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Rimuladas
August 31st, 2006, 07:11 PM
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The pilot of a Canadian airliner who went to the washroom during a flight found himself locked out of the cockpit, forcing the crew to remove the door from its hinges to let him back in, the airline said Wednesday.

The incident occurred aboard a flight from Ottawa to Winnipeg Saturday. The regional jet, capable of carrying 50 people, was operated by Air Canada's Jazz subsidiary.

Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stewart said that with 30 minutes of the flight to go, the pilot went to the washroom, leaving the first officer in charge. But when he tried to get back into the cockpit, the door would not open.

"The door malfunctioned ... this is a very rare occurrence," Stewart said, adding that the crew's decision to remove the door had been in line with company policy.



A report in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper said that for about 10 minutes "passengers described seeing the pilot bang on the door and communicating with the cockpit though an internal telephone, but being unable to open the door."

Stewart said the paper's report was "a bit dramatic" and stressed that at no time had the plane or passengers been in danger. She did not say how many people had been on board.

This sounded even scarier until i read about the co-piolot.

Nice to know you can just take the freaking door off its hinges haha. Go security.

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-08-31T122856Z_01_N30192506_RTRUKOC_0_US-PILOT.xml

Mr. Scissors
August 31st, 2006, 08:34 PM
That would totally kill my ability to fly ever again.

Zogo
August 31st, 2006, 10:10 PM
we need to ban cockpit doors.

Diax
September 1st, 2006, 03:02 AM
lol, I find that pretty strange....

I am a pilot and the FAA rules for that are....


1st: All jets require two pilots.

2nd: if one leaves, one must remain at the controls, even with a auto pilot system.

I sure would like to know how both pilots could possibly get locked out of the cockpit.



*edit* - After rereading it, I am assuming that there actually was a pilot still at the controls. Making this not as dramatic as the news would portray.

dook
September 1st, 2006, 03:06 AM
the copilot was in the cockpit. they would never both leave and the plane was never in real danger

MeestarK
September 1st, 2006, 03:35 AM
Yet another reason to add to my list of "Why not to Fly Jazz"

I swear, riding in those tiny jets you fear for your life every time.