FAA will require secondary cockpit barriers for new planes; ex-FAA special agent says majority of aircrafts ‘still vulnerable to a 9/11 style attack’

More than 20 years after 9/11, the FAA will require new commercial airplanes to have a secondary cockpit barrier to prevent attacks, but the feds will not mandate airlines to retrofit existing planes.

A retired FAA special agent tells the Herald that this means the vast majority of planes remain unprotected and are “still vulnerable to a 9/11 style attack.”

“It’s 22 years since 9/11, and the FAA is patting themselves on the back for putting secondary barriers on new aircraft down the road, while the aircraft we’re flying in now doesn’t have that protection,” the ex-agent Brian Sullivan added. “It’s ridiculous.”

The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday announced that it will require a secondary barrier on the flight deck of new commercial airplanes, helping protect flight decks from intrusion when the flight deck door is open.

A few months ago, the Herald reported about the continued need for secondary cockpit barriers in the wake of a Massachusetts man allegedly attacking a flight attendant while on a plane to Boston.

When a pilot has to exit the cockpit to use the bathroom, the “secondary barrier” becomes flight attendants standing in front of the cockpit entrance — usually with their push cart.

Secondary cockpit barriers are wire-mesh gates that would be located between the passenger cabin and cockpit door, blocking access to the flight deck while in the air.