DL MD90 lands after pilot locked out of cockpit

[robbedagain]

according to yahoo.com news article a DL MD-90 pilot was locked out of the cockpit during a flight from MSP to LAS     plane declared and emergency and landed safely at its destination...

 

[eolesen]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/plane-makes-emergency-landing-after-pilot-is-locked-out-of-cockpit/

 

[Dog Wonder]

Delta planes can land themselves, on time.

The only airline that doesn't need Captains. Only drones.

 

[ThirdSeatHero]

The story behind the story should indeed prove interesting - even if the electro/mechanicals of the door failed, the FO could still have utilized certain manual releases to give the captain access.  Sticky situation

 

[WorldTraveler]

does raise the question of why overrides weren't used or didn't work but it is also possible that there was a reminder that getting involved in fixing a door would have distracted the co-pilot from aviating so the decision was made to land the plane with one pilot instead.

 

[jimntx]

Agreed.  They were 13 minutes from scheduled landing when the emergency was declared.  I imagine there's a LOT going on then--especially when approaching a super busy airport like LAS.
 
I feel sorry for the poor captain.  Imagine the embarassment of coming out to go to the lav (my guess as to why he was out of the cockpit) and not being able to get back in to the cockpit.  If the plane is full, he has to sit on the jumpseat with the flight attendant.

 

[Hope777]

One wonders When the Capt left the Cockpit and Doesnt a F/A enter the cockpit at that time????   Lots of Questions to be answered

 

[nycbusdriver]

After the landing, several Delta captains were overheard discussing their amazement that a co-pilot could have possibly accomplished that landing without the captain.
 
A few yards away, a group of Delta co-pilots were murmuring their comments about how the co-pilot could possibly know the difference that teh captain was absent.

 

[nycbusdriver]

One wonders When the Capt left the Cockpit and Doesnt a F/A enter the cockpit at that time????   Lots of Questions to be answered

 
Yes....only one person in the cockpit at any time is a real "no no" for exactly this reason.  

 

[jimntx]

One wonders When the Capt left the Cockpit and Doesnt a F/A enter the cockpit at that time????   Lots of Questions to be answered

Well, technically we don't know whether there was a f/a in the cockpit with the co-pilot or not.  That point was simply not noted in the news reports.  (Even if they knew he/she was there, I imagine most media types would have considered that irrelevant information.)  If the f/a was in the cockpit, then there was an FAR violation that all cabin crew should be in their assigned jumpseats for taxi/takeoff/landing.  
 
Captain could have left the cockpit some time before (as much as 30 minutes) and time was spent trying to get the stupid door open before declaring an emergency at 13 minutes prior to landing.

 

[nycbusdriver]

Well, technically we don't know whether there was a f/a in the cockpit with the co-pilot or not.  That point was simply not noted in the news reports.  (Even if they knew he/she was there, I imagine most media types would have considered that irrelevant information.)  If the f/a was in the cockpit, then there was an FAR violation that all cabin crew should be in their assigned jumpseats for taxi/takeoff/landing.  

 
If they were still 15 minutes out, it would be a miracle to find all the flight attendants in their jumpseats.  I've seen them more than occasionally barely getting their seat belts fastened before wheel spinup.

 

[jimntx]

 
If they were still 15 minutes out, it would be a miracle to find all the flight attendants in their jumpseats.  I've seen them more than occasionally barely getting their seat belts fastened before wheel spinup.

True that.  Me included.  However, if the pilot was locked out that means that the f/a (assuming a f/a in the cockpit per procedure) was locked in; so, regardless of how much time was left, he/she was still not "in the assigned jumpseat" at the point of landing.
 
However, now that I think about it, I believer there is a dispensation for that FAR if the cabin crew member is dealing with an emergency.

 

[WorldTraveler]

which is probably part of the incentive to declare an emergency.

in emergencies, things aren't happening the way they do under normal conditions.

 

[metopower]

It's a MD90/88 bi-fold door. It and the door lock mech. Has always been problematic. It was in my opinion a non event but news worthy just because doesn't happen evryday. If there was NOT someone else in the cockpit with the FO then THAT would be a story. Not taxing to the gate would have been a good call. A screw up on taxing to the gate would have erased all the atta boys he earned.

 

[topDawg]

It's a MD90/88 bi-fold door. It and the door lock mech. Has always been problematic. It was in my opinion a non event but news worthy just because doesn't happen evryday. If there was NOT someone else in the cockpit with the FO then THAT would be a story. Not taxing to the gate would have been a good call. A screw up on taxing to the gate would have erased all the atta boys he earned.

Yep. I don't touch MDs that much any more but it was an issue when I did.