RELEASE: Gottheimer’s Bipartisan Legislation Passes House to Increase Cockpit Security

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, July 20, 2023, the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation crafted by U.S. Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1) which requires the installation of secondary cockpit barriers on all commercial passenger aircraft to prevent terrorist attacks similar to 9/11. The legislation passed as part of the bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration.

Thanks to Congressman Gottheimer’s bipartisan leadership, in 2018, bipartisan legislation was signed into law that requires secondary barriers on newly manufactured aircraft. This new legislation will require secondary barriers on all existing commercial passenger aircraft, as well.

The installation of secondary cockpit barriers on all commercial passenger flights is the only 9/11 Commission recommendation not yet implemented.

“Securing the safety of our skies is absolutely critical to preventing another terrorist attack like 9/11, which killed more than 700 New Jersey residents and took the lives of hundreds of our nation’s first responders,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Federal legislation that I helped pass already requires secondary barriers on new commercial aircraft. Now, we’re making sure that all existing commercial aircraft have these commonsense safety requirements.”

Earlier this year, Gottheimer and Fitzpatrick introduced bipartisan legislation to require the installation of secondary cockpit barriers on all commercial passenger aircraft. It is named in honor of United Airlines Flight 175 Captain Victor Saracini, a former Navy pilot, who was killed after his plane was hijacked and deliberately flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

###