Post-9/11 Security Reforms May Have Enabled Germanwings Crash

There's an saying in national security circles that if you prepare only for the last attack, you will likely be ill-prepared for the next one. The apparently deliberate crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 at the hands of a co-pilot may prove this true once again, as it appears to have been enabled in part by post-9/11 security reforms that made it harder for intruders to gain access to the cockpit. Except in this case it wasn't an intruder trying to enter the flight deck, but a pilot who was presumably trying to stop a deadly, intentional descent into the French Alps. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, aviation security was dramatically enhanced in the U.S. and Europe. Most of the steps airlines and governments took were aimed at keeping terrorists out of the cockpit, rather than preventing sabotage from within Most of the steps airlines and governments took were aimed at keeping terrorists out of the cockpit, rather than preventing sabotage from within the flight deck.