Security Threats

 February 1st, 2024

Emerging Threat: Breaching Doors

    I will be talking about the threat of a terrorist breaching through the cockpit doors and hijacking and/or trying to harm the pilots. This threat isn't an emerging threat per se, as it has been something terrorists and fugitives have tried, and sometimes successfully done since the start of commercial air travel. The most notable example is the 9/11 terrorist attacks when 4 separate airliners were hijacked. Just because this threat isn't new doesn't mean it is not something that we shouldn't keep pushing for improvement on as it is a point of failure that if not protected could have tragic results.

How layers of security can mitigate the threat

    After 9/11 cockpit doors became much more fortified. The new stronger doors on almost all commercially operated aircraft are required to withstand the following; "fists or blunt instruments pounding on the door, shoulder barging or body checking against the door, bullet penetration from small arms fire, explosive charges, impacts from knives and axes" (James, 2023).  Cockpit doors also are locked by default when they are closed, and to be opened one of the pilots must temporarily unlock them with a button up front. These layers help to make it hard or impossible to breach the flight deck during flight.

Effectiveness of current mitigation strategies

    These mitigation strategies have been effective for the most part. Luckily we haven't seen any terrorist attacks by hijacking aircraft on the level of 9/11 since then. However, several attempts have been to breach the cockpit doors, and luckily, the mitigation layers the TSA and aircraft manufacturers have put into place have worked.  Despite this breaching the flight deck is still an ongoing issue, "A rise in the number of unruly passenger incidents in recent years, including instances in which travelers have tried to enter the cockpit" (Aratani, 2023).

    Recommendation for improvement

    One big improvement the airline industry can make is providing a secondary barrier in front of the door. This will provide a bit of a safety net for when the pilot opens the cockpit door to use the bathroom or get a refreshment, so nobody can rush through the open door and hijack the airplane. This secondary barrier improvement has been in the works for years, but luckily it seems like it will be implemented soon, as the FAA announced on June 14th, 2023 that it would be mandatory for new commercial airliners to have secondary barriers (Aratani, 2023). Hopefully, we will see this on every flight we are on in the not-so-distant future.

Sources

Aratani, L. (n.d.). FAA to require secondary flight deck barriers on new aircraft. https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/06/14/secondary-cockpit-barriers-faa-sept11/ 

James, R. (2023, June 4). Are aircraft cockpit doors bulletproof?. Pilot Teacher. https://pilotteacher.com/are-aircraft-cockpit-doors-bulletproof/ 

Who, W. (2015, March 26). Who, what, why: How are cockpit doors locked?. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-32070528