Group Maintains All Cargo Aircraft Need Hardened Flight Deck Doors

The Air Line Pilots Association is calling on Federal regulators to address a glaring aviation security vulnerability. Last month, ALPA called on Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to urge the FAA to issue a final secondary flight deck barrier regulation which was mandated by Congress nearly three years ago.

“The greatest way to honor the memories of the nearly 3,000 people who died is to use our voices, expertise and resolve to ensure that 9/11 is in America’s past—and not a prelude to another terrorist attack in which airplanes are, once again, turned into weapons of mass destruction,” said Capt. Joe DePete, ALPA president (pictured). “Issuing the secondary barrier rule would be a powerful and simple way for Administrator Dickson to honor the pilots, flight attendants, passengers, first responders, and other victims who lost their lives on 9/11. The FAA should stop stalling, follow the law and take immediate steps to improve aviation by implementing this critical, live-saving measure.”

ALPA is calling Congress to immediately pass legislation that requires primary, hardened flight deck doors on all cargo aircraft, in addition to these concerns.

“This significant security gap in our aviation system currently allows relatively unfettered access to the cargo flight deck during flight operations. For far too long, there has been a dangerous double standard when it comes to common-sense safety and security provisions for cargo operations and it is way past time to end it,” added DePete.

Congress mandated hardened flight deck doors on commercial airliners after 9/11. Almost all cargo aircraft manufactured are not equipped with the hardened flight deck door, because the only all-cargo aircraft included in that mandate were those who had flight deck doors at that time. 

FMI: https://www.alpa.org