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    Fred of Australia

    March 26, 2015

    In relation to the current GermanAir crash, can someone tell me why any pilot leaving the cockpit for some reason or other while the aircraft is in flight, cannot have a key to operate any lock on the cockpit security door? (I assume there is such a lock.)
    And why should any such lock be capable of being rendered “locked” from the inside in this situation?

    Editors' Comment

    The cockpit door has a combination lock or keypad that only the pilots know the code for meaning pilots can come and go as they need. Within the cockpit however is an override that stops the code being accepted meaning the pilot (or anyone else that knows the code) can’t get in. This is a safety measure put in after 9/11 to ensure even if a staff member is threatened and therefore has to give up the code for the door, the pilot inside the cockpit can render that code inactive so no one can get in. This is why suicide or a highjacking is the most likely cause of the Germanwings crash
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