Yesterday’s Delta 1651 from Minneapolis to Las Vegas landed safely, but with the pilot locked out of the cockpit in a freak mechanical failure. The captain had left the cockpit to use a restroom, and found on his return that the cockpit door had jammed. The plane was landed safely by the co-pilot, but had to be towed to the terminal, since the taxiing controls are all on the pilot side of the cockpit. DETAILS
A later check showed a piece of string was the culprit. Next time, they should keep a wire coat hanger handy, just in case…
