Broke apart in mid-air Germanwings

[digger]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/liv...s-live-updates

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by DaFace

That's actually completely untrue - we just never hear about any but the most deadly crashes. From 1983 to 2000, the NTSB estimated the accident survival rate at 95.7%.

Whoa. I wouldn't have guessed that at all. I guess it's a hard thing to put in a marketing message, though.

[Rain Man]

Man, this kind of thing really ticks me off. If you want to off yourself, do it. But why murder a whole bunch of innocent people who had nothing to do with your problems? If it turns out that the co-pilot really did this, he should be viewed as a mass murderer on par with the Gacys and Bundys of the world.

[notorious]

Yep, the passengers had a horrific death.

I can't imagine the Captain's state of mind trying to get to the cockpit while being flung around and weightless at times. JFC

[Donger]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I heard this morning that American aviation rules prohibit one person being alone in the cockpit. As a result, if there are two pilots and one goes to the restroom or whatever, a flight attendant goes into the cockpit.

The radio program I was listening to was uncertain whether this was the procedure in Europe. If it was followed, we may have had a different result (though in theory the co-pilot could lock the door then take out the flight attendant, if physically able, leading to the same result).

That may be a rule but I've seen one pilot go into the head and have never seen a flight attendant go into the cockpit. I've seen them block the passageway with the food cart, though.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Donger

That may be a rule but I've seen one pilot go into the head and have never seen a flight attendant go into the cockpit. I've seen them block the passageway with the food cart, though.

Human nature.


People will bend/break the rules when they get too comfortable with each other.

[Donger]

So, the co-pilot only had 600 hours?

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Pennywise

Yikes!

Moral of the story:

Don't drive in China (I assume that was China). Every time I go there, I have a near death experiences in a car. It's completely ****ed up

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Donger

So, the co-pilot only had 600 hours?

ATP takes a mininum of 1500 hours in the U.S. I can't imagine that it would be much different over there.

[Donger]

(CNN)Details are slowly emerging Thursday about a 28-year-old German national who officials believe purposely crashed Germanwings Flight 9525.

Andreas Lubitz was alone at the controls of the Airbus A320, officials said -- and died along with all 144 passengers and five fellow crew members -- when it plunged into the French Alps Tuesday.

It seems that Lubitz "wanted to destroy the aircraft," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said, but it's unclear why.

Information gleaned from the aircraft's mangled cockpit voice recorder revealed that the captain, who has not been identified, left the cockpit, probably to use the restroom, the prosecutor said.

Lufthansa CEO 'speechless'

When the captain returned, he couldn't get back inside. He banged on the door but Lubitz did not open the door, Robin said.

The co-pilot "manipulated the buttons of the flight monitoring system to activate the descent of the aircraft," Robin said. "The action can only be voluntary."

That Lubitz could have voluntarily crashed a plane was dumbfounding to fellow pilots who knew him.

'A very nice young man'

Pilot Peter Ruecker is one of those pilots.

Ruecker, a longtime member of the flight club in Montabaur, where Lubitz flew, told Reuters that "Andreas was a very nice young man who got his training here and was a member of the club.

"He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet. He was just another boy like so many others here. ... I think he had a lot of fun here," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Hearing about the likelihood that Lubitz intentionally crashed the Germanwings flight, Ruecker said, "I'm just speechless. I cannot give you any explanation for that. Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me."

Another pilot, Klaus Radke, told Reuters that he interacted with Lubitz last fall when Lubitz performed flights to maintain his license.

"I got to know him, or I should say reacquainted with him, as a very nice and a lot of fun, and a polite young man," Radke said.

He said he couldn't fathom that Lubitz intentionally downed Flight 9525.

"I can't imagine it, I just can't imagine it," he said. "I just think, you know, whatever (happened), they are professional pilots. They have a certain internal control mechanism. They are examined, they have to be healthy and everything."

"It's all unimaginable, what's being suspected here," he said. "So my request is that people take the time before they jump to any conclusions. That's what human empathy requires."

Audio reveals captain banged on door

Robin, the Marseilles prosecutor, said he doesn't know whether the co-pilot planned his actions in advance, but that Lubitz "took advantage" of the captain leaving the cockpit to begin the aircraft's descent.

The recorder captured a horrific soundtrack. One can hear the captain banging on the door, Robin said.

At one point, the captain used a video conference system to talk to the co-pilot, the prosecutor said. That system would have allowed the co-pilot to see and hear the captain demanding to get inside the cockpit, aviation experts say.

Passengers were apparently unaware of what was happening until the last few moments when screams were heard on the recording.

Lubitz said nothing as the plane fell, the prosecutor said.

But the sound of Lubitz breathing steadily is heard.

There's no indication that the co-pilot became physically ill or suffered a stroke, the prosecutor said, and Lubitz seemed to be alive until the plane crashed into the mountains.

Reporters asked Robin if he viewed the co-pilot's actions as a suicide.

"When you are responsible for 150 people, I don't call it a suicide," he answered.

The biggest question: Why?

There's no reason to believe, at this time, that Lubitz's motives were terrorism-related, the prosecutor said. His name wasn't on any terror list.

Lubitz had been with Germanwings since September 2013 and had completed 630 hours of flight time, the Germanwings media office said.

Lufthansa, the owner of Germanwings, does "not have any clues" about why the co-pilot crashed the plane, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Thursday.

Spohr echoed the French prosecutor's sentiments regarding the term "suicide."

"If a person kills himself and also 149 other people, another word should be used -- not suicide," he said.

He gave details about Lufthansa pilot training after mentioning that Lubitz "interrupted" his training, which he began in 2008. That break lasted several months, he said, but such an interruption isn't uncommon.

Spohr said he couldn't give any information about why the co-pilot had stopped and then restarted his training.

If it was for medical reasons, he said, then that information would have been private before the crash, he said, but it will be part of information gathered during the investigation.

Pilots in the Lufthansa group get medical testing, but not psychological testing, Spohr said.

Lubitz had trained at the Lufthansa flight training center in Bremen, Germany.

"He was 100% set to fly without restrictions," said Spohr. "His flight performance was perfect. There was nothing to worry about."

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by notorious

Yep, the passengers had a horrific death.

I can't imagine the Captain's state of mind trying to get to the cockpit while being flung around and weightless at times. JFC

Were they getting flung around? I've understood that it was just a nice even descent at constant speed.

I also find that weird, though. If you're going to commit suicide, wouldn't you just nose the plane straight down? Why go in smoothly?

[Donger]

Sounds kind of weird that the passengers weren't aware of anything until the end. At least the folks seated up front would have seen and heard the captain screaming and beating on the door?

[MIAdragon]

Originally Posted by Donger

Sounds kind of weird that the passengers weren't aware of anything until the end. At least the folks seated up front would have seen and heard the captain screaming and beating on the door?

This is just sad.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Were they getting flung around? I've understood that it was just a nice even descent at constant speed.

I also find that weird, though. If you're going to commit suicide, wouldn't you just nose the plane straight down? Why go in smoothly?

To enjoy the final minutes of your diabolical plan?

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by Donger

Sounds kind of weird that the passengers weren't aware of anything until the end. At least the folks seated up front would have seen and heard the captain screaming and beating on the door?

Perhaps the descent wasn't rapid enough to alert them?

Similarly, the captain may not have been aware of the gravity (sorry) of the situation since he couldn't see the instruments.

[notorious]

He must have gone into it very smoothly and pulled the throttle back a lot to mask the effects.


Even though I have 4500 hours, I still picture an airline decent to a crash like in the movies. It's kind of weird.