A pilot putting enough force or enough deflection on the controls will automatically disable autopilot and sound the general caution. So it's very lucky he stayed within the autopilot activation envelope.
What happens in this situation if they can’t open it?
I think in the US at least they block the cockpit door with a food cart while the pilot goes to the bathroom. Maybe they leave it unlocked then?
That means that no food cart should ever be needed to block the door. But the cockpit should never be totally empty anyway, as surely only one of the two crew should be using the toilet at a time.
(Note: I'm not a pilot, just a reader of Admiral Cloudberg's blog.)
Here's the cockpit locking system on Airbuses, for what it's worth as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROIH3KCEIvs
There is a button that sounds a 'request' chime, and a code that when entered starts a timer and alarm that once stops, releases the door momentarily for an emergency entry. The crew inside can still disable that unlock, if they are conscious (and this is some kind of attempted hijacking with knowledge of the code).
- They required airlines to implement cameras to monitor the hall leading up to the cockpit so that the pilot in the cockpit can verify who is requesting entry (without this, they still must follow the rule — Ryanair chose not to retrofit, so they continue to use attendants who can look out the peephole).
- In testing, they decided that the extra time that the cockpit door was unsecured during the switchovers in tight spaces was more dangerous than trying to solve the suicidal pilot issue with better mental health monitoring.
(My own note, we know that suicidal actors have no problems taking weapons to their copilots or whatever attendant is stuck looking out the peephole, e.g. FedEx 705.)
"On April 7, 1994, Federal Express Flight 705... was the subject of a hijack attempt by Auburn R. Calloway, a Federal Express employee facing possible dismissal for having lied about his flight hours.
"Calloway boarded the scheduled flight as a deadhead passenger carrying a guitar case concealing several hammers and a speargun. He planned to crash the aircraft hoping he would appear to be an employee killed in an accident, so his family could collect on a $2.5 million life insurance policy provided by Federal Express..."
From what I understand, it's affected by two things:
1. The regulatory side, driven by the size and complexity of the plane. That in turn affects potential number of passengers and typical hiring arrangement (pay-per-seat vs charter vs personal use). If you google best single-pilot aircraft, you'll see things like the hondajet, pilatus pc-24, and citation cj2/3/4. Nothing larger or more complex than that.
2. Insurance requirements for particular flights. If you're hiring out a plane to carry other people, you need a different kind of liability insurance. That insurance might require you to have two pilots even for a small plane (like a stereotypical primitive prop plane, or a previously mentioned small jet like hondajet or citation cj2/3/4) that might in other situations be legal to fly with a single pilot. Or, for someone like an executive with hefty personal injury insurance, that person's insurance might not cover them if they fly in a plane with a single pilot.
That's not to say that all "for hire" flying requires two pilots. Consider small prop planes for sightseeing, or skydiving, or island hopping the Caribbean. Unless something's changed recently, you won't have two pilots for those kinds of flights.
The reason I brought up personal insurance for passengers: CitationMax (certified ATP pilot who flies his parents around in their private jet) on youtube has mentioned that his father's personal/executive insurance requires him to fly with two pilots. Even when they had a cj3+, they added a contract pilot when his father was onboard. Now they have a citation longitude, which is large/complex enough that it can never be flown with only one pilot, even if no passengers are onboard.
The main problem is, there was one guy in the cockpit.
Wild that cars can detect you taking your eyes off the road and yet this...
This is the last paragraph of the article, yet so much is left unsaid
Im that case, the pilot tried opening the doornwith the emergency code, but the copilot kept overriding it :(
Why would they remove that rule?
everybodyknows•6h ago
Heart attack symptoms.
anonzzzies•3h ago