German airlines adopt two-person cockpit rule: Aviation body

BERLIN - German airlines have agreed new rules to ensure that two crew members are in a planes's cockpit at all times, the aviation association BDL announced Friday.

The decision came after the co-pilot of a Germanwings flight crashed the plane in the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard while alone in the cockpit.

The BDL and German transport ministry held a meeting "after the tragic plane crash in France" and decided on the rule that "at all times two authorised persons must be in the cockpit of an aircraft".

Passenger airlines that are members of the BDL, or German Aviation Industry Federation, are Lufthansa, including its subsidiary Germanwings, Air Berlin, Condor and TUIfly, according to the body's website.

The Lufthansa Group also said it had created the new position of head of safety for the group, naming Werner Maas who would have "overarching responsibility to review and further develop flight safety procedures".