FAA will require secondary cockpit barriers on new airplanes

Washington — New commercial passenger aircraft must have a secondary flight deck barrier to protect the cockpit from “unauthorized intrusion” under a Federal Aviation Administration final rule announced June 14.

The rule states that the barriers would slow potential attacks “long enough so that an open flight deck door can be closed and locked before an attacker could reach the flight deck.”

In a press release, Jason Ambrosi, president of Air Line Pilots Association, International, calls the rule a “lifesaving measure” that has undergone “needless delay.”

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 directed FAA to require secondary barriers, but the agency didn’t issue a notice of proposed rulemaking until publishing a proposal in the Aug. 1 Federal Register.

The mandate will apply to planes manufactured two years after the rule’s effective date. Aircraft manufactured before the effective date won’t need to be retrofitted with secondary barriers.

The rule is set to go into effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.