Originally Posted by
Afrijet
this is the most unrealistic suggestion this year. In addition to flying the plane, the crew now have to unlock an armored door that’s designed to prevent cockpit intrusion. Not only disarm, but crack it open? While potentially operating to minimums in hard ifr. Will the door opener get out of their seat to accomplish this task?
I didn’t say crack the door, just disarm it, not the biggest task in the world. Happened to an air India cores 737. Captain went for a leak, on his return the FO turned the heading knob instead disarming the cockpit door. The captain remained locked out of the flight deck and the aircraft went into a continuous bank and eventual spiral dive and ended up inverted. The plane was recovered by the FO and landed safely but must have been terrifying for crew and pax. Just from memory so don’t quote me 100%. There is a distinct but rare chance the armoured door could get stuck locks in an emergency landing or fire in the cabin so why not open the cockpit locks during landing checks? Yes flight decks also have emergency ropes and escape hatches, depending on type, but having the main cockpit door available also adds a level of redundancy for escape from the cabin.