Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

New airline planes will be required to have secondary barriers to the cockpit to protect pilots

American Airlines pilot captain Pete Gamble, left, and first officer John Konstanzer conduct a pre-flight check in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max jet before taking off from Dallas Fort Worth airport on Dec. 2, 2020, in Grapevine, Texas. U.S. officials said Wednesday, June 14, 2023, that they will require new airline planes built after mid-2025 to have a second barrier to make it harder for passengers to break into the cockpit when the main door is open. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) American Airlines pilot captain Pete Gamble, left, and first officer John Konstanzer conduct a pre-flight check in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 Max jet before taking off from Dallas Fort Worth airport on Dec. 2, 2020, in Grapevine, Texas. U.S. officials said Wednesday, June 14, 2023, that they will require new airline planes built after mid-2025 to have a second barrier to make it harder for passengers to break into the cockpit when the main door is open. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
Share

U.S. officials said Wednesday they will require new airline planes to have a second barrier to make it harder for passengers to break into the cockpit when the main door is open.

The Federal Aviation Administration rule will apply to commercial planes made after mid-2025.

The rule will affect airlines that operate scheduled flights, but not charter operators. There is no provision requiring airlines to retrofit current planes.

Officials called the rule an important step to give pilots more protection.

“No pilot should have to worry about an intrusion on the flight deck,†said David Boulter, the FAA's acting associate administrator for safety.

The cockpit is more vulnerable to attackers when the door is opened for pilots to take a bathroom break or get their meals.

A secondary barrier is intended “to slow such an attack long enough so that an open flightdeck door can be closed and locked before an attacker could reach the flightdeck,†the FAA said in the rule, published in the Federal Register.

The FAA estimated that each secondary barrier will cost US$35,000 to buy and install.

Congress directed the FAA in 2018 to require secondary barriers to cockpits, but the agency did not issue a proposal until last August, after it received recommendations from aircraft makers and pilot groups.

Pilot unions asked the FAA to extend the requirement for secondary barriers to all airline planes, including older ones. They said covering new planes only would create a known security gap.

However, industry trade group Airlines for America and United Airlines argued that current security steps are effective. They asked that secondary barriers be required only on future types of planes – meaning that new copies of FAA-approved planes such as Boeing 737 Max and Airbus A320 jets would not need secondary barriers, even if they were built after mid-2025.

The FAA said Congress was clear that the requirement should apply to all new planes.

Pilot groups also asked for the rule to take effect in one year, while the airline industry, Boeing and Airbus asked for three years to comply. The FAA said two years was plenty — aircraft makers were given less time to reinforce cockpit doors after the September 2001 terror attacks.

The FAA said Delta Air Lines and United have voluntarily added secondary barriers to some of their planes.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

An Ontario child has died after coming in contact with a rabid bat, a health official confirmed on Wednesday.

A Manitoba man convicted of murder 50 years ago has been acquitted. Clarence Woodhouse was found guilty in 1974 of fatally beating and stabbing a restaurant worker in downtown Winnipeg.

Local Spotlight

The grave of a previously unknown Canadian soldier has been identified as a man from Hayfield, Man. who fought in the First World War.

Moving into the second week of October, the eastern half of Canada can expect some brisker fall air to break down from the north

What does New Westminster's təməsew̓txʷ Aquatic and Community Centre have in common with a historic 68,000-seat stadium in Beijing, an NFL stadium and the aquatics venue for the Paris Olympics? They've all been named among the world's most beautiful sports venues for 2024.

The last living member of the legendary Vancouver Asahi baseball team, Kaye Kaminishi, died on Saturday, Sept. 28, surrounded by family. He was 102 years old.

New data from Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley shows a surge in supply and drop in demand in the region's historically hot real estate market.

On Saturday night at her parents’ home in Delaware, Ont. the Olympic bronze medallist in pole vault welcomed everyone who played a role in getting her to the podium in Paris.

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Stay Connected