cockpit doors

[Skywrench]

Interesting conversation came up at work the other day in regards to the "new" style cockpit doors. The purpose of the doors is to keep the bad guys out and keep the cockpit secure, but what happens in the event of a crash, where the crew is either severely injured and/or unconscious? A rare moment, but when seconds could mean a lifetime, the crew is now sealed in the front, and any attempts at rescueing the crew would be slowed by trying to break into the front office. So my question is.....how do all you drivers out there feel about the fact that a device implemented for the safety of those onboard aircraft could one day become your demise? I realize two lives compared to a great number of lives (ie. Sept.11) is preferrable, but I am sure it is an unsettling thought for some out there....

 

[4961]

New CRM training topic, on the way down, somebody unlock the door!!!

 

[Mark Dip]

Cost of doing business in this day and age. If you choose not to bar or lock the door then the fine is reputed to be set at $1,000 per pilot.

Still have a window to egress out of if you''re not hurt to badly.

It would take a pretty good crash to bend the doorframe / bulkhead enough to impede the opening of said door. Therefore, it may be academic that in the case of a bent door all the fire guys would be extricating would be a couple of bodies.

Damned if you do. Damned if you don''t. Just another command decision that keeps being made by guys getting less and less money.

 

[baffinboy]

According to the info on the new doors being installed into our jets (which have to be done by April 8th) they are locked electrically. Most likely in an event of an accident there would be a loss of power (whether it be from a checklist or the accident itself) which would automatically unlock the cockpit door.

These are only for the doors on this particular aircraft that I know of. Not too sure if it would be the same type of door system that would be going into other aircrafts.

Cheers

 

[twotter]

Baffinboy

You are correct about the doors.. The do require electrical power to lock.. Same thing on our fleet. It''s also a good thing in case anyone accidently locks the door on the way out.. All you have to do is shut power down and you can get back in..

 

[Skywrench]

Never thought of that...ours are electric also. There is a physical lock that can be put in place (from the cockpit) to prevent the solenoid from moving and unlocking the door, but I think it would only be needed if the solenoid failed, in order to keep the door locked.

 

[twotter]

And they will fail.. We''ve had to replace quite a few already.. You end up having to tear half the airplane apart to change them as well.. Not a very good system..

 

[baffinboy]

Twotter

It''s funny that you mentioned about being locked out of these new doors. Just read a company memo the other day and apparently it''s already happened.

Hopefully it was a quick power down without making too much of a fuss. Actually if there is a memo there probably was.

 

[Skywrench]

We had a solenoid fail within a few days after the door was installed. Funny thing was, the door had never been used, other than the "lookit at what this thing does" going on in the hangar. Hope it is not a sign of an overly common problem in the future....