A Luton Airport based airline is set to change its regulations following the Germanwings air disaster, it has emerged.
Budget carrier easyJet will alter its rules to ensure that two crew members are in the flightdeck at all times.
It comes after revelations that the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday intentionally downed the plane.
An easyJet spokesperson told the Luton News: “easyJet can confirm that, with effect from tomorrow (Friday 27 March), it will change its procedure which will mean that two crew members will be in the cockpit at all times.
“This decision has been taken in consultation with the Civil Aviation Authority.
“The safety and security and of its passengers and crew is the airline’s highest priority.”
French investigators have today said that black box recordings from German A320 Airbus flight 4U 9525 reveal that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz descended the plane while the pilot was locked out of the cockpit.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said: “We hear the pilot ask the co-pilot to take control of the plane and we hear at the same time the sound of a seat moving backwards and the sound of a door closing.
“At that moment, the co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself. While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the aeroplane.”
The descent lasted eight minutes before the plane hit a mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew.