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Germanwings pilot was locked out of cockpit before crash in France
New York Times ^ | 25 March | Nikola Clark

Posted on 03/25/2015 5:11:16 PM PDT by varialectio

PARIS — As officials struggled Wednesday to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed in relatively clear skies, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.

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


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 1953; 195309; 19530901; 4u9525; andreaslubitz; bremen; bremencell; bremenmosque; cockpitdoors; convert; germanwing; germanwings; lockedout; lubitz; oops; planecrash; terrorism
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To: WonkyTonky

descent profile looks like autopilot... probably just input a descent rate on the Mode Control Panel (MCP) or whatever its called in Airbusese.


301 posted on 03/25/2015 10:43:51 PM PDT by leakinInTheBlueSea
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To: leakinInTheBlueSea

I am speculating.

Here from CNN:

Hundreds of French firefighters and police officers are involved in the recovery effort in the Alps. Searchers have so far retrieved the cockpit voice recorder, one of the plane’s two “black boxes,” said Cazeneuve, the French interior minister.

The debris at the crash site is not characteristic of a plane that exploded in flight; it suggests the plane hit the ground and broke apart, said Remi Jouty, the head of BEA, the French aviation investigative arm that is leading the crash probe.

The cockpit voice recorder, which is designed to capture all sounds on a plane’s flight deck, is damaged but not beyond use, he said.

Investigators have managed to hear some audio from it, Jouty said.

Hollande said the outside frame of the second “black box” — the flight data recorder — has been found, though not the recorder itself. The flight data recorder stores a vast array of parameters about the aircraft.


302 posted on 03/25/2015 10:46:30 PM PDT by lulu16 (May the Good Lord take a liking to you!)
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To: Yehuda

Why wouldn’t our secret muslim Pres. be pleased?


He supports the Muslims but doesn’t want their evil acts looked upon negatively.


303 posted on 03/25/2015 10:47:29 PM PDT by laplata ( Liberals/Progressives have diseased minds.)
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To: dragnet2
I’m trying to imagine being at that height and no cell phones were hitting any distant towers. You think their range would be very extended with line of sight to a tower.

A typical cellular antenna does not radiate upward at all:

As you can see above, the vertical pattern is a narrow beam toward ground (from the height of the tower.) The intent is to deliver power to where the customers are.

304 posted on 03/25/2015 10:54:55 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: lulu16

The DFDR (black box) is located in the tail of the aircraft... can’t be disabled as far as I know (for exactly this reason). ADS-B data was received all the way down... that is broadcast position/speed/altitude. Easy to just not respond to ATC... no need to turn the radio off, just don’t reply. I’d not be surprised if the guy on the flight deck set the plane into descent and offed himself, but it sounds like the normal operation of the door would prevent this scenario.


305 posted on 03/25/2015 10:59:23 PM PDT by leakinInTheBlueSea
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To: dragnet2
If this pilot had any kind of questionable history, everyone will know it once he's ID'd.

And PEGIDA will have..... a response.

I keep waiting for the last straw for Europeans.

306 posted on 03/25/2015 10:59:47 PM PDT by daisy12
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To: varialectio

I am going to go with a chechen this time.


307 posted on 03/25/2015 11:00:17 PM PDT by MarMema (Run Ted Run)
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To: Greysard

Wasn’t there a crash recently where the passengers were texting their final goodbyes?


308 posted on 03/25/2015 11:01:02 PM PDT by daisy12
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To: Organic Panic
When one has to answer nature’s call a flight attendant will ride shotgun.

Apparently not in Europe. Just American policy.

309 posted on 03/25/2015 11:01:24 PM PDT by MarMema (Run Ted Run)
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To: Iron Munro

Excellent. Thanks for the laugh.


310 posted on 03/25/2015 11:03:24 PM PDT by MarMema (Run Ted Run)
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To: varialectio
just one other possibility
311 posted on 03/25/2015 11:06:37 PM PDT by MarMema (Run Ted Run)
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To: daisy12
Wasn’t there a crash recently where the passengers were texting their final goodbyes?

Airplanes are now being equipped with onboard micro-cellular sites and wi-fi equipment, which is then bridged to the ground - or to a satellite - via special data modems. You can find more technical information here, for example.

All equipment inside the airplane can be disabled by the pilot at any time. Legitimate needs include time on the ground, time without passengers, saving power (if flying with less than a full set of generators,) and short or fire.

I flew on a private airplane some years ago from San Jose to San Diego. The captain told us that cell phones stop working pretty fast, but we are welcome to try if we want to. We did try - and indeed they lost signal as we climbed to a few thousand feet, if not earlier. Modern cellular infrastructure is highly optimized, and not much power is wasted.

312 posted on 03/25/2015 11:09:36 PM PDT by Greysard
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To: Greysard

Ahh, okay. Since this was an older plane for short trips it likely didn’t have the micro-cell sites and Wi-Fi.


313 posted on 03/25/2015 11:14:18 PM PDT by daisy12
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Comment #314 Removed by Moderator

To: varialectio

The door lock switch in the A320 has 3 positions:

UNLOCK - obvious

NORM - door can only be opened using the correct code/procedure, known by both pilots and a senior FA

LOCK - door can’t be opened at all for a preset time of 5 to 20 minutes.

Switch is normally in NORM during flight, allowing only authorized people with the code to get in.

LOCK is only to prevent a hostage situation where a hijacker would force a crew member to reveal the door code. LOCK position thwarts this.

Under normal circumstances, a heart attack would not prevent cockpit access. The switch would be in NORM, and the door can be opened.

So, this was not normal.


315 posted on 03/25/2015 11:44:08 PM PDT by ltc8k6
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To: varialectio

It will be interesting to hear the recording — “Mohamed, don’t do this! Let me in! (in German of course!)”


316 posted on 03/26/2015 12:05:51 AM PDT by Born to Conserve
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To: All

Drudge jumps the shark with his headlines, yes, this is major but we don’t know too much more. We probably won’t ever find out the truth just like in the other cases.


317 posted on 03/26/2015 12:44:32 AM PDT by BeadCounter
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Good one!


318 posted on 03/26/2015 12:48:45 AM PDT by antceecee (Bless us Lord, forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life.)
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To: CedarDave
Sounds like a made up name: Anything Wrong.

Chinese pilot #1107082, Aning Wong or Anning Wong, flying from LEBL (Barcelona) to EDDL (Düsseldorf) at FL380 filed. Status, um, incomplete. Link. If vatstats.net is a hack, I'm impressed at how quickly it came together.

319 posted on 03/26/2015 1:12:00 AM PDT by cynwoody
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To: cynwoody

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmclgO6w0C0


320 posted on 03/26/2015 1:23:06 AM PDT by rolling_stone (1984)
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