Story ID: GPeasacockpit03272015
EASA Changes Position on Minimum Cockpit Occupancy
By: Gregory Polek
Caption: Agency recommends two crewmembers on flight deck at all times 
Word Count: 546
Reacting to Tuesday’s crash of Germanwings flight 9525, the European Aviation Safety Agency today issued a temporary recommendation for airlines to ensure that at least two crewmembers, including at least one qualified pilot, remain in the cockpit at all times during flight operations. EASA added that airlines should “re-assess” the safety and security risks associated with a flight crew leaving the cockpit due to operational or physiological needs.	“The agency makes this recommendation based on the information currently available following the dramatic accident of the Germanwings flight 4U9525, and pending the outcome of the technical investigation conducted by the French Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses (BEA),” it said in a statement issued Friday. “This recommendation may be reviewed in the light of any new information concerning the accident.”

An EASA spokesman told AIN on Wednesday that European rules require both pilots to stay in their respective seats unless one develops a physiological need to leave the cockpit or wants to get up to fix or tidy something on the flight deck. “There is no such thing as a requirement like ‘always have two people in the cockpit,’” he said. He asserted, however, that the European rule does not differ from that in force in the U.S.—a point that seemed far from clear to several European airlines now moving to change their own procedures.

Indeed, both European and U.S. rules require operators to follow a procedure to monitor cockpit access. In Europe, however, one measure could involve use of a closed-circuit TV display visible from the pilots’ seats, said the spokesman. If an airline deems CCTV too expensive, for example, it can opt for an alternate means of compliance, he added. He specifically cited Ryanair’s procedure, which, in fact, requires a cabin crewmember to enter the cockpit when one pilot leaves it. The flight attendant would then monitor admittance via the door’s spyhole.

Now, EASA appears intent to fall in line with U.S. regulations, under which airlines must develop FAA-approved procedures that include a requirement that, when one of the pilots exits the cockpit for any reason, another “qualified” crewmember must lock the door and remain on the flight deck until the pilot returns to his or her station.

Just before EASA issued its recommendation on March 27, Germanwings parent Lufthansa Group, which also includes Swiss and Austrian airlines, on Friday said it would follow the procedure already required by U.S. regulators. The move reverses the statement by Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr at a March 26 press conference, when he said the company saw no reason to change its policy of allowing a pilot to remain alone in the cockpit. On the same day, Air France also introduced the requirement for two crew members in the cockpit.  On March 26, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Virgin Atlantic, Monarch, EasyJet, Air Berlin and Emirates all announced plans to adopt the requirement for a second crew member (such as a flight attendant) to enter the cockpit in the event that a pilot needs to leave it during a flight. Austrian and Canadian civil aviation authorities said they would make this a requirement for all its operators, and UK officials also urged airlines to review their policies.