]
“Our aircrews are trained and capable of rapidly shifting from operational missions to humanitarian roles. We planned to demonstrate how we, and our BORSTAR partners, respond>[...]