Why U.S. doesn't allow solo shifts in the cockpit

Leaving the cockpit in control of one individual as happened in the Germanwings air disaster is against U.S. Federal Aviation Administration rules, the agency said Thursday.

Authorities said the pilot of Flight 9525 left the cockpit shortly before the jet pitched into the French Alps killing 150 people Tuesday. He desperately tried to break into the locked cockpit after his co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, steered the airplane into a sharp descent.

Whenever a pilot exits the cockpit, “another qualified crew member must lock the door and remain on the flight deck until the pilot returns to his or her station,” an FAA official explained. A qualified crew member could be a flight attendant or a relief pilot on the crew.

“For our members, all flights have two people in the cockpit at all times,” said Melanie Hinton, managing director of Airlines for American, which includes United, American and Southwest airlines.

The association of domestic airlines also requires its pilots to take regular medical examinations, per FAA policy, Hinton said.

“All U.S. airlines can and do conduct fitness-for-duty testing on pilots if warranted,” she said.

The FAA requires pilots under age 40 to obtain and renew medical certificates from an agency-approved doctor every year, while pilots 40 and older must renew every six months.

The FAA-approved doctor “will typically ask questions about psychological condition as part of his/her assessment, and the (doctor) can defer any examination when he or she believes additional psychological testing may be indicated,” officials said.