Posted on 03/26/2015 7:25:48 AM PDT by Hojczyk
The co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings Airbus A320 locked his captain out of the cockpit before deliberately crashing into a mountain to 'destroy the plane', it was sensationally revealed today.
French prosecutor Brice Robin gave further chilling details of the final ten minutes in the cockpit before the Airbus A320 plunged into the French Alps killing 150 people.
Revealing data extracted from the black box voice recorder, he said the co-pilot - named as 28-year-old German Andreas Lubitz - locked his captain out after the senior officer left the cockpit.
At that point, Lubitz used the flight managing system to put the plane into a descent, something that can only be done manually - and deliberately.
He said: 'The intention was to destroy the plane. Death was instant. The plane hit the mountain at 700kmh (430mph).
'I don't think that the passengers realised what was happening until the last moments because on the recording you only hear the screams in the final seconds'.
arlier in the flight, Mr Brice said Lubitz's responses, initially courteous, became 'curt' when the captain began the mid-flight briefing on the planned landing of the plane.
The captain - named by local media as German father-of-two Patrick Sonderheimer - then left the cockpit but found himself locked out when he tried to re-enter.
Mr Robin said: 'We hear the pilot asking the co-pilot to take over and we hear the sound of a chair being pushed back and a door closing so we assume that the captain went to the toilet or something.
So the co-pilot is on his own, and it is while he's on his own that the co-pilot is in charge of the plane and uses the flight management system to start the descent of the plane.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Feh, every German I've ever met wants to go there. Seattle too.
Is that based on personal expertise?
I've seen car wrecks at about 1/3 the speed that have scattered parts for a quarter mile and of course 3 times the speed is 9 times the energy.
Question: was the First Officer a follower of the Religion of Peace?
US and Egypt split on fatal plane crash
Suicidal pilot brought down flight 990 killing 217 people, insist NTSB sources, not a mechanical fault in the plane
EgyptAir flight 990 crash: special report
Michael Ellison in New York
Thursday 8 June 2000 21.11 EDT Last modified on Wednesday 1 October 2014 04.02 EDT
American investigators of a plane crash that killed 217 people last year are wrapping up their inquiry and may approve their conclusions without public hearings for fear of exacerbating strained relations with Egypt.
According to the New York Times, experts at the National Transportation Safety Board are more convinced than ever that a suicidal pilot caused the crash of EgyptAir 990 after it left New York last October.
But the Egyptian government is pressing the theory that the plane, a Boeing 767, developed a mechanical fault in its tail.
...
The investigators still believe that the words of the plane’s 59-year-old co-pilot on the cockpit voice recorder were those of a man saying a farewell prayer. As the aircraft was heading for the Atlantic, 50 miles off Nantucket Island, Gamil al-Batouti said: “Tawakilt ala Allah” or “I put my faith in God”. Then the captain, Ahmed al-Habashi, who is thought to have left the cockpit, returned to say “pull up” or “help me”.
Egyptians say that the Americans misunderstood the co-pilot’s words, a Muslim prayer. “This prayer would never be said in times of crisis,” ...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/09/egyptaircrash.usa
I have seen on some airlines that when one of the pilots has to leave the cockpit they require a cabin attendant to take their place in the cockpit to answer the door. That leaves the remaining pilot to handle the controls, without having to deal with the door at all.
No airline can be this stupid, but government bureaucracy which produced regulations about cockpit security certainly is this stupid.
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This cannot happen on a US based airline.
Nobody is ever left alone in the cockpit on US planes.
Plan your trips well folks!
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I have observed it, but wasn’t certain if it was a rule.
How can they tell which of the flight crew had left the cockpit?
Heterosexual Privilege !
I see. Thanks.
I read that the co-pilot only had less than 700 hours, which is not much for a 28 year old pilot.
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Or Sausalito?
The photo was not taken in SF.
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There was a fighter plane by the airplane. That pilot saw exactly what happened.
I heard earlier — on the radio — that US airlines have to bring a Flight Attendant into the cockpit before either the Pilot or Co-Pilot can leave. Thus there will be two people in the cockpit at all times.
Can anyone verify this?
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Yes, I heard a 777 pilot call in today on the Chris Plante show and he stated that this is a U.S. requirement.
Im wondering why Facebook took down his page?
Was there “evidence” there which could have lead to any conclusions about this guy?
I’ve read several articles about this guy, but not a single mention of a surviving wife or children.
Take a look at the pics from flight 96 that crashed in PA. It’s what I’m using as a reference. Both planes augured in. 96 exploded in a compact area, this one shows no explosion on the ground where the impact occurred.
the photo appears to have been taken In Sausalito but to the average tourist...the Golden Gate Bridge...is “in” San Francisco. yavool
If the captain was armed he could have at least tried to shoot the lock open on the door. Like on submarines we need to start arming all captains.
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I bet that door is engineered like a safe with multiple bolts sliding out into the door jam all the way around.
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