Aircraft Security – “Secondary Barrier”?

Whatabarrier, you say? A secondary barrier. A thing that’s supposed to be in a hijacker’s way when the pilot(s) open the cockpit door so one of them can go take a leak (or something).

There’s been some talk of this “secondary barrier” thing, and there’s even a committee talking through the need to make them mandatory on all commercial flights, since there’s is, apparently, a huge risk that hijackers will be there at the exact right time to rush the cocpit when the door is opened and take over the plane by closing the door behind them when they’re safely within the confined space of the cockpit.

Yes… well… that’s not very likely to happen, and this type of scare-mongering is something that should be in our past by now. We’re not going to list up all the things that have to come together for this plot to work. James Fallows at the Atlantic has done that exceptionally well already. Read the story here. His comment is actually a response to another article on the Atlantic, arguaing for the barriers, and presenting some disconcerting half-truths and myths about the dangers of opening the cocpit door. You can read that too, if you want.

Here’s some of what’s on James’ list of what has to come together for a hijacker to succeed in this venture:

They could be sure that the aisles were clear, with no food trays or other people in their way at the crucial time;

They could bet on choosing a flight with no air marshals aboard, in seats near the front of the plane;

They could also bet they’d chosen one of the flights on which the flight attendants don’t make a point of standing in front of the cockpit, and turning carts at a 90 degree angle to block the aisles, when the pilots want to open the door (as they have done on every long flight I’ve been on in recent years – I’ve noticed);

They could be sure they’d get out of their seats in time and make their way up to the front of the plane at just the moment the door was ajar;

They could be sure no crew member or passenger would stop them;

They could force their way into the cockpit door during the moment when the person leaving the cockpit was out of the way but before the door had closed;

They could bet that the other pilot still in the cockpit had nothing to fight them with (despite the spectacle of pilots having to go through TSA fingernail-clipper screening, some are authorized safety officers who are allowed to carry weapons);

They could get the cockpit door closed before anyone else could do anything;

And then they’d be in control of the plane.

It’s not very likely.

Read the article for yourself – it’s good stuff.

A final quote (which speaks to so much of our unwarranted day-to-day fears that it’s almost uncanny):

What’s a lot more likely to happen is that ground crews could sneak something dangerous onto a plane. Or baggage handlers could. Or a rogue flight attendant. Or somebody could walk into an airport lobby with a bomb, before the security screening. Or shoot up a shopping center. Or wreak any other kind of mayhem. Or that we’ll die in a car crash or of cancer.