One of the easiest ways to prevent an airliner from being hijacked or worse is to stop unwanted visitors from gaining access to the cockpit. While the cockpit door is locked during flights, pilots do have to open the door to receive meals and head to the lavatory. Southwest Airlines became the first U.S. carrier to fly a plane with a secondary barrier as an added layer of security when the door is opened. This feature will be a common sight on all commercial planes in the future.
The Federal Aviation Administration required that all new passenger planes have a secondary cockpit barrier starting in August of this year. However, the agency delayed the requirement by a year after being persuaded by Airlines for America, an industry lobbying group that represents every major airline in the country. According to Reuters, the trade organization was pushing for a two-year delay. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), the world’s largest pilot union, wanted regulators to ignore the request and cited the 52 hijacking attempts since 2001.
Flight attendants will no longer have to barricade the aisle
Southwest’s first plane with a secondary barrier was a Boeing 737 Max 8 recently delivered to the carrier and entered service over Labor Day weekend, according to CNN. The barrier itself doesn’t look like something you would see on an armored vehicle from the photos and video shared by Southwest. The folding gate was installed between the aircraft’s first passenger door and the cabin. It can be locked into place, allowing for safe and easy movement between the cockpit and the forward galley and lavatory. Without the barrier, flight attendants will block the aisle with a beverage cart when opening the door.
An incident just last month featured an open cockpit door. A British Airways pilot flying a Boeing 777 from London to New York decided to open the door during the flight. He wanted his family, who were onboard as passengers, to see him at the controls. The open door caught the attention of passengers and other crew members. The British flag carrier suspended the pilot after the flight landed in New York and canceled the return flight. However, the punishment was rescinded once an investigation found that there was no security risk.
