Bulletproof cockpit door makes debut

Associated Press

LONDON — Virgin Atlantic airlines unveiled its first bulletproof cockpit door Wednesday on a Boeing 747 renamed The Spirit of New York to honor the thousands killed in the World Trade Center attacks.

Airline chairman Richard Branson called the armor-plated door a "necessary safety change" after the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings that destroyed the twin towers and part of the Pentagon.

The door is designed to withstand small-arms fire and intense heat and shock, with a digital lock and a steel deadbolt. Virgin’s entire fleet will undergo the upgrade at a cost of $1 million, an airline spokesman said.

Virgin flight crews are being trained by British special forces in an effort "to make sure that what happened in the U.S. does not happen here," Branson said.

The first plane refitted with the door is a jumbo jet, scheduled to ferry British emergency workers to New York to help in the recovery effort.

British Airways announced Tuesday that cockpit doors on all 340 of its jets will be fitted with a full-length metal armor plate.

In the United States, airlines have until the end of the year to strengthen cockpit doors. Delta Air Lines, US Airways, Alaska Airlines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines and United Airlines have all fortified the cockpits of their operating fleets.

In Germany, Lufthansa AG said it has strengthened cockpit doors on its long-haul planes and hopes to complete work by the end of this year on the rest of its fleet.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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