Do we need a new cockpit door design for pilot and passenger?

Cockpit doors are designed to resist anything short of a catastrophic bomb that would destroy the aircraft itself.

Access to cockpits was turned on its head after the tragedies of 9/11 but in a sinister twist may have worked against the safety of passengers.

According to an Airbus A320 cockpit door locking system manual obtained by The West Australian, even emergency access to the cockpit can be denied if the lock mode is selected.

Regarding the “LOCK position” the manual states: Once the button has been moved to this position the door is locked and the emergency access, the buzzer and the keypad are inhibited for a preselected time (5 to 20 min).

That time can be extended by simply rotating the toggle between the NORM and LOCK settings.

The other two positions for the door control are UNLOCK and NORM.

The UNLOCK position is selected to enable the crew member to open the door and the toggle switch must be pulled and maintained in that position until the door is pushed open.

The remaining pilot would then return the switch to the NORM position which allows emergency access.

Airlines are coy about discussing access to cockpits.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Qantas Group said that it had “multi-layered systems in place to protect the flight deck on its aircraft.”

“Understandably, the detail of these systems is confidential.”

Virgin Australia had a similar message.

The industry believes that the loss of MH370 involves the captain taking over the flight and denying the co-pilot access to the cockpit.

In the case of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, the cockpit door locking system has what is called a DENY mode which again renders all emergency access inoperative.