I'm sure there has been a lot of thought put into this locking mechanism so that hijackers can't access the cockpit, but how about the rogue pilot scenario like this one? IIRC, pilots outside can enter a code to unlock the door but it can be rejected by the person inside (so it really only applies if they're incapacitated)
EDIT: it appears some airlines mandate at least two people in the cockpit at all times after the 2015 Germanwings incident.
> New York has obtained a confidential document from the Malaysian police investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that shows that the plane's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, conducted a simulated flight deep into the remote southern Indian Ocean less than a month before the plane vanished under uncannily similar circumstances.
Anyway, it's Malaysian authorities. I've lived in the region...
But since we're not citing links, this is all gossip...
Then there's Helios that crashed near Athens. The pressurisation failed and the cockpit oxygen cylinder had been left closed. The preflight check of the crew oxygen mask flow had not been done. By the time a cabin crew member with portable oxygen figured out how to get through the door, the fuel was about to run out.
The sentence is also true if you replace "they" with "the Chinese Navy" and "Chinese" with "Americans".
I am curious, did changes take place due to this event ? Like real-time telemetry for airliners where their location is always available and saved on systems not on the plane.
I remember during the search the commentators said that was not done because Airlines did not want spend for that.
Edited to add: There are also discussions underway on how to better handle pilots suffering from depression, since pilots are currently incentivized to never disclose mental health problems for fear of losing their livelihoods. Mentour Pilot talks about this too at the end of his Germanwings video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lotcRYD42e0
Many pilots I speak with use overseas doctors to continue flying.
Put a flight attendant in there?
I tried to find it again but it fell off the internet.
And that is that upon leaving the airspace of Malaysia into Thailand, the pilot changed course to take the plane over the Indian ocean to commit suicide.
It's likely the pilot depressurized the cabin as hypoxia would've rendered the crew and passengers so they were unliikely conscious for any of this. Whether this happened before or after the course change is unknown.
Given the minimal wreckage, it was likely a soft landing in the ocean rather than the pilot succumbing to a medical event. He almost certainly was conscious up until the ocean landing.
The pilot knew the range and likely chose a part of the Indian Ocean that was remote and deep so the wreckage wouldn't be found as the black boxes would reveal this was intentional and it seemed like he intended his family to get the settlement and life insurance.
It's unclear if the pilot was aware of the pinging that has narrowed down the location.