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Canadian Minister Orders Safety Air rage
Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette Wednesday ordered the country's airlines to lock cockpits as precaution against rising air rage incidents.
He issued the order, which will be applied to airlines within 30 days, at the Air Transport Association of Canada meeting being attended by 10 airlines in Ottawa.
With the "specific measure" put in place, the pilots could be notified and immediately lock the cockpit door "when an unruly passenger appears to be getting out of hand," the minister said.
The minister announced the new regulation in response to widely shared concern over incidents like one on board a British Airways flight over Africa. A mentally ill passenger was reported to charge into the cockpit and nearly cause the plane to crash.
Representatives from the Canadian airlines called for changes to the country's Criminal Code so as to have a law against air rage. The United States and some European countries already have such laws, they said.
The changes, however, would require passage by Parliament, while Collenette's order is a regulation under the Aeronautics Act.
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