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The captain of downed Germanwings plane reportedly tried to break into the cockpit with an axe
Business Insider ^ | 03/27/2015 | Pamela Engel

Posted on 03/27/2015 10:28:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

The captain of the Germanwings plane that crashed into the French alps with 150 people on board earlier this week reportedly tried to break into the cockpit with an axe once he realized he was locked out, according to German tabloid Bild.

The Telegraph cites Bild's reporting based on unnamed security sources, noting that the information has not been officially confirmed but that a spokesman for Germanwings confirmed to AFP that an axe was on board the plane.

Officials have confirmed that the cockpit voice recorder recovered from the crash site shows that the captain tried to break down the reinforced cockpit door after the co-pilot refused to open it.

French officials on Thursday blamed the plane's co-pilot, 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz, for the crash that killed everyone on board. Authorities said it was his "intention to destroy this plane."

On the cockpit voice recording recovered from the crash site, Lubitz could be heard breathing from when the captain left the cockpit until the plane crashed, but he did not say a word. The captain was banging on the cockpit door and trying to break it down, but Lubitz would not open the door.

French authorities contend that Lubitz input the command to start the plane's descent after the captain left the cockpit.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Germany; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: accident; germanwing; germanwings
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1 posted on 03/27/2015 10:28:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
Main thread. More here...

Passengers screamed as captain took axe to cockpit door

Friday, March 27, 2015 10:14:20 AM      · by Red Badger      · 103 replies
www.thetimes.co.uk ^ | 03-27-2015 | Staff

3 posted on 03/27/2015 10:30:36 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (With Great Freedom comes Great Responsibility.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Fire Axe is usually kept IN the cockpit. Might have been using an Oxygen bottle or other hard object. Dunno.


4 posted on 03/27/2015 10:32:33 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: Blueflag

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. These cockpit doors were reinforced and made extra secure to prevent terrorists from forcing their way in.

Well, there’s no protection against a psycho, suicidal co-pilot.

Might as well put a urinal in the cockpit. But what’s to stop your suicidal co-pilot from killing you first?


5 posted on 03/27/2015 10:34:59 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
They take my wine opener from me because of a 3/4" blade, yet there is an ax available on board?

WTH?


6 posted on 03/27/2015 10:40:17 AM PDT by Michael.SF. (It takes a gun to feed a village (and an AK 47 to defend it).)
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To: Michael.SF.

THe axe is in the hands of the crew. But yeah, whether you call it a fire axe or a crash axe, it’s a short-handled evil-looking thing.

Taking stuff away from the passengers is about control, not safety.

I fly a LOT for business. I can assure you that no nutcase is EVER going to hijack an American-flagged air carrier. Passengers will F’ing kill the guy. You see it in the news kinda in the open now.


7 posted on 03/27/2015 10:42:59 AM PDT by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: SeekAndFind
 photo Alps_zps78rc8div.jpg His wife recalls: "I had a feeling he was obsessed with the Alps"
8 posted on 03/27/2015 10:43:03 AM PDT by RetSignman (Obama is the walking, talking middle finger in the face of America)
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

To: SeekAndFind

Probably wouldn’t have mattered. If the door started to give way and the co-pilot was bent on crashing the plane, he’d just put it into a steep dive or spin. These types of aircraft aren’t meant to take heavy Gs.


10 posted on 03/27/2015 10:49:35 AM PDT by edpc (Wilby 2016)
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To: sheana
Just Lucas, Prince of Darkness.
11 posted on 03/27/2015 10:56:48 AM PDT by mongo141 (Revolution ver. 2.0, just a matter of when, not a matter of if!)
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To: SeekAndFind

The Captain probably thought the copilot was unconscious or otherwise incapacitated.

He likely never knew or even suspected what mental state his copilot was in — if he had he never would have left the cockpit.

But his sense of urgency was aggravated by the 3,000 ft/min descent. He knew that would end badly if the copilot was really incapacitated.


12 posted on 03/27/2015 11:02:11 AM PDT by zipper (In their heart of hearts, all Democrats are communists)
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To: Blueflag

“Fire Axe is usually kept IN the cockpit. Might have been using an Oxygen bottle or other hard object. Dunno.”

Usually, you’ll find a crash ax in the front and rear overheads, as well. depends on the carrier.

Problem is, the doors are designed to prevent that kind of entry.


13 posted on 03/27/2015 11:15:47 AM PDT by tcrlaf (They told me it could never happen in America. And then it did....)
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To: SeekAndFind

They are now pushing the “medical depression” theory, and they may be right, or not. But did he convert to Islam? If so, when? Who else would believe in a reward of paradise for killing a hundred fifty or so Infidels along with himself?

So he was either crazy, drugged up on anti-depressants or Muslim.


14 posted on 03/27/2015 11:29:24 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & Ifwater the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: SeekAndFind

An AXE??? Where in the h-e-double toothpicks did he come up with an AXE on an airplane with?????????????


15 posted on 03/27/2015 11:30:13 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (MARANATHA, MARANATHA, Come quickly LORD Jesus!!! Father send thy Son!! Its Time!)
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To: Blueflag

Was he going to cut down some trees for a fire in the middle of the isle???? Fire axe??? If the plane went down, he ain’t gonna need no fire axe!!! That is unbelievable. All the times I have flown, I have never heard such a thing as a fire axe on a plane.


16 posted on 03/27/2015 11:32:30 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (MARANATHA, MARANATHA, Come quickly LORD Jesus!!! Father send thy Son!! Its Time!)
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To: SeekAndFind
But what’s to stop your suicidal co-pilot from killing you first?

Tom Clancy's Debt of Honor presents that scenario. It could just as easily apply to a Muslim co-pilot.

17 posted on 03/27/2015 11:32:37 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & Ifwater the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: zipper
The Captain probably thought the copilot was unconscious or otherwise incapacitated.

He likely never knew or even suspected what mental state his copilot was in — if he had he never would have left the cockpit.

I bet if the pilot had pulled the old Land Shark routine from SNL, the co-pilot would have laughed, cheered up and opened the door.

"Uhh, Candy-Gram?"

18 posted on 03/27/2015 11:32:43 AM PDT by keat
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To: RetiredArmy

They will not let us bring water bottles or nail clippers on board, but there are axes?? Why are they strip searching granny and taking away her rock candy from 1969 if a baddie can figure out where the axes are??


19 posted on 03/27/2015 11:36:54 AM PDT by GeronL
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To: Sherman Logan

20 posted on 03/27/2015 11:37:23 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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