Considering the recent crash caused by a suicidal German pilot, what should the cockpit rules be?

Well, the rules that enabled the lockout of the main pilot were the direct result of the manufactured terrorist scare following September 11. “terrorist attacks”, so you are partly to blame for this.
These rules should be rescinded immediately.

^^ It’s all our fault. So predictible!

@ragingloli How am I responsible? I know the rules were changed after 9/11. I don’t have any opinion on what the rule should be. It seems like there are positives and negatives with any of the protocols we might think of concerning the topic.

As you, @ragingloli are personally responsible for the Holocaust. Congratultions, your grotesquery beats the OPs by millions and millions. You must be so proud.

Actually, since it was a German pilot, I think he’s responsible for both. In the US we have laws that two people have to be in the cockpit at once. However, I do think he meant all of us Americans rather than just the OP.

“You” as in “the entirety of the colonial population. You, collectively, voted in the politicians that enacted these laws, and stood by as they were implemented.

So why didn’t you Germans follow us colonials and have two people in the cockpit? It is ridiculous that you are using this tragedy to bash America once again. Nobody has been bashing Germany. I’ll say no more.

Rule #1: No crashing your plane.

Even though U.S. regulations require two people in the cockpit at all times, many other countries do not.

Apparently, following this incident, many are now going to amend their policies to require two in the cockpit at all times (at least that’s what I heard/read from multiple news sources. )

There’s no simple answer, especially since it’s highly unlikely that all countries (or airline companies, for that matter) are likely to adopt the exact same protocols, none of which could be 100% preventative anyway. The sad fact is, if a pilot is determined to bring a plane down no rule, regulation or technology will stop him.

I’m of the opinion that we probably shouldn’t have an opinion on this. Decisions made immediately following a rare event like this will likely be made based on emotion rather than data. And I suspect that none of us have any relevant info to be making any recommendations here.

Parachutes, that is all :D

@hominid Agree.

Retina (eye) recognition perhaps?

However, I agree that this particular disaster was probably not preventable, and any knee-jerk solutions are probably ill-advised.

I think that it’s clear that there is no perfect answer other than the grounding of all planes and the dissolution of the airline industry.

What needs to happen is a crash course (sorry, bad word choice) in shipbuilding – specifically passenger ships – for cross-ocean travel.

And a huge building program for passenger railroads around the world.

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There is no good way to prevent all intentional crashes. It’s that simple.

@hominid Well, given that a lot of airline security measures, including the cockpit lockout, were implemented following 9/11 to make people feel better, I tend to disagree. Perhaps we can regain some balance now.

While we’re at it, maybe we can start allowing people to fly with nail clippers and a bottle of water again.

@dappled_leaves – It sounds like you and I very much agree.

@hominid I think we agree that these specific measures should not have been put in place. I don’t believe that we should shy away from making policy changes in the wake of a tragedy. Gun control laws are a prime example. So many mass killings, followed by… an outcry, but no actual change. That is unforgivable.

I don’t have a problem with people being motivated to take action following a tragedy. That doesn’t necessarily lead to rash, ill-considered policy. In the case of TSA after 9/11, I think it did.

I don’t know. I am skeptical of any change that happens as a result of a single event. And in the case of mass killings – guns are a huge problem every day without the sexy school shootings. When suburbia suddenly has strong opinions because they are upset, I just get a little nervous. That’s all I’m saying. I don’t think quick action following a tragedy necessarily leads to rash, ill-considered policy. It just increases the chances. It it invites everyone to have an opinion.

Sometimes withholding an opinion if we don’t have enough information – as in, it’s not our field of specialty – isn’t a bad thing. I don’t know how much info we have about real security policies and what is required of pilots. I don’t know anything. For me (and most people I know) to channel our outrage at lapses in current protocols seems strange. What do security experts have to say?

So, I guess I would rather let security and airline experts figure out how best to secure the cockpit and deal with this type of scenario. It doesn’t matter how upset my neighbor is, I suspect his accounting degree hasn’t prepared him to provide valuable input in this matter.