AirNZ now has a new rule that all their planes must have 2 crew members in the cockpit at all times. If one of the flight crew has to leave to go to the toilet, one person from the cabin crew must now stay in the cockpit during that time.
It looks as though the co-pilot on the Germanwings Flight 9525 deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit so that he could crash the plane. There were 150 people on board the plane which crashed into the French Alps. Nobody survived.
All US planes already have a rule for two people to be in the cockpit at all times. Now, airlines around the world are making the same rule.
Vocabulary
• cockpit – where the pilots sit to fly the plane
• flight crew – pilots, the people who fly the plane
• cabin crew – stewards, hostesses, people who look after the passengers
• deliberately – made a decision, not by accident