EASA to Require 2 Crew Members Always Present in Cockpit After A320 Crash

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will introduce a rule ensuring the presence of no less than two crew members in a plane’s cockpit during flight, chair of the EASA management board Pekka Henttu said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The ruling follows the assertion by the public prosecutor of Marseille on Thursday that the co-pilot of a Germanwings Airbus A320, Andreas Lubitz, is likely to have intentionally crashed the plane, while alone in the cockpit. Lubitz reportedly locked the pilot out after he left the cockpit for several minutes.

Henttu added that one of the two people in the cockpit could be any member of the crew, including a flight attendant, Yle TV channel informed on Thursday.

EASA is expected to publish the new guidelines for airlines on Friday.

Currently EASA rules prescribe one pilot must be constantly present in the cockpit while a colleague can leave “for physiological needs” or if absence is necessary in the performance of regular duties.

Following the Germanwings plane crash, a number of European airlines quickly introduced the 2-person security rule, stipulating two crew members be in the cockpit at all times starting Friday. The requirement has been in effect in the US for several years.

The Lufthansa low-cost airline Germanwings Airbus A320 passenger jet crashed in a remote area of the French Alps on Tuesday morning, killing all 150 people on board. The plane was heading to Dusseldorf from Barcelona.