Posted on 03/26/2015 6:30:57 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
The German co-pilot who deliberately flew a Germanwings flight into the French Alps has been named as Andreas Lubitz, who was aged 28. Prosecutors said information suggested he was fully conscious as the plane went down.
"The co-pilot is alone at the controls," prosecutor Brice Robin said, drawing on information gathered from the black box recorder. "He voluntarily refused to open the door of the cockpit to the pilot and voluntarily began the descent of the plane."
Details of Lubitz's life are still emerging, with investigators confirming he did not have any known terrorist links. According to the website of the flight club where he was a member, the co-pilot was from Montabaur in Rhineland Palatinate.
German media reports he had 630 flight hours and joined budget airline Germanwings straight out of Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen in September 2013. Authorities have not confirmed if he had any experience as a professional pilot prior to that.
In 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration recognized Lubitz for "meeting and exceeding" the "high educational, licensing and medical standards" established by the body, which regulates civil aviation, reports the Aviation Business Gazette.
The FAA said that the certification standards have evolved to "reduce pilot errors that lead to fatal crashes."
"Andreas became a member of the club as a youth to fulfil his dream of flying," the LSC club said in a death notice on its website.
"He fulfilled his dream, the dream he now paid for so dearly with his life," the club said, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Montabaur city mayor Gabriele Wieland, speaking to the DPA press agency, said Lubitz lived with his parents in Montabaur and also had a residence in Dusseldorf, where the Germanwings flight was heading before it crashed.
French authorities said his family had left Marseille, where a press conference was held earlier on 26 March. His Facebook page lists his interests as aviation and music.
Information from the black box recorder of the flight, which crashed on 24 March and killed 150 people, indicated Lubitz was alone in the cockpit, and intentionally started a descent while the other co-pilot was locked out.
The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf hit a mountain near Barcelonette in the French Alps, after an eight-minute descent.
Looks gay.
“He fulfilled his dream, the dream he now paid for so dearly with his life,” the club said, reports the Wall Street Journal”
I don’t understand this statement. It is irresponsible journalism to imply that a criminal deserves even a scrap of sympathy. From what we are learning now, it appears that this man was not a victim of circumstance, but was the perpetrator of a horrendous crime. If he really did take that plane down, he is guilty of mass murder. The fact that his life ended in the process is of absolutely no consequence.
There is a plane full of people and hundreds of loved ones spread across several countries who do deserve our deepest sympathy and also explanations. The only consideration that should be given to this man is a careful dissection of his life, habits, beliefs, religion, phobias and anything else that might help us to prevent another such tragedy. What should be left out are the sob story statements that attempt to play on our emotions.
Wondering if like Bergdahl's parents, they'll speak Arabic at their press conference and fight for the release of Guantanamo terrorist prisoners?
The doors have an outside lock. It can be manually over-ridden by the inside every 30 seconds (i.e., the pilot has to repeatedly press a button to keep it locked).
So, no, barring the extremely unlikely occurrence of a broken lock and a disabled co-pilot at the same time the pilot had to pee, this was done on purpose.
Hardly.
What about him leads you to believe that he is a Muslim?
He could not look more like a generic native German twentysomething.
Unless you have identified some telling detail in that photo that no one else sees, your comment was ridiculous.
Facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/andreas.lubitz.77
If he joined the airline in September 2013 then that means he racked up 630 hours of flight time in 17 months, or about 37 hours per month. Is that considered low? Don’t U.S. pilots average twice that? And if he didn’t fly much was that a sign that the airline wasn’t sure of his abilities? Perhaps his job was on the line and maybe he had a grudge against them?
They have audio recording of the other pilot calmly knocking on the door to get back in, then knocking less calmly, then trying to break the door down, while the other pilot was conscious and moving in the cockpit.
It wasn't mechanical anything.
This is going to prompt more calls for remote control.
Of CARS!
Although I've surely never studied aeronautics it does seem possible that mechanical failure was the cause.And yes,it could be argued that the French might be tempted to shift blame away from the aircraft.But OTOH,there either *is*,or *is not* evidence on the flight recorder of one of the pilots having,somehow,been locked out of the cockpit.If true that fact,along with the crash itself,would argue in favor of a deliberate act by the pilot who remained in the cockpit.
It would be interesting to me if the evidence found was shared with the US or Japan...neither of which would have any real motive to hinder the investigation in order to protect Airbus.
The keyword is "known." Given time to erect their own CYA protection for the modified limited hangout, officials will release new and emerging "known" details.
The info coming out says that the cockpit was locked when the pilot left. When he returned, he punched in the code to be readmitted. The copilot them hit the lock button to prevent the door from opening. That button will lock the cockpit for an additional five minutes each time it is pushed. No indication of any distress from the copilot who was breathing normally.
Deliberate act wihtout question.
That quote is from a death notice on the website of an aviation club he joined as a young man. I’m pretty sure they posted that when he was regarded as a victim in the crash, rather than suspected of being the cause.
Yes but there was nothing from the guy in the cockpit. That is pretty unusual for someone committing a terrorist act.
We might want to check for a recent insurance policy.
Well, then it’s Mass murder. Now for the reasoning.
He’s Caucasian how us that “muzzie” ?
Diversity. There are many examples of whites who are Islamos. Young man living at home at 28, a little crazy on top, thinks the Moslums have good ideas. That guy Burgdof(sp?)who deserted the Army was same. The three girls in the news a few weeks ago.
Its not that much of a stretch.
There is absolutely no way to know that there wasn’t a mechanical or sensor problem without the flight data recorder, but ignore history and continue with your fantasy if you must. Does that hook in your mouth hurt when the media yanks on it?
Thanks for that info. Didn’t know Marseille had a lot of Muslims.
I think that Homeland Security needs to start monitoring the internet and cell phone activity of all pilots and airline crews. This is now going to be a very attractive weapon for terrorists.
I’ve been a commercial pilot for over 36 years. Don’t ever believe anything the media says about aircraft accidents.
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