Germanwings A320 believed crashed

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by George G

How about redesigning the flight deck area, and allow for a pilot only toilet accessible from the cockpit?

Bit of a stretch i know.. but if you can have space for crew rest areas maybe you can make space for crew toilets as well.

B747 has exactly that.

[Geoff Br]

Some of the Long haul a/c now provide toilets in the flight deck area. This way all the operating crew are in the same security zone. I was in a A380 recently and the rest area for the relieving aircrew have bunks and toilet. It maybe economically feasible to convert others.

The problem will be what to do about the short/medium haul a/c. All of them usually have a toilet up front for the F and or J pax, as well as flight crew. As this means money...

The front toilet could be aircrew only and the flight deck entry wall moved. F and J guys not too happy.

The aircraft could have the front galley removed and converted into a toilet within the flight deck zone.

All of these options cost money and or cause inconvenience. BUT, if the unthinkable happens again....values need to change soon.

[Greg Hyde]

Thanks for the feedback.

This might be of interest:

http://news.aviation-safety.net/2013...pilot-suicide/

http://www.ibtimes.com/pilot-suicide...-plane-1519756

ACI covered some of these:

Silk Air (ACI s12e4)
Egypt Air (ACI S3e8)

Not included

* US Air Bae146, where the flight crew were shot and the aircraft was downed by a disgruntled employee (ACI s11e10)
* Fedex Dc-10 where the crew was attacked and survived. (ACI s3e4)

* MH370 (Maybe.......) (ACI s14e11)

[Stephen Brown]

If they are going to have a system to unlock the door remotely, they should just ditch the whole Black Box thing and send all the flight data back through the air to the Ops Centre. Seems a much better way of doing things than trying to find a black box after the thing has crashed. The technology is there right now, look towards what the military do. (i.e. Drones).

[Thomas Collins]

How about redesigning the flight deck area, and allow for a pilot only toilet accessible from the cockpit

A380.

[Kurt A]

Qantas Group follows suit...

QANTAS GROUP STATEMENT ON COCKPIT ACCESS
SYDNEY, 30 March 2015:

Following discussions with the Federal Government, regulators and industry, the Qantas Group will have two approved people in the cockpit at all times in-flight.

This includes Qantas, QantasLink, Network Aviation and Jetstar flights.

When one pilot needs to leave the cockpit for any reason, another authorised person will occupy the jump seat (as distinct from the control seats occupied by the Captain and First Officer) until they return.

This policy applies to aircraft with more than 50 seats. Of a total Qantas Group fleet of around 300 aircraft, this excludes Qantaslink’s fleet of 18 Q200s and Q300s, which generally operate on short sectors of one or two
hours where the need for pilots to leave the cockpit is minimal.

Qantas Group flights have between two and four operating pilots on board, depending on duration and aircraft type.

The safety and health of customers and employees is the Qantas Group’s number one priority. We have a comprehensive safety management system that guards against risks to our operations.

There are numerous layers of screening and support for pilots, ranging from regular medical checks to stress management training, confidential counselling and pilot-to-pilot support networks.

Together with regulators and other airlines, Qantas will closely study any learnings that stem from the Germanwings tragedy to help make aviation even safer.

Our deepest sympathies are with the loved ones of all those on board flight 4U9525.

Issued by Qantas Corporate Communication (Q5821)

http://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/qan...cockpit-access

[Grahame Hutchison]

Owen Zupp has added an article to his blog covering the events surrounding the tragic GermanWings 4U9525 A320 crash - he calls for "balance and perspective" from "calm heads", not knee jerk reactions that may come with their own "potential hazards".

Read The Article

[Nigel C]

Ok, so you tell your doctor that you drive forklifts for a living. You have a licence, so he believes you. You can still slip through the cracks.

[Arthur T]

As airlines are implementing the two people rule in the cockpit following this incident, may I ask has Qantas and Virgin Australia followed suit as the result?

[Kent Broadhead]

Dunno whether the airlines did, but it looks as though they'll be required to http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviat...30-1maull.html