![European airlines are under pressure to have clearer procedures for controlling access to cockpits. [Photo credit: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-ND) by Digi-Mike]](https://www.ainonline.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=3840,format=webp,quality=95/https://backend.ainonline.com/sites/default/files/styles/fpsc_1200x630/public/uploads/2015/03/germanwings_a320.jpg?h=34bbd072&itok=1n9KU9Bi)
Tuesday’s crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 has raised questions about minimum cockpit occupancy requirements and the differences in flight deck access regulations between Europe and the U.S. Reacting to a French prosecutor’s determination that 27-year-old copilot Andreas Lubitz had deliberately crashed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, the air transport industry has understandably seemed stunned and confused about how it came to pass that his captain had been locked out of the cockpit, powerless to intervene.
There has been confusion as to the extent to which European and U.S. regulations on cockpit access are in sync. According to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, 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. A qualified crewmember could be a flight attendant or a relief pilot serving as part of the crew. In essence, the rule requires that no fewer than two crewmembers occupy a cockpit at any time during the flight.
Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with New Jersey Monthly magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for Aviation International News in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.
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