Second cockpit barrier
 

The news is reporting that the FAA will require a second cockpit barrier on new aircraft by 2025. I'm presuming, though not stated, that would apply to new type designs, rather than present type certified models ( which would be retroactive to certification basis), but I will watch with interest to see which airliner models are captured by the new regulation:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/faa-co...iers-1.6876098

I'm imagining what that might entail, and thinking that the aisle to the cockpit is about to become very crowded....

I could see an application for a second lockable door just aft of the forward lavatory and galley. The cabin crew closes the rear door, giving the flight deck crew access to the lav or galley without having a clear path to the flight deck even momentarily.

I'm glad. Seems to be the case over the last 50 years, whenever we have stretched an aircraft it's been to accommodate more passengers. It's time practicality and security had a chance at aircraft design and not pure commercial skullduggery.

How about changing the front lav opening 90 degrees to face the tail not the cockpit access aisle? Like right next to door 1L. Then a double door with a camera would be possible to better protect the cockpit aisle. However, door 1L would need to be secured from accidental opening or sinister fiddling with the handle.

Most narrow bodies will struggle with this change. Any manufacturer will have to revisit the whole entryway and how much of an effect that the galley will have on entry space to the cockpit with a barrier in the way.

The very first sentence reads "Pilots' association welcomes move, which will go into effect for new planes in 2025" which to me suggests that it's ALL new planes, not just new designs.

I wonder when the requirement will be for a third door, or a fourth door? will this second door make any real difference?

You will have a clean and secured zone in front of the cockpit door.

No.
I will be directly a mirador equipped with a machine gun.

I’d like to think that the net result would be a “crew only” loo on all new aircraft - wishful thinking I know!

To me this looks like a solution desperately seeking a problem.
Do we have any security problems with the current system? I mean real threats not possibilities.

Well why not? Two separate compartments. One with FD and one CC with food, drinks, rest, bathroom and a separate entry door. And the rest in the back. Problem solved. Impossible to access the flight deck in flight unless you bring a bunch of oxy-acetylene torches onboard which might be noticed by someone hopefully.

I have two colleagues who had an heart attack during cruise and were kept alive by reanimation from a cabin crew member. They would have been dead in your design.

The underlying assumption must be there is some residual risk inherent in the single door solution. As, to my knowledge, there has never been a breach of the current solution, that risk is only a perceived risk and one may estimate that it is very low. The problem with designing any mechanism to remove very small residual risks is you have to be extremely sure you are not adding or increasing other risks because even a small increase in such risks - and in this case I mean blocking legitimate access to the flight deck as a real and demonstrated danger - would completely outweigh the risk you are trying to remove. Basic safety arguments based on the relative probabilities can demonstrate this very well and I would be intrigued to see the FAA's numbers in this regard.

If this second door is implemented, there would need to be some extremely strict operational rules in force to avoid the "unforeseen consequences". One of those rules would certainly be that, during flight, no member of the flight crew could, under any circumstance whatsoever, pass through or beyond that second door. So yes, loo access would need to be designed accordingly.

I would like to see a cost-benefits type analysis on this--and before the "you can't put a price on safety/security" crowd chimes in, I'd want a look at the safety/security impacts of adding another locking door in case emergency egress or access is needed to the cockpit. The design implications for lavatory and galley access, especially on narrowbodies will be... interesting.

For long flights greater than five hours there should be a lounge up front for the crew to relax in.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....131106f77b.jpg

NITS briefings on Zoom? Ice inspections with wing mirrors? Or maybe just work from home.

As does the statement later in the article:

You mean putting a food cart across the aisle is not enough? :)

With the Helios accident we have one example how restricted access can result in a preventable desaster. On normal flights you have sometimes deadheading crews which can be of great help in difficult situations. Wonder why the FAA thinks now, that the danger from the passengers are that much greater now.
I think to the contrary, that today nobody with a boxcutter will make it through the aisle, because passengers will intervene.

So what rationale is behind those changed regulations?

Solving a non existent problem by creating several new ones?

I'm sure Singapore Airlines did this sort of thing years ago on their 777 fleet. There was a crew bunk behind the flight deck on the left of the corridor. When the door was opened it latched against the opposite wall forming a secure area between galley and flight deck.