Qantas:Cockpit Access
Pilots take controls of cockpit issue: Steve Creedy, Aviation writer | September 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian
QANTAS pilots have caused a furore in federal parliament by successfully lobbying to get legislation restricting access to aircraft cockpits disallowed.
The Australian and International Pilots Association had been lobbying to get the legislation overturned because it placed the criminal responsibility for allowing access to the flight deck on the captain rather than the airline.
It also meant that off-duty pilots were no longer eligible to fly in the jump seat unless they were commuting to and from work.
The Howard government introduced regulations in 2005 that restricted access to cockpits but the Rudd government in February moved to tighten what it saw as a loophole in the rules and doubled the penalty for breaches.
While pilots recognised the need to restrict access to cockpits, they complained they were not consulted about the new rules and warned the changes would affect their safety culture.
They also argued the regulations were inconsistent with global best practice, a view that was supported by international and US pilot groups.
The disallowance was put forward by independent senator Nick Xenophon and supported by the opposition and the Greens.
AIPA president Barry Jackson said the Senate had disallowed a flawed piece of legislation about which pilots were not consulted.
He said the strict liability meant that a captain would be responsible if a flight attendant inadvertently left a cockpit door unlocked.
"All we wanted to do was to be able to discuss this," Captain Jackson said. "The criminal liability to me was the big thing and I think the Greens made a good comment about safety culture.
"If you know you are going to be criminally liable either financially or through jailable offence then you are not going to be so forthcoming with any information. So it's completely at odds with a just culture or a proper safety-management system."
Captain Jackson said the pilots supported prohibiting the families of airline staff and other passengers on flight decks but believed that allowing an off-duty pilot access enhanced safety.
He said pilots were happy to work with the government on the issue, which he believed needed "just a little rejigging".
A legal opinion by Bret Walker SC, suggested that existing Civil Aviation Regulations could be easily changed to oblige airlines to include cockpit-access instructions in operations manuals.
However, the disallowance was blasted in question time by Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese said there would now be no effective legal restrictions on who could enter a cockpit or penalties for unauthorised access. Other aviation regulations also had strict liability offences.
"It is completely unsatisfactory for such an important measure in such a vital security regime to rely on industry self-regulation," Mr Albanese said. "The rules on who can open hardened cockpit doors and enter the cockpit should be set by the parliament, not left to the discretion of pilots and their union."
Labelling the regulations bizarre, opposition transport spokesman Warren Truss said his party voted to disallow the rules after attempting to negotiate amendments with the government.
"Regulations should not turn pilots into flying doormen and force them into spending more time checking that the cockpit door is closed than flying the plane," he said.