Brazil mid-air drama: Pilot, crew attacked
 

From the NZ Herald - (report from AP) -

A Brazilian airliner made a forced landing after a passenger reportedly attacked a pilot and crew members.
The TAM Airlines jet was en route from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Sao Paulo when a man entered the cockpit an hour into the flight.
The plane veered right as the man apparently attacked the pilot, who yelled for help.
Uruguay's Industry Minister Roberto Kreimerman was aboard and told the El Observador newspaper everybody screamed as the plane sharply veered.
The Folha de S. Paulo newspaper quoted a passenger who said it took several people to subdue the suspect.
The suspect was arrested after the plane safely landed in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Police say he suffered a "psychotic attack."
TAM says an "uproar" on board caused the forced landing. It offered no details.


Thought they kept the cockpit doors locked??

They probably do, but everyone needs a cup of coffee every now & then & a petite little Brasilian Hostie may not be much of a match for a deranged "Loco"

ANP


...........

Interestingly The Aviation Herald gives a slightly different story with no mention of access being gained to the Flight Deck!

Associated Press

a bit more detail, accuracy unknown of course
 

Incident: TAM A320 near Porto Alegre on Feb 11th 2012, unruly passenger

By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Feb 12th 2012 14:54Z, last updated Sunday, Feb 12th 2012 14:54Z
A TAM Linhas Aereas Airbus A320-200, registration PR-MAR performing flight JJ-8047 from Montevideo (Uruguay) to Sao Paulo Guarulhos,SP (Brazil), was enroute near Porto Alegre,RS (Brazil) when a male passenger attempted to intrude the cockpit which resulted in a physical fight with two flight attendants supported by other passengers. Cabin crew and supporting passengers were bitten by the intruder during the fight until the combined forces were able to subdue the unruly passenger, who was handcuffed and tied to his seat. In the meantime the flight crew diverted to Porto Alegre for a safe landing where police arrested the unruly passenger and delivered him to the psychiatric ward of a local hospital.

Police reported the unruly passenger suffered a "psychotic episode".

The airline reported a riot on board prompted the crew to divert to Porto Alegre.

Passengers reported two flight attendants were trying to get the man down when he tried to intrude the cockpit in order to bring the airplane down. The unruly was fighting, biting, it needed about half a dozen people to finally overpower him and constrain him.

The aircraft reached Sao Paulo with a delay of 2:45 hours.

rgsaero
 

Be aware that many airlines in many parts of the world DO NOT keep their cockpit doors locked, nor are they required to. Too many people confuse those American and British regulations as applying worldwide. They don't.

A big well done to the FA's, above and beyond!

yes, and with these carriers flying into the airspace of the more security conscious countries I do sometimes wonder why we bother.

I'd like to point out that the term "self loading freight" in this case was thankfully untrue, as it appears that some of the passengers pitched in to help sort this fellow out.

As someone who has flown for this airline, I can assure you that like on any airliners of the States or Great Britain, the cockpit door has to remain locked during the whole flight on planes of this operator...

Although the cockpit door may be locked, the concept of cockpit security varies greatly around the world. It is quite common for the cockpit door to be opened in flight and remain open while a flight crew member stands in the forward galley gathering food/beverages. I have personally observed this on TAM domestic, IB domestic, and AM international.

What I've read regarding this incident indicates the person was wearing a TAM ID tag and, on the basis of that, was admitted to the flight deck. All sorts of caveats apply.

Come on! Everyone knows that it's so easy to jump in the cockpit in the process of opening/closing of the door. Especially on the back of a FLight Attendant. Unless it is strictly prohibited for the passengers to line up by the toilet. I've never heard about such restrictions. And I never saw them observed, in case they exist somewhere:sad:

In my former airline a announcement had to be made by the M/C and the Captain on all flights to the US requesting the cooperation of all passengers not to congregate in groups in any area of the aircraft cabin especially around lavatories.
On other flights it was handled similarly but without announcement - just with direct verbal intervention.

douglasflyer, now early retired :)

I am seriously interested on how many flights the access to the cockpit is not always properly done as per procedure. I have the impression the reinforced 100.000$ cockpit door serves in many cases just as a window dressing. After all, it can be a "just between us 1-enter and open" thing, serving more as a nuissance than a safety device.

Hotel Tango
 

Brazil is a contracting member state of a little organization with which you may be familiar; ICAO. The key word is “contracting”, i.e. they have agreed and are contractually obliged to abide by specific agreements. Viz;

ICAO Annex 17: Security: Safeguarding International Civil Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference.

2.1.1 Primary objective of each contracting state is safe guarding its passengers, ground personnel, crew as well as the general public against any acts of unlawful interference.

4.3.3 During flight unauthorized persons must not enter the crew compartment.

5.3.1 States that experienced the act of unlawful interference shall notify ICAO of the security aspects of the interference once the act has been resolved.

13.2.3 In all aircraft that are equipped with a flight deck door (13.2.2 Reinforced Door):

(a) The door shall be kept closed and locked from the time all external doors are closed following embarkation until such time as the external doors are open for disembarkation, except where necessary to permit access to authorized persons and,

(b) Means shall be provided for monitoring from either pilots station the entire door area outside the flight deck to identify persons requesting entry and to detect suspicious behavior or potential threat.

Presumably you meant 'except in the US/EU and other like-minded places'. I usually find that I've loaded myself onto an AA flight thus can't speak more broadly but no-queuing appears to be a well-enforced rule and in fact where configuration allows a beverage cart (transversely) blocks access to galley and beyond whenever the cockpit door needs to be opened.

(On the unrelated matter of cockpit manning, I note that AA uses the best-practice of maintaining two folk up there at all times.)

Well, good to know that there are safer airlines out there:D And AA, for sure, is a front runner:(