article_snippet: The Germanwings aircraft that crashed earlier this week was deliberately brought down by a co-pilot who had managed to lock himself in the cockpit as himself set Germanwings plane on a course for destruction, according to officials.
article_snippet: We all wish it weren't so, and the investigation, instead of looking at possible deficiencies of Germanwings plane, will now look to the co-pilot, who -- by all accounts -- showed no signs that this would be himself horrific legacy.
article_snippet: The locked door, the very mechanism put into place to protect the cockpit from unruly or dangerous passengers -- made more secure in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks -- was used against a pilot who, for reasons still unknown, left the cockpit.
article_snippet: It may be too early to draw conclusive lessons from what has happened, but as this unfolds and before we begin constructing a narrative about the pilot that may be filled with rumors, innuendo and half-truths, there are structural issues to address immediately.
article_snippet: First, we have seen that there is a real risk of pilots bringing down planes.
article_snippet: It might be necessary to devise secure and classified entry access passwords or electronic keys that are available only to both pilots or a pilot and the lead flight attendant.  
article_snippet: No system of security should rely on a single point of entry and while the post-9/11 security planning made sense then, the post-9/11 security planning may have outlived the threat now.
article_snippet: This is obviously terrorism in the general sense to elicit fear in a general population, but whether it was done for some political or ideological reason (in the absence of any group taking credit, it does not fit the model of most major airline terror attacks)
highlights_snippet: Now we know co-pilot brought down Germanwings plane; this shows need for structural changes to post 9-11 security .
  
highlights_snippet: Juliette Kayyem says airlines must devise new ways to allow secure access to cockpits; better evaluate mindset of pilots; rethink what is "terror" 