FAA to Require Secondary Cockpit Barriers on Newly Manufactured Commercial Aircraft.
On June 14, 2023, more than two decades after the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration announced that it will require secondary cockpit barriers on the flight deck of new commercial airplanes. This is a new rule that will soon be published in the Federal Register; an early draft is currently available for review but it is not a final draft.
Despite being decades in the making, the implementation of this rule stalled because of disagreements across the aviation sector over implementation strategies and debates on which aircraft should be required to be equipped with a secondary cockpit barrier.
The Goal of the Secondary Cockpit Barriers
This goal of the secondary cockpit barriers is to protect the integrity of the flight deck from intrusion or attacks when the flight deck door is open. Having two cockpit barriers (primary and secondary) will enhance safety in the commercial aviation industry by restricting access to the cockpit from unauthorized persons whenever the cockpit door is open.
PMA Industry and Secondary Cockpit Barriers
While the FAA published the general parameters setting forth the requirement for secondary cockpit barriers, many questions on how this rule will impact the PMA industry remained. I recently had the privilege of reaching out to Daniel Jacquet, Aerospace Engineer and Cabin Safety Specialist for the FAA to get some answers for the PMA Industry.
First, I wanted to know if the FAA has announced whether aircraft part manufacturers will now be required to obtain a Supplementary Type Certificate (STC) should they wish to manufacture these secondary cockpit barriers. Daniel Jacquet, informed me that, “Installers, rather than the manufacturer of the secondary barrier, are responsible to obtain the regulatory approval which may be done by the aircraft manufacturer as an amended Type Certificate.”
Next, when asked if the FAA has announced any new requirements for aircraft part manufacturers or replacement part manufacturers regarding these secondary cockpit barriers, Daniel Jacquet stated that, “The FAA has not yet announced any requirements for aircraft part manufacturers that are specific to the production of secondary barriers.”
Despite this pronouncement, the draft final rule includes both a Part 25 standard for the secondary barriers (to prevent someone from touching the flightdeck door), and draft Part 121 operating rules for when such a barrier must exist and be deployed.
The rule published in the Federal Register states that secondary cockpit barriers are intended “to slow attacks long enough that an open flight deck door can be closed and locked before an attacker could reach the flight deck.”
When does the New Rule Go Into Effect?
This new Federal Aviation Administration rule will be in effect 60 days from the date it is published and the industry will likely have until mid-to-late 2025 to comply with the rule. The rules will apply to aircraft manufactured after a date that will be published in the Federal Register, and that date is expected to be about 790 days after the Federal Register publication date.
What was the Rule for Cockpit Safety/Barriers Prior to This New Rule?
Prior to this rule, airlines were responsible for developing its own security procedures to protect the cockpit when the door was open during flight says Bill Cason, director of security for the Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, and often meant blocking the cockpit with beverage carts or flight crew as shields.
Conclusion
This new rule will apply to newly manufactured planes and will drastically increase the safe operations of every flight. Polly Trottenberg, acting FAA Administrator has said that the FAA is working with airlines to ensure deadlines for implementation of the secondary cockpit barriers are met and thinks that airlines may even be able to install this equipment sooner.
Resources
- 2008 Discussion of Secondary Barriers
- 2022 Proposed Rule
- 2023 Final Rule (draft)
Discussion
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