Southwest Provides Secondary Cockpit Barrier, Permitting Pilots To Safely Sprint To The Bathroom

One of many best methods to stop an airliner from being hijacked or worse is to cease undesirable guests from having access to the cockpit. Whereas the cockpit door is locked throughout flightspilots do need to open the door to obtain meals and head to the bathroom. Southwest Airways turned the primary U.S. service to fly a aircraft with a secondary barrier as an added layer of safety when the door is opened. This characteristic can be a standard sight on all industrial planes sooner or later.

The Federal Aviation Administration required that every one new passenger planes have a secondary cockpit barrier beginning in August of this 12 months. Nevertheless, the company delayed the requirement by a 12 months after being persuaded by Airways for America, an trade lobbying group that represents each main airline within the nation. In response to Reutersthe commerce group was pushing for a two-year delay. The Air Line Pilots Affiliation (ALPA), the world’s largest pilot union, wished regulators to disregard the request and cited the 52 hijacking makes an attempt since 2001.

Southwest’s first aircraft with a secondary barrier was a Boeing 737 Max 8 not too long ago delivered to the service and entered service over Labor Day weekend, in keeping with CNN. The barrier itself would not seem like one thing you’ll see on an armored car from the photographs and video shared by Southwest. The folding gate was put in between the plane’s first passenger door and the cabin. It may be locked into place, permitting for protected and simple motion between the cockpit and the ahead galley and bathroom. With out the barrier, flight attendants will block the aisle with a beverage cart when opening the door.

An incident simply final month featured an open cockpit door. A British Airways pilot flying a Boeing 777 from London to New York determined to open the door throughout the flight. He wished his household, who have been onboard as passengers, to see him on the controls. The open door caught the eye of passengers and different crew members. The British flag service suspended the pilot after the flight landed in New York and canceled the return flight. Nevertheless, the punishment was rescinded as soon as an investigation discovered that there was no safety threat.