I feel like I've heard of a rule that there must always be at least two (or maybe exactly to) people in a cockpit in any given time to guard against this as well as hijacking and stuff, am I imagining this or missing something?
harshreality · 9m ago
The kinds of planes you're thinking about, yes.
From what I understand, it's affected by two things:
1. The regulatory side, driven by the size and complexity of the plane. That in turn affects potential number of passengers and typical hiring arrangement (pay-per-seat vs charter/personal use). If you google best single-pilot aircraft, you'll see things like the hondajet, pilatus pc-24, and citation cj2/3/4. Nothing larger or more complex than that.
2. Insurance requirements. If you're hiring out a plane to carry other people, you need a different kind of liability insurance. That insurance might require you to have two pilots even for a small plane (like a stereotypical primitive prop plane, or a previously mentioned small jet like hondajet or citation cj2/3/4) that might in other situations be legal to fly with a single pilot. Or, for someone like an executive with hefty personal injury insurance, that person's insurance might not cover them if they fly in a plane with a single pilot. CitationMax on youtube has mentioned that his father's insurance requires him to fly with two pilots, so even when they had a cj3+ they added a contract pilot when his father was onboard.
That's not to say that all "for hire" flying requires two pilots. Consider small prop planes for sightseeing, or skydiving, or island hopping the Caribbean. Unless something's changed recently, you won't have two pilots for those kinds of flights.
RegnisGnaw · 46m ago
The FAA (US) requires this. EASA (Europe) adopted this rule in 2015 after the Eurowings incident but it was rolled back in 2016.
andy99 · 30m ago
I know I've regularly seen a flight attendant go into the cockpit while one of the pilots steps out for the bathroom or whatever. Did not realize this wasn't the norm in Europe.
smokeyfish · 28m ago
I see this on Ryanair flights all the time in Europe.
antisthenes · 22m ago
There's a joke in there somewhere about an extra fee on your ticket if you want your plane to have a second (or even a first, for Ryanair) pilot.
everybodyknows · 2h ago
> co-pilot was very pale, sweating profusely and making strange movements
Heart attack symptoms.
atonse · 1h ago
In the US at least, the cockpit door is locked from the inside.
What happens in this situation if they can’t open it?
I think in the US at least they block the cockpit door with a food cart while the pilot goes to the bathroom. Maybe they leave it unlocked then?
kotaKat · 35m ago
The door being blocked additionally by a food cart may be an additional security step. Some airlines treat having the flight crew needing a bathroom break very seriously when the cockpit has to be opened in flight (ex sending passengers back to seats if they try to go to the front bathrooms, closing curtains, lead staff up front on standby, etc).
There is a button that sounds a 'request' chime, and a code that when entered starts a timer and alarm that once stops, releases the door momentarily for an emergency entry. The crew inside can still disable that unlock, if they are conscious (and this is some kind of attempted hijacking with knowledge of the code).
user3939382 · 29m ago
They should have a normal code and a distress code.
bastawhiz · 23m ago
The article suggests that this is the case
quietbritishjim · 59m ago
In the US (and other countries) the door is locked but there is a PIN to open it that the cabin crew have access to. Even then, there's a time delay to the door opening, during which people in the cockpit are notified and can reject the request.
That means that no food cart should ever be needed to block the door. But the cockpit should never be totally empty anyway, as surely only one of the two crew should be using the toilet at a time.
(Note: I'm not a pilot, just a reader of Admiral Cloudberg's blog.)
thinkingemote · 1h ago
The captain or co-pilot whoever is outside, has the code to open it
p_ing · 1h ago
They're usually flown by auto-pilot, in one mode or another. That part isn't interesting.
mrweasel · 15m ago
I was going to ask, because I was under the impression that commercial airlines are mostly flown by auto-pilot anyway.
rad_gruchalski · 31m ago
It was flown by an autopilot before the pilot fainted. As it was after they brought him back. My sarcastic response to this line is “I fucking hope it was, imagine the mess if it didn’t”.
The main problem is, there was one guy in the cockpit.
From what I understand, it's affected by two things:
1. The regulatory side, driven by the size and complexity of the plane. That in turn affects potential number of passengers and typical hiring arrangement (pay-per-seat vs charter/personal use). If you google best single-pilot aircraft, you'll see things like the hondajet, pilatus pc-24, and citation cj2/3/4. Nothing larger or more complex than that.
2. Insurance requirements. If you're hiring out a plane to carry other people, you need a different kind of liability insurance. That insurance might require you to have two pilots even for a small plane (like a stereotypical primitive prop plane, or a previously mentioned small jet like hondajet or citation cj2/3/4) that might in other situations be legal to fly with a single pilot. Or, for someone like an executive with hefty personal injury insurance, that person's insurance might not cover them if they fly in a plane with a single pilot. CitationMax on youtube has mentioned that his father's insurance requires him to fly with two pilots, so even when they had a cj3+ they added a contract pilot when his father was onboard.
That's not to say that all "for hire" flying requires two pilots. Consider small prop planes for sightseeing, or skydiving, or island hopping the Caribbean. Unless something's changed recently, you won't have two pilots for those kinds of flights.
Heart attack symptoms.
What happens in this situation if they can’t open it?
I think in the US at least they block the cockpit door with a food cart while the pilot goes to the bathroom. Maybe they leave it unlocked then?
Here's the cockpit locking system on Airbuses, for what it's worth as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIH3KCEIvs
There is a button that sounds a 'request' chime, and a code that when entered starts a timer and alarm that once stops, releases the door momentarily for an emergency entry. The crew inside can still disable that unlock, if they are conscious (and this is some kind of attempted hijacking with knowledge of the code).
That means that no food cart should ever be needed to block the door. But the cockpit should never be totally empty anyway, as surely only one of the two crew should be using the toilet at a time.
(Note: I'm not a pilot, just a reader of Admiral Cloudberg's blog.)
The main problem is, there was one guy in the cockpit.