View Full Version : Do planes ever get locked ?
Lan Ding Gere
26th Jul 2002, 06:33
Hi guys just another question from me.
When planes are parked up (ie 747) (not at the gates), but away from the terminal area do they get locked ? If so how are they locked or unlocked if this is the case.
How can you open the doors, do they have keys/key pads etc ?
It's just something I was thinking about ?
LDG
You don't expect anyone to tell you that. Whats your name OBL?
reverserunlocked
26th Jul 2002, 08:52
There have been threads about this before.
Apparently the only 'keys' you get with your shiny new 747-400 are for the cockpit and come with a nice 'Boeing' keyring. These keyrings are highly prized and tend to get half-inched pretty quickly.
You can't really 'lock' an airliner as such, and you'll notice airliners parked up at museums have padlocks on the doors. Quite who is going to hot-wire a 40-year old VC10 and fly it away I don't know!
Pegasus77
26th Jul 2002, 09:34
Best joke ever, when doing preflight checks, we have to check for the cockpitkey as well: In my Airbus 320 the key read 'Boeing'!!
P77
canberra
26th Jul 2002, 13:12
raf sar wessex had padlocks. they were put on after someone got in to one that was parked overnight on the west end car park in ft william.
Bob Brown
26th Jul 2002, 13:21
Many years ago the FD keys to all the BAC, McDonnell Douglas, Airbus and Boeing aircraft were the same. I am sure that following 9/11 this will have been changed.
I seem to recal however that light a/c do have lockable doors for when they are left at remote airstrips.
Spearing Britney
26th Jul 2002, 15:13
Airbus keys are Renault car keys - seriously!
Joe Bolt
27th Jul 2002, 08:20
When I worked on a Hawk flight line in a Middle Eastern country, we had to go out to the local souk and buy a couple of dozen padlocks, so that we could lock the canopy operating handles at the end of each days flying. This followed a series of incidents where cockpit switches had been tampered with, somtimes running batteries flat.
The culprits would either have been bored aircraft guards having a play around, or the Arab air force 'QA' personnel, having another attempt at making the 'white eyes' appear incompetent.
Pegasus77
27th Jul 2002, 11:09
I fly Airbus, and drive Renault, always wondering why they were so similar.
The Beech Bonanza I flew in training was certainly lockable, just as the Piper P28. At my local flying club the doors of the Pipers cannot be locked, but you need the a/c-specific key to be able to start the engine.