Secure cockpit doors?

From: Gordon Zaft <zaft_at_azstarnet.com>
Date: Wed Sep 12 15:01:24 2001

At 09:46 AM 9/12/2001 -0700, you wrote:

>It seem logical that, after seeing what a hijacker COULD do, the airlines
>will install secure doors to the cockpit. The idea being that if a hijacker
>takes the plane, the most he can do is either blow up the plane, or command
>the pilots to fly to a certain destination but they would not be able to get
>into the cockpit themselves. This would be expensive, and it would take time
>but I think that they should consider it.

         I saw this discussed last night on NBC (I think). It's not
possible to make cockpit doors really strong, apparently; something about
the airplane's pressure vessel and what would happen in a decompression
means the door can't be too strong or it will screw up the plane (for
example, blow the pilots out the windows in the event of a decompression
elsewhere in the plane, or something). Perhaps someone with more knowledge
about this can comment.

GZ
Received on Wed Sep 12 2001 - 15:01:24 BST