United says cockpit door codes may have been published online

Codes to gain access to United cockpits may have been made public, the carrier said on Monday, but it stopped short of confirming a report that a flight attendant inadvertently published the codes online in a potential threat to air security. The airline still could keep its flight decks secure through other measures, said a spokeswoman for United Continental. She declined to specify the other safeguards because of security considerations. "We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible," she said. Citing a pilot who was briefed on the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that United had alerted pilots that access codes to unlock cockpit doors were mistakenly posted on a public website by a flight attendant. The United unit of the Air Line Pilots Association said in a statement that the accidental leak of information showed the need for stronger protections for flight deck doors. The union has long backed secondary barriers, which it said would cost $5,000 each, and called on Congress to mandate them.<br/>