Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Reinforced cockpit safety doors may have had opposite effect in plane crash
File this one under "tragic". According to eyewitness reports who were involved in the recent accident of Turkish Airlines flight 1951, the first officer of the aircraft was alive, but badly injured when the plane hit the ground.
Apparently, it took rescue workers 40 minutes to reach him, by which time he had passed away. The long delay was caused by the reinforced cockpit door, put in place after the 9/11 hijackings, and is of course intended to keep would-be terrorists from reaching the flight deck.
The door was so hard to penetrate, that rescuers gave up and cut a hole in the ceiling of the cockpit to reach the crew.
It's a clear case of damned if you do and damned if you don't - you need to keep the bad guys out, but if this makes it impossible to reach the crew during an accident it pretty much defeats its purpose.
I'm sure more news about the cockpit door will be released from more official sources during the investigation, and I am curious what pilots have to say about this incident.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gabe Mar 2nd 2009 11:07AM
Supposably, rescue workers are able to reach the cockpit through the copilot's window by releasing it from the outside. Did they simply not know about this?
Richard Mar 2nd 2009 11:56AM
The cockpit door worked as advertised. Unfortunately, as happens in so many of our endeavors, an "unintended consequence" occurred.
teenagertc Mar 3rd 2009 12:59AM
I think you have to assume that the odds of an attempt to breach the door outweighs the odd of a plane crash...I wouldn't compromise the security of the cockpit.