Readers React: A pilot's bathroom break shouldn't bring down a jet, readers say

1/54

Gendarmes and rescuers from the Gendarmerie High-Mountain Rescue Group working at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 on March 31, 2015. The co-pilot who is believed to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings jet in the French Alps may have “rehearsed” steering the plane into a rapid descent on an earlier flight, German daily Bild reported on May 6, 2015. (YVES MALENFER / AFP/Getty Images)

2/54

French emergency rescue services work among debris of the Germanwings passenger jet at the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France.

(Yves Malenfer / Associated Press)

3/54

French emergency rescue services work among debris of the Germanwings passenger jet at the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France.

(Yves Malenfer / Associated Press)

4/54

A photo from the French Aviation Authority BEA shows a box containing the flight data recorder from the Germanwings A320 airplane that crashed in the French Alps on March 24.

(BEA / EPA)

5/54

French gendarmes get ready to go to the crash site of the German Airbus A320 of carrier Germanwings as part of the search operations in Seyne-les-Alpes.

(Pascal Guyot / AFP/Getty Images)

6/54

French emergency rescue services work among debris of the Germanwings passenger jet at the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France. The co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight repeatedly sped up the plane as he used the automatic pilot to descend the A320 into the Alps, the French air accident investigation agency said Friday.

(Yves Malenfer / Associated Press)

7/54

The family of Australian victim Carol Friday, Malcolm Coram and his daughters Philippa, left, and Georgina, visit the memorial of the plane crash in Le Vernet, France.

(Yoan Valat / EPA)

8/54

Gendarme Bruno Hermignies stands by a bulldozer clearing a path to the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, on Monday.

(Claude Paris / Associated Press)

9/54

Flowers are offered on March 29 in front of a stone monument in the area where a Germanwings aircraft crashed in the French Alps. (Claude Paris / Associated Press)

10/54

Forensic experts of the French disaster victim identification unit work under a tent near the site of the March 24 crash of a Germanwings Airbus A320 in which all 150 people on board were killed. (AFP/Getty Images)

11/54

Workers collect debris and search for the second black box at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps on March 29. (Yoan Valat / EPA)

12/54

Searchers work at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps, above the town of Seyne-les-Alpes, on March 29. (Yoan Valat / EPA)

13/54

Flowers are laid around a stele, carved in French, German, Spanish and English in memory of the victims of the Germanwings crash, in the village of Le Vernet. (Jeff Pachoud / AFP/Getty Images)

14/54

A 2009 photo shows Germanwings copilot Andreas Lubitz competing at the Airportrun in Hamburg, Germany. (Michael Mueller / Associated Press)

15/54

An investigator is lifted by a helicopter above debris at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images)

16/54

Firefighters stand in front of candles and flowers on the steps to the Joseph-Koenig high school in Haltern, Germany, before a memorial service.

(Martin Meissner / Associated Press)

17/54

Police stand in front of the home of the parents of Andreas Lubitz, copilot on Germanwings flight 9525, in Montabaur, Germany. Lubitz divided his time between his parents’ home and an apartment in Duesseldorf.

(Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images)

18/54

Authorities carry a computer and other items from the home of the parents of Andreas Lubitz, copilot in a flight that crashed in southern France this week.

(Thomas Lohnes / Getty Images)

19/54

Relatives of the Germanwings Airbus A320 crash victims gather during a remembrance ceremony as rescuers hold flags of the passengers’ nationalities near the village of Le Vernet, France, on March 26.

(Pascal Guyot / AFP/Getty Images)

20/54

Relatives of victims of the Germanwings Airbus A320 crash arrive in Seyne-des-Alpes, France, near where the aircraft went down, on March 26.

(Jeff Pachoud / AFP/Getty Images)

21/54

An investigator is lifted by helicopter on March 26 as officials work at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that went down in the French Alps.

(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images)

22/54

Investigators work on March 26 amid the debris of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps.

(Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images)

23/54

Police stand outside the house in Montabaur, Germany, where Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings jet, lived. (Michael Probst / Associated Press)

24/54

Activity stops for a moment of silence on the streets of Haltern, Germany, at 10:53 a.m. Thursday, the time of Monday’s Germanwings jet crash. Sixteen students and two teachers from Haltern died in the crash. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press)

25/54

Flags fly at half-staff at a castle in Schwerin in eastern Germany on March 25 in memory of the victims of the Germanwings crash.

(Jens Buttner / AFP/Getty Images)

26/54

French President Francois Hollande, third from left, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy arrive n March 25 near the site where a German airliner crashed in the French Alps. (Jeff Pachoud / AFP/Getty Images)

27/54

Workers at the plane crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, on March 25, after a Germanwings jetliner crashed in the French Alps. (Laurent Cipriani / Associated Press)

28/54

A helicopter carrying search and rescue workers heads to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps, above the town of Seyne-les-Alpes, in southeastern France. (Guillaume Horacajuelo / EPA)

29/54

Students gather at a memorial of flowers and candles in front of the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium secondary school in Haltern am See, Germany, for some of their classmates and teachers killed in the Germanwings plane crash. (Sascha Schuermann / AFP/Getty Images)

30/54

Employees of German airline Germanwings light candles and flowers for the victims of the Germanwings plane crash in front of the company’s headquarters in Cologne, Germany, on March 25, a day after after a Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. (Maruis Becker / AFP/Getty Images)

31/54

Members of the Spanish parliament observe a minute of silence for crash victims in Madrid on March 25. (Daniel Ochoa de Olza / Associated Press)

32/54

A photo released by French authorities on March 25 shows the battered cockpit voice recorder recovered from the Germanwings A320 that crashed in the French Alps. (BEA / EPA)

