The ceiling position seems like a far more sensible place to put this switch to avoid accidentally toggling it. Airbus says that it offers airlines the choice of having the switch mounted either in the center console, as it is now by default, or mounted above the pilots on the ceiling of the aircraft. But the lock switch is located in the cockpit and potential override procedures are not mandated by government authorities.Īirbus places the lock switch in the center console by default, which means that either pilot could accidentally toggle the switch if they collapsed for some reason. An official from Airbus tells Fortune that it designed the door so that it can only be unlocked from inside the cockpit because it was mandatedto do so by the FAA following the events of September 11. It either locked the senior pilot out or locked the junior pilot in. We don’t know for sure if the door was put in the locked position by Lubitz once the senior pilot left the cockpit, nor do we know if the senior pilot tried to gain entry into the cockpit using the digital keypad (officials say he just banged on the door).īut whether this was deliberate or an accident, the failsafesand the door locking system failed. When it is toggled down, the door locks as it does in the neutral position but it also prevents the use of the numerical keypad on the outside of the door to gain entry for five minutes. If it is left in the neutral (center) position, the door will be locked, as is required by law while in flight. If the switch is up, the door will unlock. On the A320, the model used for Germanwings Flight 9525, the locking switch in the cockpit can be toggled up or down. On the Germanwings flight, the cockpit door was controlled by an electronic keypad located outside the cockpit as well as a switch located inside the cockpit in the center console. Keys would no longer be allowed to access the cockpit amid fear that a terrorist could somehow wrestle them away from a flight attendant. Following the events of September 11, airlines were mandated to beef up cockpit security. If you are wondering how a senior pilot could be locked out of the cockpit, you’re in good company. It is conceivable that something may have happened to Lubitz after he activated the flight management system, such as a brain aneurysm, leaving him unconscious and unable to open the cockpit door for the other pilot. To be fair, we are waiting for the results of the flight’s data recorder, which records the pilots instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. If one person takes 149 people with him to death, it is not suicide.” This has led officials to believe that the co-pilot deliberately set in motion the events that caused the crash.Īsked whether this was suicide, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said at an afternoon press conference, “I am not a lawyer. Officials say that the junior pilot used the flight management system to start the descent of the plane, which, at the altitude the flight was at, could only be done voluntarily. The last sounds on the recording were of the senior pilot trying to break the cockpit door down, followed by the screams of passengers right before the plane crashed on the side of a mountain in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Throughout the commotion, nothing was heard from inside the cockpit, except for Lubitz’s breathing, officials say. Sonderheimer tried to regain entry into the cockpit for 10 minutes while the plane was in a steady, yet sharp, descent downward. He is heard yelling for Lubitz to open the door on the flight’s cockpit voice recorder, which was analyzed by crash experts on Wednesday. When Sonderheimer tried to get back into the cockpit, he was unable to gain entry. Apparently, the junior pilot, Andreas Günter Lubitz, 27, was left alone in the cockpit while the senior pilot, Patrick Sonderheimer, left the cockpit, presumably to go to the bathroom. Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, confirmed on Thursday that the crash of Flight 9525 was due to “deliberate” pilot error.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |