Cockpit Door Locks

In the wake of the 9/11/01 terror attacks, federal regulators imposed sweeping requirements on airlines to install cockpit door locks.

The locks are supposed to be impenetrable to boxcutter-wielding terrorists. Unfortunately, problems have been encountered.

Airlines and aviation authorities around the globe are worried that cockpit door locks installed on at least 1,600 widely used jetliners to keep intruders from accessing flight decks might be defective, according to people familiar with the details.

Regulators from the U.S., Europe and other countries are scrambling to ensure that airlines complete mandated repairs in the coming months on some 800 Boeing Co. 747 jumbo jets, these people said. U.S. airlines also are under the gun to fix cockpit doors on hundreds more Airbus A320s or other commonly used Airbus models.

Overall, industry officials and security experts estimate that thousands of commercial jets world-wide still require some type of cockpit-door modification.

Apparently, it's real hard to install a lock.