Germanwings Alps Plane Crash

[nealbie]

Looks like the co-pilot crashed the plane on purpose. Wow!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32063587

The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday appeared to want to "destroy the plane", French officials said.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.

He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.

Mr Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it.

Air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail, he said.

Passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash, he added.

The co-pilot, now named as Andreas Lubitz, 28, was alive until the final impact, the prosecutor said.

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The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew, after an eight-minute descent.

"We hear the pilot ask the co-pilot to take control of the plane and we hear at the same time the sound of a seat moving backwards and the sound of a door closing," Mr Robin told reporters.

He said the pilot had probably gone to the toilet.

"At that moment, the co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself. While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the aeroplane.

"This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate."

He added: "The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot through a voluntary act had refused to open the cabin door to let the captain in. He pushed the button to trigger the aircraft to lose altitude. He operated this button for a reason we don't know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane."

He said the co-pilot was "not known by us" to have any links to extremism or terrorism.

But he said German authorities were expected to give further information on his background and private life later.

Passengers were not aware of the impending crash "until very last moment" when screams could be heard, Mr Robin said, adding that they died instantly.

That's even more horrendous than it already was! :shock:

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

Absolutely terrible. This has happened before, I'm afraid. An Egypt Air 767 from JFK to Cairo crashed in the Atlantic in 1999, the same reason.

FAA has taken measures in US airspace regarding this issue by adding in flight sky marshals and having pilot and co pilot accompanied by a marshal if the pilot or co-pilot is alone in the cockpit to avoid this type of situation. However, the ICAO have not taken these steps to prevent this awful scenario and from what I have heard, they are working on a new regulation for this.

Awful that one man's wish to die caused innocent people their lives as well. Not to mention the co pilot's name is a disgrace to the aviation community.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

So devastating! I know that enough evidence has been collected to directly point to the co-pilot as the culprit, and I definitely believe that's the case, but I don't want to go slandering him either. It's a horrible, horrible thing he did, but it sounds like he wasn't mentally all there; however, so many lives were lost needlessly it's kind of hard not to hate the guy. The thing that bothered me the most is the bit where it says you could hear the screams of the passengers on the black box recording right before they crashed. That's so, so awful and I could never even imagine being in that position. Being a pilot is such an amazing thing in my opinion, and everyone that gets to fly for an airline should really be thanking their lucky stars that they have the opportunity to do so, so it's a shame his position allowed him to take the lives of so many.

 

[tribar]

So devastating! I know that enough evidence has been collected to directly point to the co-pilot as the culprit, and I definitely believe that's the case, but I don't want to go slandering him either. It's a horrible, horrible thing he did, but it sounds like he wasn't mentally all there; however, so many lives were lost needlessly it's kind of hard not to hate the guy. The thing that bothered me the most is the bit where it says you could hear the screams of the passengers on the black box recording right before they crashed. That's so, so awful and I could never even imagine being in that position. Being a pilot is such an amazing thing in my opinion, and everyone that gets to fly for an airline should really be thanking their lucky stars that they have the opportunity to do so, so it's a shame his position allowed him to take the lives of so many.

People who aren't mentally stable should not be allowed to fly aircraft. Simple as that.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

^ Unfortunately I don't think a mental assessment is part of the hiring requirements for most airlines. An extensive medical is required and must be redone every few years, but I've never heard of there being anything for mental disorders. People just need to be more aware of the signs, I think.

 

[Dar]

Even so, people with mental illness tend to be very good at hiding it.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

^ Yeah, but even though the co-workers may not have noticed anything about him, they did say his family and people he was romantically involved with noticed something off about his mental stability. I feel like if I knew someone who had that many lives in their hands, and knew they had something wrong with them, I'd report it. Too bad there's not a full disclosure law where it requires people to report suspicious or off behavior to employers of people who are responsible for so many lives.