Airline cockpit systems can’t be safely rendered tamper-proof to prevent crews from sabotaging flights, the FAA told the National Transportation Safety Board in a letter obtained by Bloomberg News. The recent Germanwings crash in Europe, found to have been premeditated by the co-pilot, and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 last year has prompted a variety of security-related discussions within the industry and its regulators worldwide. The NTSB, for one, has renewed its calls for enhanced cockpit security including video cameras to record pilots’ actions. The board has called for changes in cockpit systems since 2000, after its finding that a SilkAir captain in 1997 disabled flight recorders and crashed a Boeing 737 in Indonesia, killing 104 people, according to Bloomberg’s report.
In its response to the NTSB, the FAA argues that pilots must be able to cut power to flight and voice recorders in case of electrical overheating or fire. “There appears to be no safe way to ensure recorders cannot be intentionally disabled while keeping the airplane safe from electrical failure that could become hazardous,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta wrote to the NTSB, as quoted in Bloomberg’s report. “The FAA does not want to introduce design requirements that could expose the airplane to system risks that can lead to cascading failure and fires.” As far as video recorders in cockpits — which pilots unions also have opposed — the agency says there is “no compelling evidence” the equipment would be useful, Bloomberg reported.
