The plane crash in the Alps

Fell on the controls very lightly, onyl slightly changing the pitch and not imparting any roll to alter the course....not likely.

The wierd thing for me is how basic the flight recording capabilities are (taking into account the other recent disasters too).

The voice recorder only captures on a 2hour loop?!?! Yet I own a 32Gb USB stick the size of a thubmnail that has tons of full length media on it?!
Surely it isn't also unreasonable to expect somewhere to be recieving telelmetry from all flights, covering the basics of altitude,airspeed,coordinates and bearing. Plus some on board pressures,O2 levels etc.
 
News conference now says the co-pilot was conscious during the whole ordeal and refused to let the captain back in and crashed it deliberately.

Awful awful awful.
 
Bring back the Flight Engineer to the cockpit. A third set of hands is invaluable. Also, if any pilot displays manic tendencies, the Flt Eng will have easy access to the Fire Axe!
 
pritchp said:
News conference now says the co-pilot was conscious during the whole ordeal and refused to let the captain back in and crashed it deliberately.

Awful awful awful.
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Good god. Horrific. Why take all those innocent people with him.
 
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.

He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.

Mr Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it.

Air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail, he said.

Passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash, he added.

The co-pilot, now named as Andreas Lubitz, 28, was alive until the final impact, the prosecutor said.
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How terrible for the passengers.
 
Horrific. I was hoping it was a rapid depressurisation situation and everyone was passed out.

8 Minutes for those poor people onboard heading to their deaths. You cant comprehend it!
 
Authorities were pretty quick to release the co-pilots name and he was a German national, if its not a terrorist related incident (and I suspect its not) then not much else but a mental problem of the co-pilot.
You would think that mental illness symptons would have shown up somewhere.
Dreadful state of affairs, feel for any of the relatives / friends affected.
 
bony_13 said:
Fell on the controls very lightly, onyl slightly changing the pitch and not imparting any roll to alter the course....not likely.

The wierd thing for me is how basic the flight recording capabilities are (taking into account the other recent disasters too).

The voice recorder only captures on a 2hour loop?!?! Yet I own a 32Gb USB stick the size of a thubmnail that has tons of full length media on it?!
Surely it isn't also unreasonable to expect somewhere to be recieving telelmetry from all flights, covering the basics of altitude,airspeed,coordinates and bearing. Plus some on board pressures,O2 levels etc.
Click to expand...

The aircraft was 25 years old, I'm not sure how often, if ever, the flight data and voice recording technology installed is updated. As for 'telemetry' etc, that's what the transponder is for I believe, hence how they know speed and altitude of the aircraft through its flight without the black boxes. Though in that area they would have that from radar too. But it is basic information.

It's a real tragedy for the families - such a selfish act for one man to decide the fates of 150 souls :thumbsdown:
 
ronk said:
The 2nd pilot could surely have suffered a medical condition?
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As discussed earlier, if this was the case then the Captain would have been able to gain entry to the cockpit by using the external keypad if the co-pilot was u responsive. The door was deliberately locked from the inside it seems.
 
A320_phill said:
ronk said:
The 2nd pilot could surely have suffered a medical condition?
Click to expand...

As discussed earlier, if this was the case then the Captain would have been able to gain entry to the cockpit by using the external keypad if the co-pilot was u responsive. The door was deliberately locked from the inside it seems.
Click to expand...


I missed that.
So it seems a deliberate act - very sad.
 
ronk said:
A320_phill said:
ronk said:
The 2nd pilot could surely have suffered a medical condition?
Click to expand...
As discussed earlier, if this was the case then the Captain would have been able to gain entry to the cockpit by using the external keypad if the co-pilot was u responsive. The door was deliberately locked from the inside it seems.
Click to expand...
I missed that.
So it seems a deliberate act - very sad.
Click to expand...
Cockpit doors on an Airbus - according to a video understood to have been produced by the company - have three modes that are operated from the pilots' seats: unlock, normal, lock.
In the event of whoever is in the cockpit being incapacitated there is a touchpad that will allow cabin crew who know the code to enter.
In "normal" mode the cockpit is locked but can be accessed - after a 30-second delay - by touchpad should the cabin crew get no response from inside.
"Unlocked" mode is what a pilot would use to open the door for a colleague returning from the toilet.
"Locked" means the locking mechanism ignores the touchpad entry code and remains locked for five minutes (it can be repeated). It's easy to see how this would be used to prevent hijackers who have managed to get hold of the code from cabin crew from entering the cockpit.
Some planes may have a screen to tell the pilots who is outside the cockpit door.
If a pilot is unable to access the cockpit, it suggests that his colleague has denied entry.
 
Very Sad it sounds like the co pilot was having a breakdown thoughts to the families of everyone :(
 
I suppose something has gone on somewhere. I just don't get it, if you want to end it why take 149 other innocent people who knew what was coming by their screams with you? Why not hire a plane or something and just do it yourself. This is unless it was some act against governments or the airline itself. Still an atrocious act. I do feel for these people and their families.
 
It is a discussion we have had here before when someone commits suicide by jumping in from of a train and traumatising the driver - this gets normally defended to the maximum that the person is not being selfish in that case.

I am lost for words though why someone would do that.
 
Angie4m said:
I suppose something has gone on somewhere. I just don't get it, if you want to end it why take 149 other innocent people who knew what was coming by their screams with you? Why not hire a plane or something and just do it yourself. This is unless it was some act against governments or the airline itself. Still an atrocious act. I do feel for these people and their families.
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+1
 
Apparently according to the News today there has been past instances of commercial airline pilots apparently appearing and acting perfectly normal and suddenly going beserk and suffering a complete breakdown during flights. One particular incident left the cabin crew restraining a pilot until the flight ended. With this particular chap there may have no mallice or intent at the start of the flight and for some reason suffered a mental breakdown and did what he did. Looks to be a complete tradgedy. Strange thing is Pilots undergo rigorous mental health checks etc so obviously something was missed with this guy. Having said that I had a close friend who always acting and behaved completely normally and rationally and then one day took his own hand off with an electric saw, completely shocking. Sometimes the rational and can turn into the irrational in the blink of an eye.

Interesting on Easy Jets announcement that there will from now be 3 pilots in the cabin so if one leaves two remain.

Tim.
 
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