When opportunity knocks: Everett firm's cockpit-security door wins FAA approval

Although the aviation industry typically seeks parts that are light but durable, Paul Vallins has made something thick and heavy — and it's just what the airlines are looking for.

Cascade Aviation Services, Vallins' Everett company, has become the first company whose cockpit doors for regional carriers meet new Federal Aviation Administration security standards. The FAA has approved the doors for a group of propeller-driven planes, the Bombardier de Havilland Dash-8 Q200; approvals for other types of aircraft are pending.

Vallins has sweated the details of airplane interiors — reconfiguring seating or installing screens for in-flight entertainment — for most of his career. But the terrorist attacks of last year presented his small company the opportunity to venture into security, and Vallins leaped at the idea of building a reinforced cockpit door. It went from design to prototype in two weeks. Horizon Air began installing the doors on its planes in January.

"Our intent was to put something out very quickly that would bring back the confidence of the traveling public," Vallins said.

All U.S. planes with 20 or more seats must have secure cockpit doors installed by April 9. The change will affect some 7,000 planes, the FAA says, about 3,000 of which belong to regional carriers such as Seattle-based Horizon.

Before the terrorist attacks of last year, the FAA required only that cockpit doors withstand decompression and allow an easy exit for the pilots. After the attacks, the FAA required that doors also resist bullets and physical force.

"This has been the No. 1 high priority of the FAA," said spokesman Mike Fergus.

The 40-pound doors are a bit bulkier than their 8-pound predecessors with a pane of bullet-resistant glass to allow pilots a view of the cabin. Vallins wouldn't say what the door is made of, but he said it withstood shots from handguns and hits from a 100-pound pendulum, designed to simulate battering from a beverage cart.

Cockpit doors range in price from $10,000 to $40,000, depending on the plane and the type of door.

Cascade's doors cost about $15,000 each. The company will make between 300 and 400 this year for customers around the world.

Vallins started Cascade six years ago after leaving Flight Structures, where he had worked since 1986. Cascade has 25 full-time employees between its Everett headquarters and its manufacturing plant in Arlington.

Vallins wouldn't say how much Cascade earns, but he said it is a "multimillion-dollar company."

One other manufacturer has applied for certification for DASH-8 planes. The application is pending.

Frank Vinluan: 206-464-2291 or fvinluan@seattletimes.com.