How did Lubitz single-handedly down that plane?
The flight's voice recorder has revealed the co-pilot deliberately crashed the Germanwings plane. Disturbingly, it was post 9/11 cockpit safety procedures that helped him do it.
PT2M26S 620 349- Autoplay OnOff
- Video feedback
- Video settings
Australian authorities are still investigating whether airlines will be required to have at least two people the cockpit at all times after the apparently deliberate Germanwings crash, even though regulators in New Zealand and Canada have swiftly changed their rules.
Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said a review of local procedures would consider information from the findings of the Germanwings investigation. Neither Qantas nor Virgin Australia have yet decided whether they will make changes that go beyond regulatory requirements.
"The current regulations do not require airlines to replace a pilot who temporarily leaves the cockpit," Mr Truss said.
Countries including New Zealand and Canada have moved quickly to ensure that two airline staff are in an aircraft's cockpit at all times. Photo: Reuters
"Careful consideration needs to be made following thorough investigation to ensure that altering current procedures does not open other potential vulnerabilities. Our two major international and domestic airlines are undertaking their own safety and security risk assessments of cockpit procedures following the recent tragedy."
New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority, which oversees Qantas' trans-Tasman arm and Air New Zealand, on Friday said it would require two crew members on the flight deck for all domestic and international flights by New Zealand-registered operators.
Before the Germanwings crash, the US Federal Aviation Administration had already required two people in the cockpit at all times, meaning if one pilot left to use the lavatory, another crew member such as a flight attendant needed to enter the flight deck and lock the door until the pilot returned.
A Qantas spokesman said the airline was considering whether changes were needed to existing safeguards and was in discussions with regulators. Photo: Glenn Hunt
Since French authorities revealed the crash was likely a deliberate act by the copilot, several airlines around the world have moved to put in place the so-called "rule of two" on the flight deck at all times.
Other carriers that have since said they will adopt the process – some of them effective immediately – include easyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Icelandair, Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat, Air Berlin and Lufthansa, the parent of Germanwings.
A Qantas spokesman said the airline was considering whether changes were needed to existing safeguards and was in discussions with regulators.
Virgin Independent Pilots Association (VIPA) president Captain John Lyons said his union of Virgin pilots supported an international review of cockpit safety procedures. "VIPA and the wider pilot community have been concerned about a pilot's ability to access the cockpit under all circumstances," he said.
"The most obvious reason you would have that system is for them to open the door," said Australian and International Pilots Association president Nathan Safe.
"Even having a flight attendant there isn't going to make the system foolproof. It is an additional person that manually open the door. I can't see them having a wrestling match in the cockpit or fly the plane physically. That is getting far too creative in my view."
Other pilots agreed, saying it was unlikely a flight attendant would be able to make a distress call from the cockpit even if they were aware the descent – which in the Germanwings case wasn't so fast as to be alarming – was not in keeping with the flight plans.
However, one pilot said the mere presence of a flight attendant might make a pilot abandon plans to down the aircraft.
"Psychologically, the bloke looks across and doesn't feel like he's just killing himself," the pilot said of that scenario.
"On his own, with a locked door, it would be easier to feel removed."
