(Bloomberg) -- The aviation industry should considerimplementing systems to take control of aircraft from the ground inemergencies following the crash of a Germanwings aircraft thatkilled 150 last month, said German air-traffic-control agency DFSDeutsche Flugsicherung GmbH.

“We have drones already, so the technology for operating anaircraft from the ground is available,” Chief Executive OfficerKlaus-Dieter Scheurle said at a press conference today. “It isstill a long way off, something for the next decade. The technologyis rather complex and it would need certification. The first stepmust be thoroughly evaluating the pros and cons.”

[Related: Germany to probe airline security after Germanwingscrash]

A Germanwings co-pilot deliberately crashed an Airbus A320 intothe French Alps in March after locking his captain out of thecockpit, according to investigators. That raised questions abouthow to prevent such incidents, and Scheurle said Langen- based DFSis participating in a German task force evaluating cockpitprocedures and security rules.

Cockpit doors were strengthened and made bullet-proof followingthe September 11 terror attacks in the U.S. in 2001, which meantthe Germanwings captain was unable to break through to get backonto the flight deck.

Scheurle said systems to ensure the flight management systems ofan endangered aircraft would automatically land at an alternativeaerodrome could also help prevent incidents such as a crash inGreece in 2005. That killed 121 people when a Helios Airways planecame down near Athens after fuel ran out and a loss of pressureincapacitated crew and passengers.

“There should be no ban on thinking about how to handle a planein an emergency when the people on board cannot help,” Scheurlesaid. “Such incidents may and will occur again, and we must thinkabout how to manage them so that nothing bad happens.”

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