Abstract: The invention comprises a monitoring and incident management system for an aircraft including an on-board system on the aircraft, an incident management center on the ground, and a redundant secure communications link between the on-board system and the incident management center. The on-board system includes components that assist the aircraft crew in identifying and defending against potential threats to the aircraft, such as suspicious passenger activity. The incident management has access to a wide variety of information concerning the aircraft and activities taking place on the aircraft, as well as the ability to transmit commands to the on-board system. The on-board system includes a cockpit door module that combines double-doors and biometric identification to prevent unauthorized access to the cockpit.