Page 16 - AAA MARCH - APRIL 2015 Online Magazine

FEATURE AviATion REGULATion

case of subtle incapacitation of the flight Instances of air crashes following
deck crew or any other situation that deliberate pilot action have been reported
requires assistance… The cabin crew shall earlier as well. A Royal Air Maroc ATR 42
remain in the flight deck till such time the in 1994, a Silk Air Boeing 737 in 1997, an
flight deck crew member returns to the Egyptair Boeing 767 in 1999 and a Linhas
flight deck.” Aereas de Mocambique (LAM) Embraer
The presence of a cabin crew member 190 in November 2013, have all gone down
in the cockpit, in the absence of one of like the Germanwings. Deliberate action
the pilots, helps in verifying the identity by pilots is also still pursued as one of the
of the person trying to gain access. “In theories surrounding the disappearance
case the pilot inside is incapacitated, the last year of Malaysia Airlines Mh370.
cabin crew member can verify identify According to data from Flightradar24,
and allow access,” said a DGCA official. a crowd-sourced provider of automatic
Moreover, in India, as in the United States, dependent surveillance broadcast
a second cabin crew blocks the galley (ADS-B) tracking, the Germanwings co-
area outside the cockpit with a beverage pilot likely changed the altitude command
cart or a movable barrier when opening for the Airbus’s autopilot system shortly
and closing the flight deck door, to restrict after arriving at cruise altitude. After
unauthorised access. the captain left the cockpit, the co- The need of the hour is to
encourage pilots to be open
According to a crew member of India’s pilot presumably dialled the autopilot about their medical and
low-cost carrier IndiGo airlines, if one system hold altitude down to 100 ft. The mental conditions and for the
pilot needed a toilet break, one of the crew autopilot appears to have followed the Regulators and the airlines
members would join the remaining pilot in command, descending the aircraft to the to assist in overcoming any
the locked cockpit. set altitude—well below the terrain in the problem

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