Security, Biden signed into law: second door between passengers and pilots becomes mandatory

U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the "FAA Authorization Act of 2024′, which is the recommendation issued by the Federal Aviation Administration to Install on airplanes intended for passenger transport A second barrier to protect the cockpit from hostile incursions against the pilots. Previously, the Act had been approved by the House of Representatives in Congress in Washington by 387 votes to 26.

It has become so an obligation the last of the recommendations issued by the 9/11 Commission, the joint body of U.S. congressmen and senators that was formed, nearly 23 years ago, to shed light on the events of that tragic day in 2001 and to adopt countermeasures that would make air travel in the stars and stripes less vulnerable to terrorists. The law will remain in effect until 2028, when the National Transportation Safety Board will automatically be authorized to keep the requirement in place.

Already today, just as a result of 9/11, the cockpits are protected by a blast door that can be opened only by pilots or by typing on a keypad located just outside the cabin a code that only pilots and the cabin manager know.

The second barrier will be a second door installed so as to create a kind of mini-anticam of the cockpit. Anyone exiting the cockpit will have to close the first door behind them before opening the second; vice versa. those who want to access the cockpit will have to have the pilots open the first door, close it behind them, and only then can they have the second door opened.

The system will be installed on all aircraft made 'new' by U.S. manufacturers (but it is highly likely that Easa will take the same measure against European ones), although a specific date has not been identified. Likely, it will be a few months before the first new plane leaves the factory with the double barrier, because the latter rich will require a redesign of those cabin spaces between the front doors and the cockpit, where one of the shipboard kitchens and a bathroom are usually located.

At the same time, all aircraft that are not new will have to be retrofitted: an operation that Could take 5 to 6 years and will affect the airlines' accounts and the operational capacity of their fleets. If the measure were to be implemented as of today, the three U.S. majors Delta Airlines, American Airlines, and United Airlines alone would have to retrofit a whopping 989, 968, and 953 airplanes, respectively.

• barrier
• cockpit
• security