LESS THAN PERFECTLY: How Airlines Screen Their Pilots, and Watch Out for Warning Signs. Plus: “American regulations require that a flight attendant go in the cockpit whenever one pilot leaves. That is as a security measure, in case the remaining pilot has a medical issue and can’t open the security door. With an attendant in place, unlike in the Germanwings scenario, the co-pilot isn’t left alone. As CEO Carsten Spohr of Lufthansa (Germanwings’ parent airline) said in a press conference today, Europe doesn’t have such a rule.”