SAS Airlines Adopts Two-Person Cockpit Rule After Germanwings Crash

Scandinavian Airlines spokesman Henrik Edstrom said that company announced a decision Friday to change its safety rules to require two staff members to be present in a plane cockpit at any given time during the flight.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) announced a decision Friday to change its safety rules to require two staff members to be present in a plane cockpit at any given time during the flight, SAS spokesman Henrik Edstrom said.

Earlier on Friday Edstrom told local media the company was "comfortable" with the rules it already had, and would not make any changes unless there was an official recommendation from aviation authorities.

Hours later, Swedish authorities made the recommendation, after which SAS said it would change its security routines.

"SAS will of course follow the recommendations and immediately implement new rules, so that in the future there are always two crew members in the cockpit of our flight," Henrik Edstrom told Ritzau news agency.

The Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf killing all 150 people on board.

On Thursday, a French prosecutor said that the most plausible explanation behind the tragedy was that the co-pilot locked the pilot out of the cockpit and intentionally crashed the aircraft.

The tragedy made a number of carriers worldwide revisit their safety policies, with Norwegian, Icelandair, EasyJet (UK), Air Canada, Jetconnect (New Zealand) and many more also announcing switching to the two person cockpit rule.