Reinforced door credited with protecting United pilots

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- United Airline officials credit a door that was reinforced following the September 11 terrorist attacks for keeping a passenger from kicking his way into the cockpit on a United flight on Thursday morning.

A bar had been installed on the Boeing 777 aircraft, said United Airlines spokeswoman Chris Mardella. The cockpit door was locked at the time of the incident, Mardella said.

The man was able to kick in part of the door and partially enter the cockpit on Flight 855 before the co-pilot hit him on the head with an ax, a passenger who witnessed the assault told CNN. The flight had originated in Miami, Florida, and was on its way to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

"Our crew reacted forcefully and immediately to bar the passenger's entry into the reinforced cockpit," Mardella said.

The bar is a temporary fix that the Federal Aviation Administration ordered completed on December 31 until a permanent system to secure the cockpit bulkhead can be installed, she said. United announced it had completed temporary reinforcement of cockpit doors throughout its fleet on October 22, along with Northwest Airlines.

The FAA is requiring airlines to install permanent improvements by April of 2003. Congress has approved about $500 million in federal assistance to airlines and aircraft manufacturers to offset the cost of permanent renovations.

Previously, the FAA required that the doors could be easily kicked open as a safety measure in case crew members became trapped in the cockpit.

Improvements on doors aboard Alaska Airlines and JetBlue Airways have included bulletproof material, with Alaska Airlines adding acrylic windows so pilots may observe activity in the cabin, the Wall Street Journal reported in October.

JetBlue said it had spent $10,000 on reinforcements aboard each of its 18 aircraft.

France-based aircraft manufacturer Airbus began offering hijack-resistant cockpit doors on all its models, according to the Journal.

Airbus said its reinforced door is not bulletproof, but consists of a heavier door jamb, door and new locks. The European company offered the new doors free of charge on all its planes in service worldwide and they were made standard on all its new models, the journal reported.

Manufacturer Boeing introduced a reinforced door design about two years ago, but airlines balked at the additional cost of the improvements, the paper reported.

In addition to strengthend cockpit doors, some airlines and pilots have announced their intention to allow weapons to protect crew inside the cockpit.

In the wake of September 11, the Air Line Pilots Association has been calling on the FAA to allow pilots to arm themselves with pistols, an idea that the Bush administration has said it does not support.

United Airlines has asked the FAA for permission to arm its pilots with electronic Taser stun guns. On November 15, the airline, which lost two airliners on September 11, announced it would issue Tasers, which fire an electronic charge that disables intruders, allowing them to be subdued. The Tasers would be stored in cockpits inside electronically coded lockboxes. The Tasers would be removed from the lockboxes once the pilots enter the cockpit and returned to the boxes at the flight’s end.

The airline also announced in November a new specialized training program for flight attendants designed to enhance cabin security. United said the program would provide flight attendants with skills and knowledge that can be used to protect themselves.

Like United, Delta Air Lines on Wednesday announced it too will offer personal defense training to its flight attendants. A spokesman for Delta, John Kennedy, would not disclose when the training would begin, saying an announcement would be made soon. The training will not be mandatory.