Canadian airlines must have two crew in cockpit at all times

Transport minister Lisa Raitt amending policy for Canada after captain of doomed Germanwings Airbus was locked out of flight deck

TONY BOCK / TORONTO STAR Order this photo

In the wake of the Germanwings accident, Air Canada is "implementing without delay a policy change to ensure that all flights have two people in the cockpit at all times."

The federal government has issued an emergency order requiring Canadian airlines to have two crew members in the cockpit at all times.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt issued the directive Thursday in the wake of reports that the pilot of a German flight, alone in the cockpit, deliberately crashed his jet in France.

“In light of the reports this morning . . . I am issuing an order to require two members on the flight deck at all times on Canadian planes,” Raitt told reporters.

The order applies to all commercial flights carrying passengers and is effective immediately, she said.

“This order is seeking to fill a gap that is in the rules,” Raitt said. “Currently, there is not the requirement to have two members.”

She said the new rule would allow a member of the cabin crew to take the place of a pilot, who perhaps has left for a bathroom break.

“All we’re saying is that you have to have two crew members in the flight deck at all times. It doesn’t matter who it’s going to be. It could be a flight attendant, it could be a customer service person, but they have to be members of the cabin crew,” Raitt said.

Canada’s major airlines were already moving to implement the policy change. Air Canada, Westjet and Air Transat confirmed they would now require two crew in the cockpit. Porter said its policy has always been to have at least two crew members on the flight deck at all times during flight.

A spokesperson for Air Canada said the policy change is a direct result of reports that say one of the pilots on the fatal Germanwings Airbus flight was locked out of the cockpit during the plane’s deadly descent.

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“We are implementing without delay a policy change to ensure that all flights have two people in the cockpit at all times,” Peter Fitzpatrick said in a statement.

Fitzpatrick said the airline is closely monitoring the investigation of the crash and will make further policy changes as warranted.

The French prosecutor in charge of investigating Andreas Lubitz, the plane’s co-pilot, said Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane and locked his fellow pilot out of the cockpit.

“The theory of suicide, an act of madness or the work of someone disordered” must be looked at, he said.

Fitzpatrick said Air Canada’s hiring process includes a behavioural assessment for new pilots, and that pilots receive a medical exam every year — twice a year after they turn 60.

“The investigation is underway and at this point the cause is unknown, therefore any conclusions are speculative,” he said.

Airlines in Europe are not required to have two people in the cockpit at all times. Europe’s third-largest budget airline, Norwegian Air Shuttle, said on Thursday it plans to adopt new rules requiring two crew members to always be present in the cockpit of a flying aircraft. The BBC is also reporting that easyJet, a budget airline out of the U.K., is also amending its policy.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, the standard U.S. operating procedure is that if one of the pilots leaves — for example to use the toilet — a flight attendant takes their spot in the cockpit.

Raitt expressed condolences to the families and friends of those lost in the Germanwings accident and said that Transport Canada was reviewing policies in the wake of the disaster.

“We are following this situation in Europe very closely. And I’ve asked my officials to take a look at all of our policies and procedures here in Canada that may be applicable to ensure that there is safety for the travelling public,” she said.

With files from Robin Levinson King, Vanessa Lu, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press.

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