33/54

Helicopters of the French gendarmerie and emergency services fly over Seyne-les-Alpes on March 25, 2015, as they resume works to recover the remains of the Airbus A320 that crashed the previous day in the Alps. (Alberto Estevez / EPA)

34/54

Firefighters and members of the emergency services meet at dawn on March 25, 2015, to start recovering the remains of the passengers on Germanwings 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. (Alberto Estevez / EPA )

35/54

People arrive at an airport in Barcelona, Spain, after a Germanwings passenger jet carrying 150 people crashed on March 24 in the French Alps. (Manu Fernandez / Associated Press)

36/54

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, center, is sheltered from the rain upon his arrival in Seyne, southeastern France, near the site where a Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images)

37/54

People arrive at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany, after the crash. The plane was en route from Barcelona, Spain, to the German city. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

38/54

A student lights a candle in front of the Joseph-Koenig Gymnasium in Haltern, western Germany, after the crash. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press)

39/54

A French civil security services helicopter flies in southeastern France, near where a Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps on March 24. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP/Getty Images)

40/54

A screen grab from AFP TV shows search and rescue personnel at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps. (Denis Bois / AFP/Getty Images)

41/54

A rescue helicopter flies over debris of the Germanwings passenger jet, scattered on the mountainside, near Seyne les Alpes. (Claude Paris / Associated Press)

42/54

A screen grab taken from AFP TV shows debris from a GermanWings Airbus A320 at the crash site in the French Alps above the southeastern town of Seyne. (Denis Bois / AFP/Getty Images)

43/54

Members of the Gendarmerie, a French police force, and mountain rescue teams arrive near the site of the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps near La Seyne. (Patrick Aventurier / Getty Images)

44/54

French mountain rescue teams arrive near the site of the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps. (Patrick Aventurier / Getty Images)

45/54

Relatives of passengers on the crashed Airbus A320 operated by German budget airline Germanwings arrive at El Prat Airport in Barcelona on March 24. (Alejandro Garcia / EPA)

46/54

A man who appears to have waited for the missing Flight 9525 covers his face at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany, after a Germanwings passenger jet carrying more than 140 people crashed in the French Alps. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

47/54

Members of the Airport Care Team gather at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany, where the crashed Germanwings airplane had been scheduled to land. (Oliver Berg / AFP/Getty Images)

48/54

Relatives of passengers of the crashed Airbus A320 aircraft operated by German budget airline Germanwings arrive at El Prat airport in Barcelona. (Alejandro Garcia / EPA)

49/54

Police officers guard a private area for people waiting for Flight 9525 at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

50/54

A woman waiting for Flight 9525 is led away by airport staff in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

51/54

The headquarters of the airline Germanwings in Cologne, Germany. (Marius Becker / Associated Press)

52/54

Two men waiting for Flight 9525 are led away by airport staff in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

53/54

The airport arrivals board shows 9525 from Barcelona without a status in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Frank Augstein / Associated Press)

54/54

A Germanwings passenger plane crashed in the French Alps region as it traveled from Barcelona, Spain, to Duesseldorf, Germany. A file photo of a Germanwings Airbus A320 in Cologne, Germany. (Martin Meissner / Associated Press)

By Paul ThorntonLetters Editor

March 27, 2015 4:06 PM PT

The chilling details of Germanwings Flight 9525’s final moments have prompted several readers to suggest ways to prevent another tragedy like the one that unfolded Tuesday over France, in which, investigators believe, the first officer steered the A320 jet into the Alps after the captain left the cockpit to use the lavatory.

After past crashes, much of the post-accident attention focused on complicated systems that might have malfunctioned or could be improved to guard against pilot error. But with concern over some recent accidents involving egregious pilot ineptness or malice, more basic questions are now being asked. These letters reflect that.

Larry Gardner of Los Angeles endorses en suite lavatories for pilots:

It’s shocking and dismaying that the first officer apparently crashed his plane on purpose, killing 149 others along with him. What I would like to know is why do pilots have to leave the cockpit to use a lavatory?

In modern large commercial aircraft, a small lavatory could probably be built into the cockpit. It need not take up much room, just a ceramic toilet and small door, with a lock only inside.

Pilots should not have to leave the cockpits and walk to a public lavatory; they should have their own nearby. How much effort for designers and plane manufacturers would it take to accomplish this?

One hundred and fifty are dead because, in part, someone had to use the bathroom.

Woodland Hills resident Steve Shaevel recommends special cockpit access for pilots:

Flight deck doors are locked to prevent unauthorized people from entering. But now we must allow a pilot to get back into the cockpit after a visit to the restroom or galley if the door somehow gets locked. This can be done via a special key, keypad, card key entry or some other higher security mechanism.

I know federal regulators and the airlines can figure out how to do this and prevent another such event.

Matthew Barry of Issaquah, Wash., wants an extra set of lenses on the flight deck:

It’s time for the federal government to require real-time video feeds. The National Transportation Safety Board recommended video cameras 15 years ago.

Since then, we’ve had several plane crashes, including the four hijacked 9/11 planes. In 2009, Air France Flight 447 slammed into the Atlantic, killing 228. For two years, no one knew why until the so-called black boxes were found on the ocean floor.

The voice recorder from the Germanwings flight that crashed into the French Alps was damaged. If it had been unusable, we would never have known that the pilot was banging on the cockpit door.

Malaysia Flight 370, with 239 aboard, disappeared in 2014 and has never been found. No one knows what happened.

Video would eliminate almost all the guessing. It would provide clear answers to grieving relatives. It would help the industry prevent similar accidents in the future through improved technology and pilot training, saving many lives.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook