As I understand it, the lock mode from the cockpit overrides ANY codes. I think the worry is that if you had a knife to your neck, or they started just killing passengers, the code would be given up.
So there is a ‘lock’ mode in the cockpit, so NO code can work. No point in having an impenetrable door if a hi-jacker can force the ‘key’ out of someone. But then, this is another point that I would imagine the passengers and crew should just go Rambo.
But, this won’t help for a nut that is already in the cockpit. That’s why I ‘out of the box’ suggested to have a way to put the plane in auto pilot at current heading and altitude outside of the flight deck.
I think my idea is overkill, but might help in other situations too. I’m just throwing ideas out.
But then the first time the mechanism malfunctions or someone figures out how to hack it and the legitimate pilots lose control of the airplane…
As you start adding more and more well-intentioned but complex mechanisms to anything, you run the risk that the mechanism will itself fail. It may short-circuit and start a fire. It may jam in some mode. A stray radio signal from a cell phone might activate it. A person with bad intentions may figure out how to take control of it.
What are the odds that any of these things might happen compared to the odds that a lone pilot will decide to commit suicide? I don’t know.
After 9/11, I would hope that any and all pilots would understand that hijacking means potential death of everyone aboard, so killing a few or even all the passengers is still no reason to let the hijackers in.
I’m not sure I understand these medical-leave notes that were found ripped up. They were reportedly for specific dates including the day of the crash. He asked for medical leave but then changed his mind? Or is it that the doctor, knowing Lubitz was a pilot, insisted he should not fly but depended on Lubitz himself to notify his employers?
You’re adding yet another layer of complexity AND you’ve just locked out anyone, even someone who makes it through the door, from flying the airplane. That’s going to really suck if, say, the lockout occurred during a descent, the airplane could wind up flying into the ground. What if that happens in busy airspace? You now have an airplane that can’t change a collision course with another aircraft.
Sooner or later you’ll have a crash caused by the lockout system.
Assuming it turns out to be mental illness, what are the chances that doctors could eventually be required to tell airlines that their pilot patients are ill? In the same manner that, say, priests are required to notify the police of child sex abuse.
It’s just a paper stating to any employer that there is a valid medical reason to miss work. I believe it does not even say what the medical diagnosis is but I’m not sure.
This is not specific to the airline industry in any way, it’s just a product of labor laws in Germany.
Doctor says you are unfit to work for some period and you enjoy some legal protections from being fired.
Perhaps a more apt analogy is the requirement in the California Health and Safety Code that requires a doctor to inform the DMV of any patient over 14 years old who has certain medical conditions and also allows them to report any other person who they think may have a problem driving. The code also gives doctors immunity for any reports they make. The DMV then routinely suspends the patient’s drivers license (if they have one).
I know a lady who went to her doctor because she was feeling faint. The next thing she knew, she got a letter from the DMV that her license had been suspended.
If my reading is correct, it relies on the person voluntarily calling in the medical leave. It’s not specific to the requirements and responsibilities of a professional pilot.
According to the BBC theDusseldorf University Clinic, which treated him in February and March of this year has stated that the illness they treated him for was NOT depression.
In other words, there was something else going on with him as well.
German tabloid Bild is reporting that the alleged perpetrator had a history of depression, which I don’t think is a real indication that someone is at risk of becoming a mass murderer. What I think is more indicative of risk is that he had a history of grandiosity:
In my post I stated that I don’t like the idea of adding more complexity. And said that the auto pilot lock would time-out after a certain amount of minutes. Ten. It would only prevent manual control for that amount of time. I also said (in caps) that it would keep the plane at it’s current altitude. Busy airspace is controlled by ATC. And other planes would have to be routed around it.
Just thinking outside of the box. Treating this as a puzzle to be solved. Sometimes solutions are found that way. Probably no solution is really needed other than the rule to always have two people in the cockpit. That at least, as I said would be a deterrent but is far from perfect.
There should be a one strike and you’re out mental health policy for pilots. As soon as Lufthansa knew he had mental problems in 2009, he should have been permanently grounded. There should also be disability insurance so there is no financial hardship for grounded pilots.
There’s already a lock override system in the plane. The passengers. Anyone trying to break into a cockpit to harm the crew (post 9/11) is going to get their ass kicked.
I have not read the whole thread, so I’m probably repeating someone else’s point. I posted these thoughts elsewhere yesterday.
We’ve got a guy who has been into aviation since he was a child. He studied and worked hard to achieve his goal – his dream – of becoming a pilot. He’s young, he’s good-looking, he’s boffing a flight attendant, his job is one most people respect, and most importantly, he’s doing what he’s wanted to do all his life. It’s the only thing that’s occupied The Most Important Thing position in his life. And then he gets Official Notification that he has a disqualifying condition. Once word of this gets out – and it will; the medical establishment will notify the authorities – he’s grounded. He’s never going to be a long-haul pilot for Lufthansa. He’s not going to be allowed to fly for other airlines. He might not be allowed to fly recreationally as a private pilot. His whole life has been taken from him by a little piece of paper. He can have one last flight before they clip his wings…
That’s my reading of the situation as well, but that just makes it a more terrible act on his behalf, he planned what he was going to do and mostly likely wasn’t in a depressive episode at the time of the incident. Its not like the incident a couple of years ago in Japan where one of the pilots seems to have had a sudden nervous breakdown and attempted to crash his airliner on landing, the other pilot had to fight for the controls all the way in but thankfully landed safely, there’s a picture of the first pilot being taken away on a stretcher.
When I first read of this incident on the BBC website my first thought was, ‘Wow, planes don’t go down in Europe very often’, and I quickly realised it was probably pilot suicide as more information filtered out. But that is only because I read fairly recently a wikipedia article on the subject (which kind of blew my mind at the time to be honest) so I knew that although such an action was uncommon it wasn’t unprecedented.
At one time he was treated for depression and anxiety. All the reports coming out now say he was under treatment but not for depression. so… that suggests he was being treated for anxiety and that is what is doctor’s excuse was for the day of the flight. Just reading between the lines.
His girlfriend said that he once said:“One day I’m going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember.” She also said he would wake up screaming they were going down. Sounds like the pilot they recently had to subdue that was screaming they were doomed.
What failed here was the airlines policy of ananamous reporting of problems among the crew. His girlfriend may or may not have done this but obviously the airline new of his condition and were not effective in dealing with hit.