Requested By Senator Diane Feinstein Following Germanwings, Other Incidents

The Office of Inspector General plans to initiate an audit of the FAA's oversight of the safety of commercial airline flight decks. The audit is being conducted at the request of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

The IG says the audit objectives will be to assess the effectiveness of FAA’s actions to (1) identify vulnerabilities to flight deck security, and (2) mitigate identified flight deck vulnerabilities.

In informing the FAA about the audit, the IG's office cited both the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash which is widely believed to be the result of intentional action by the copilot. Since 1994, at least four other incidents have been identified in which a pilot was either suspected or confirmed to have intentionally caused the crash.

Additionally, in March 2012, JetBlue Airways Flight 191 was diverted after the first officer locked the captain out of the cockpit due to the captain’s erratic behavior. The flight landed safely, but the captain had to be subdued by passengers during the incident and was later criminally charged with interference with a flight crew.

The IG said that both the Germanwings and JetBlue Airlines incidents drew worldwide attention to the issue of flight deck safety, including securing cockpit doors. After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks,1 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) required all U.S. and foreign commercial aircraft flying to the U.S. to be equipped with fortified cockpit doors, including an internal locking device that can only be unlocked from inside the cockpit in order to prevent passengers from opening the door without the pilot’s permission.

"Concerned about these issues, Senator Dianne Feinstein requested that we evaluate FAA’s oversight of commercial airline flight deck security," wrote Matthew E. Hampton, Assistant Inspector General for Aviation Audits, in a letter to FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. "Specifically, the Senator requested that we examine how FAA mitigates the risk of intentional pilot actions against the aircraft, aircrew, and passengers; whether current aviation industry cockpit security and hiring standards are sufficient to ensure aviation safety; what steps FAA takes to evaluate the psychological health of pilots; and whether FAA’s oversight of commercial airlines is sufficient to ensure cockpit security measures are implemented effectively."

The audit objectives will be to assess the effectiveness of FAA’s actions to (1) identify vulnerabilities to flight deck security, and (2) mitigate identified flight deck vulnerabilities. A second audit will be conducted to address the remaining questions posed by the Senator regarding pilot hiring and psychological assessments, Hampton said.

FMI: www.oig.dot.gov