Has anyone got an opinion on what happened on this stricken flight? It seems incredible that the plane crashed despite clear skies and good flight conditions and no evidence of aircraft damage. It has also come to light that there are unconfirmed reports that one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit and couldn't regain entry. RIP to all those that perished. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/europe/germanwings-airbus-crash.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0
999s, the whole thing is just incredibly sad and so difficult to understand. The age of the plane has been mentioned but of little or no relevance, with the super overhauls that these planes undertake there are very few original parts left from New build. The rate at which the plane descended suggests this was not an uncontrolled and catastrophic failure, that there is no evidence of course variation further adds to the fear of foul play especially with the proximity to Marseille when descent started and that if you wanted to choose a worse place to make a forced landing, you simply couldn't. This just doesn't seem to add up - I'm surprised also at the relative restraint of the more speculative prone media
Cockpit door locks may not be such a wizard idea after all. Tragic waste of life. Thoughts with the families.
Maybe one of them went for a piss and left the door unlocked. Someone else walked in and locked the door.
Something definitely amiss...Not sure why authorities haven't released the pilots names yet. I guess if they find the data recorder and see if any controls were touched after the door was locked, then can only presume the unthinkable..
Something like that would be obvious on the CVR I would imagine. It is very hinky though. I haven't had chance to keep fully up on this but was there no flight engineer?
There is always speculation about the pilots in a situation like this. I am not surprised that they haven't released the names yet. They know from past experience that unless the plane suffers major problems that have already been radioed in or it explodes in midair the press start speculating about the pilots and have a field day with relatives. Passengers are treated victims, pilots are treated as possible (if not probable) perpetrators. Not fair on them or their families. Does it matter that at the moment they haven't released the names? Not really. The only ones who benefit are the tabloids who want to trawl through the pilots histories - both professional and social - to find any salacious details that they can print. All in good time. EDIT: Well that was quick. Now we know why they haven't released the names.
I've done a bit of investigation and poking around. I believe the pilots names are Patrick Sonderheimer and Andreas Lubitz. This hasn't been officially released yet.
Just confirmed, no flight engineer. As my better half has just said..... "So much for locks on the cockpit door as a safety measure."
This is getting more harrowing by the minute. The Marseille Prosecutor currently broadcasting is giving details of what happened on the flight. It's very disturbing.
The young co-pilot Andreas Lubitz apparantly locked the captain out of the cockpit and deliberatly crashed the plane. Very disturbing news which only adds to the tragedy.
Just tragic. I know it's a bit morbid but I can't help thinking what those last 8 mins must have been like for those poor folks. On a more positive note, I heard on the news that one of those planes takes off and lands every 2 seconds! So assuming take off every 4 seconds and a 19 hour window for take off, that is about a 1:6000 000 chance of that sort of thing happening to any individual plane. RIP indeed.
Here's the Co-Pilots profile on the FAA site........ http://aviation-business-gazette.com/A44/B58/Pilot-Andreas-Guenter-Lubitz-Rheinland-Pfalz-.html It says that he would've undergone .... ''Pilots obtaining an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate must also pass an exam covering air law, general aircraft knowledge, flight planning, meteorology, navigation, instrumentation and other important topics. Pilots are required to pass a physical examination administered by a FAA-authorized medical examiner. There are a number of medical conditions that the FAA considers disqualifying, such as Bipolar disease, cardiac valve replacement, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus requiring hypoglycemic medications, disturbance of consciousness without satisfactory explanation of cause, epilepsy, heart replacement, Myocardial infarction, permanent cardiac pacemaker, personality disorder that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts, psychosis, substance abuse, substance dependence, transient loss of control of nervous system function(s) without satisfactory explanation of cause. Pilots are required to report to the FAA's Security and Investigations Division any alcohol-related vehicle actions, such as an arrest, administrative action, driver license suspension.'' The door procedures also need to be addressed. It's appalling that this situation occurred. Here's a video of the Airbus reinforced cockpit door description and procedure.
Heard on the radio this morning that there is a way to open the cockpit door even if it's locked from the outside, and a limited number of crew members, including the pilots, would know this. Obviously they did not go into detail on how it was done, in case terrorists found out. They said 10 minutes would have been more than enough to get in. I suppose the co-pilot could have disabled it in some way. If true, and no matter how disturbed/what motivation he had, what a spectacularly selfish act.
The thing with all this is the fact that the passengers must have known what was going on and that screams could be heard near the end of the CVR loop.
Shocking news,truly unbelievable!No matter what state of mind someone is in,this is incomprehensible.Suicide is tragic,on the individual and the people left behind that it impacts on.However this is mass murder,if you feel you have to top yourself,then no-one else should be involved.To take 150 odd innocent people with you is truly the act of a coward and a murderer!
