Airline Safety

The cockpit door is always locked. The procedure to unlock is kind of cumbersome but workable.

The rule in the United States is that there should always be 2 people in the cockpit. If one of the pilots has to leave for any reason then the cabin assistants or dead headed pilots are called upon to be in the cockpit. This rule does not apply to other airlines not registered in the US.

This idea of always 2 people in the cockpit is a good one. That way if something should happen to the remaining pilot, the fill in can call for help.

If this had been the situation on tht German flight, we may not have had the loss of life we had.

Here is a comment from the NY Times:

If it indeed happened as many people are surmising, perhaps this situation should cause US regulators to re-think the current policy on allowing pilots to be armed with handguns. While it's certainly possible that a pilot who is intent on killing himself and everyone else on board could manage to do so under many circumstances, it would certainly seem easier for him or her to do that if all that were necessary was to reach to an ankle holster, pull out the trusty Smith & Wesson, and shoot his fellow pilot dead before diving the aircraft into the ground. 

Editor: The rules have changed and are changing. Now the 2 people in the cockpit rules hold for German Airlines.