Do you think the revelation about the German Wings crash will .....

[dark_castle1]

have an impact (no pun intended) on the amount of people flying ?

I for one would have second thoughts now even though flying did not bother me before.

[bill-xxx]

I think it will.

There's been a suggestion that pilots should be armed. But if a co-pilot can lose control then so could a pilot ~ and who wants gunfire at 40.000 feet? It looks like a no-win situation.

[fallen-archie]

No I don't, flying is safer than being in a car, statistically, it will make some more anxious. It may also set back the work done to understand mental illness if indeed the co pilot is accused of suffering depression or depressive illness. It does make you wonder why so many suffer in this day and age.

[kamuk81]

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@dark_castle1 wrote:

have an impact (no pun intended) on the amount of people flying ?

I for one would have second thoughts now even though flying did not bother me before.

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It's a terrible tragedy and unfortunately something that would be almost impossible to see in advance. Now such a case has happened, you would expect airlines to make necessary changes so that this circumstance can't happen again. 

The thing that upsets me most is that the co-pilot took 150 people with him, how unfair is that? 

[dark_castle1]

other thing I heard on the radio today was, having three pilots on a flight with the third going into the cockpit if one of the others needed to leave therefore always having two pilots in the cockpit.

Now who would then bear the brunt of that cost in wages ! Certainly not the airlines.

[kamuk81]

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@bill-xxx wrote:

I think it will.

There's been a suggestion that pilots should be armed. But if a co-pilot can lose control then so could a pilot ~ and who wants gunfire at 40.000 feet? It looks like a no-win situation.

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I'm not sure that arming the pilots would help, but having two people in the cockpit at all times (as some airlines already do) would help. Obviously that would cost more money because you're paying for another crew member, and that would be added on to ticket prices.

[kamuk81]

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@dark_castle1 wrote:

other thing I heard on the radio today was, having three pilots on a flight with the third going into the cockpit if one of the others needed to leave therefore always having two pilots in the cockpit.

Now who would then bear the brunt of that cost in wages ! Certainly not the airlines.

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Extra fiver/tenner on your ticket price, or slam into a mountain at 700km/h?

Think I'd happily stump up the price hike.

[angelah1847]

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@dark_castle1 wrote:

other thing I heard on the radio today was, having three pilots on a flight with the third going into the cockpit if one of the others needed to leave therefore always having two pilots in the cockpit.

Now who would then bear the brunt of that cost in wages ! Certainly not the airlines.

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Well the reports on TV were, and Easyjet have already announced they will be doing this from tomorrow, is that there will be 2 members of the crew in the cockpit at all times.  They don't need to have 3 pilots on board, if either the pilot or the co-pilot needs to leave the cockpit for any reason then another member of the cabin crew goes in there until they return.  Then if there is an emergency they can at least unlock the cockpit door.

[fallen-archie]

People want to be safe, Airlines are not stupid, you can guarantee that as with a disaster where the plane is at fault, lessons will be learned and being a pilot is about to become a whole lot tougher

[bankhaunter]

I would have thought the chances of being in a plane when the pilot suddenly decides it's a good idea to fly into a mountain, is probably fairly remote.

[millielilac]

It is shocking that it would appear that the pilot is the author of this tragedy and only correct that in future airlines will need to consider the possibility that pilots should never be left alone whilst in control of an aircraft ....

There does not appear to be any other solution. As passengers the public are subjected to close scrutiny before being allowed to board so it seems only right that the crew are too . If that includes crew members being shadowed by other crew members in the interest of safety then so be it ...

It is a very sad world ....very shocking .

[bankhaunter]

There are things you simply can't guard against such as the driver who decided to commit suicide by driving head on into another car.

The more safety rules put up the more restricted life becomes, you can only exercise reasonable care, there are no absolutes.

[malacandran]

According to the BBC news, which I listened to at 1.00 pm today, the pilot left the cockpit,  in order to go to the toilet.

Couldn't the cockpit have a toilet installed in it.  It wouldn't take up much room. Just a small WC in an alcove at the side, with a curtain to provide privacy. Also, there could be a microwave-oven, with ready meals, and bottles of mineral water.

This would make the cockpit completely "self-contained" during the flight.  The pilot and co-pilot wouldn't have to open the door, until they'd landed the plane.

Has any consideration been given to this idea?

[lhasa.two]

I don't think it will have a long term adverse effect on people becoming nervous about flying. When you consider the number of flights per day which runs in to thousands, something like this latest  tragic event is very very rare, although it has happened before.

The emphasis needs to be put on pilot training and team work in the cockpit rather than a kneejerk reaction to have two pilots in the cockpit at all times.

Pilots need to be able to get up and walk to the loo especially on long haul flights. Making them a self contained 'bubble' doesn't really solve it imho because if a pilot wants to kill himself, he'll find a way to dissable his co pilot whatever the restrictions are in the cockpit.

[mustard-tree]

Obviously the cockpit needs to be locked to keep passengers out.

But instead of a lock that needs to be opened by the person inside, would a pin number entry system on the door be better.

That way, the pilot would have been able to get back in without relying on the copilot to let him in.

This would also help if one pilot needed to leave the cockpit, and while he was away the other pilot passed out for some reason

[margaret*e]

It'll probably affect some people for a short time, until the next majjor bad news story comes along, there are RTAs every day, but people still drive cars and get back in them after accidents.

[mustard-tree]

And for every 10 or so planes that crash that we hear about, there are thousands that we dont hear about that dont.

[lhasa.two]

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@mustard-tree wrote:

Obviously the cockpit needs to be locked to keep passengers out.

But instead of a lock that needs to be opened by the person inside, would a pin number entry system on the door be better.

That way, the pilot would have been able to get back in without relying on the copilot to let him in.

This would also help if one pilot needed to leave the cockpit, and while he was away the other pilot passed out for some reason

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mustard, according to a BBC report there is an external pin entry system on the outside of the door which overides the lock but in this case the co pilot  manually overroad that pin entry manually which  lasts for between 5 and 20 minutes, which gave him enough time to complete his dive into the mountain. 

[bankhaunter]

A statistic which probaby seems surprising to most, is that in 2001 out of all the people involved in aircraft crashes, 95.7% survived the crash.

[cee-dee]

Well you know that quote attributed (by Mark Twain) to Disraeli? "There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics"

I looked up statistics for the 2000s and the crash survival rate was quoted as 24%.