Fiji Airways already had the policy to ensure a pilot is never left alone in a plane cockpit

While many players in the airline industry worldwide are now talking about having a policy to ensure that a pilot is never left alone in a plane cockpit, our international carrier Fiji Airways has had this policy over the past few years.

Fiji Airways confirmed that it has existing policies in place which requires two crew to always be present on the Flight Deck.

In the event that one of the pilots has to exit the cockpit, a cabin crew member is stationed inside the cockpit until such time that the pilot re‑enters.

There are other safety procedural requirements governing entry and exit from the cockpit at all times.

The cockpit issue is being discussed globally as it has been revealed that the co‑pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps appeared to want to “destroy the plane”.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co‑pilot was alone in the cockpit.

He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.

Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re‑enter it.

He said air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail.

Passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash.

The Germanwings Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew, after an eight‑minute descent.

The US has the same policy as Fiji Airways to ensure that a pilot is not left alone during any flight.

Other airlines and countries have begun to discuss this issue after the tragic accident.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's flight deck procedure has been tightened following the Germanwings crash.

NZ’s Civil Aviation Authority change requires at least two crew members to be present in the cockpit of large jets at all times.

It applies to domestic and international flights operated by Air New Zealand and Jetconnect.

It was announced just hours after Air New Zealand made a similar change to their policy.