“Maybe the pilot died (heart attack?) while the other pilot was out of the cockpit? Once he was out he could not get back in? Just seems that if this was jihad, the pilot would have nose dived the plane instead of a controlled decent?”
If I recall right, at least for USA Airlines, for two man Cockpits if one leaves a Flight Attendant must sit in until he returns. Seems like sound policy, someone needs to lock up the re-enforced Cockpit door assuming one Pilot must be seated at all times. Did the Pilot whom remained behind go Allah Akbar on the Flight Attendant? Hard to know why the relatively orderly descent if murder by Pilotcide? Can’t rule out a Pilot having a medical emergency, but if a Flight Attendant was supposed to be in there with him Lufthansa will be sued out of business and rightfully so.
Bttt
Why should a pilot have to leave the cockpit in the first place??? That’s just asking for trouble, on so many levels. And if there isn’t a small toilet in the cockpit, there should be.
That plane was probably on autopilot once at cruising altitude. Thats probably when the pilot got up to go to the bathroom. Somebody locked the door. and from my understanding the settings for altitude have to be changed by someone.
I remember a few years ago a story about a flight where both pilots fell asleep and overflew their destination a few hundred miles. Autopilot maintained the altitude.