BREAKING: Germanwings Pilot Was Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash in France

http://www.nytimes.com ^ | March 25, 2015 | Fox News / NY Times

[CivilWarBrewing]

I think the cockpit locks AUTOMATICALLY. I still don't see why a pilot would exit the cockpit rather than just page someone via his intercom.

Perhaps that pilot had to take a dump and waited for the aircraft to reach cruising altitude before doing so. That's a likely scenario.

[halo66]

Restroom...I’ve seen the pilot leave the cockpit several times once the plane is at cruising altitude.

[Fester Chugabrew]

Maybe the sole pilot went into IPM (Intense Prayer Mode), chanting "Allahu Ahkbar, Allahu Ahkbar"...

...into the PA while taking the aircraft into a steep descent. Then he says, "Just kidding. April Fools. Hehehe."

[randita]

A pilot doesn’t leave the controls to get medical assistance. He/she would call one of the flight attendants as they are trained to handle medical emergencies.

[dragnet2]

I learned long ago not to come to conclusions on anything until the investigation is over. However you have good questions.

If it were terrorist, why not take it into a steep dive and get it over with? Then again, if terrorist/suicide maybe the pilot decided to put it into a long decent so the missing pilot and FA’s might not notice immediately.

I don’t know, but with the pilot attempting to beat the door down, this changes the whole thing.

[barmag25]

I see it on about half the flights I’m on. As soon as we reach cruising altitude and they set it on autopilot one of the pilots comes out to go to the first class restroom right by the cabin door.

I take a couple flights a week. Its common.

[Radagast the Fool]

I keep thinking of the scene in 7 Days in May where Martin Balsam put the incriminating paperwork into his metal cigarette case before he boarded the fatal flight... And the paperwork was found after the crash...perhaps some poor person’s cellphone will be found with details of what happened...

[halo66]

That could be...but they also do not leave the cockpit with only one pilot...they will have a flight attendant stand in until the pilot returns.

[randita]

So makes perfect sense that if the pilot in the cockpit were having medical issues, he would turn around and lock the door so no one could get in. /sarcasm

Looking more and more like a duck.

[Leaning Right]

Question. When a pilot leaves the cockpit, does the door automatically lock behind him/her or does it require an action from inside to lock it?

I wonder if that even matters. If a terrorist were sitting near the very front of the plane, he'd be able to shove his way through that open door regardless.

[Tennessee Nana]

That one Brit could even have been a Moslem...

[re_nortex]

Greta and Xenu are on a first name basis.

[halo66]

No...it is SOP to ALWAYS lock the door...again the question is why no flight attendant in the cockpit?

[Carl Vehse]

If the locked-out pilot was recorded yelling and pounding on the door trying to get in, that would suggest there was no sudden decompression accident.

[Sacajaweau]

Why hear a knock and no voices?? And then bashi but no voices...like Hey Joe...you okay...open the door...

[PapaBear3625]

I am not saying that a flight attendant was called in because the pilot is sick...it is standard operating procedure to have a flight attendant stand in the cockpit while a pilot leaves the cockpit for any reason. It’s a safety procedure in the event the single pilot in the cockpit has a medical issue while the other pilot is using the restroom, etc. I am wondering first why the pilot left the cockpit...may to use the restroom? At that point a flight attendant would have been placed in the cockpit.

Maybe there WAS a flight attendant in there with the co-pilot. And she was the terrorist. Stab the co-pilot, lock the door, pilot the plane into the ground.

[bergmeid]

Pitot tubes are for measuring airspeed.

[BenLurkin]

Yup

[Churchillspirit]

How horrible for those poor souls.

I was hoping that it was an oxygen thing and they were dead before the plane hit the round.

[little jeremiah]

And why crash into a mountain in the middle of nowhere? Why not crash it into a city?

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More chance of getting shot down or otherwise intercepted? Of course shot down is still “Everyone dies”.