Alone at controls, co-pilot sought to 'destroy' the plane

[dotpoom]

It appears that there have been a number of similar instances as this over the past 10 years. When investigated most of them had common factors come to light..ie., marriage problems, debt and depression. Normal insurance would not cover the financial problems of the pilot in the instance of his death...unless he died in a plane crash. Because most pilots are under contract, asking for time off for medical assistance due to depression or mental instability is not something they wish to do for obvious reasons...like will their job still be there when they feel capable of flying again.

[Straight8]

I can sympathize with someone who feels so stressed out that he wants to end his own life, but how anyone can plan to take 150 men, women and especially children with him suggests that the airlines need to tighten up the psychological screening ... and ensure that a single person is never left alone in the cockpit.

Quite easily it seems judging by the actions of this insane maniac.

Governments around the world need to do more, possibly making it mandatory to have security guards on every flight, and judging from this event, one inside the cockpit.

No if's or but's.

[Jingthing]

The accused copilot, ironically posed at the Golden Gate Bride, a famous site for suicides:

copilot.jpg

That`s an insult to people commiting suicide. This is fullblown mass-murdering of innocent lives

I just said it was ironic.

No need to tear me a second ...

[Straight8]

He must have had a "psychotic" moment. I don't see how a suicide could have been planned as there is no way he could have predicted that the pilot would need a bathroom break and that he would be left in the cockpit alone.

Guess he took his chance and if the pilot on this flight didn't use the bathroom for the entire flight, well his option was wait for a flight where it did happen.

Who knows, maybe he this scenario had already played out before and failed.

It seems it was inevitable.

[orosee]

So far, none of the board racists have been calling it "catholicist terrorism." Come on, go ahead.

As for the pilot, for once I wish I'd believe in hell.

I'm sure the future will bring even more disturbing and confusing details about this event.

[orosee]

He must have had a "psychotic" moment. I don't see how a suicide could have been planned as there is no way he could have predicted that the pilot would need a bathroom break and that he would be left in the cockpit alone.

Guess he took his chance and if the pilot on this flight didn't use the bathroom for the entire flight, well his option was wait for a flight where it did happen.

Who knows, maybe he this scenario had already played out before and failed.

It seems it was inevitable.

That's what I think, too. Counting on the captain to leave the cockpit on this specific flight would've left too much to chance.

This guy knew the passenger manifest; he knew there was a school class and babies on board, yet he decided to kill all of them. Why?

Although I wouldn't be surprised if further details might bring some more sense into this weird, weird story.

[saminoz]

Well, his name looks classically German, so ethnicity is likely not an 'issue'. But what are you saying? That airlines should discriminate against people of certain ethnicities or faiths in their hiring??

In a word, yes.

Why hire for such important positions from a group of people feared for fanatical behavior and murderous, inhuman intent.

Would a colonial British family in India have hired a Thugee houseboy, in order to be politically correct?

Maybe some positive discrimination against Muslims will prompt the moderates to get their house in order.

[Straight8]

This is yet another wake up call of how the industry needs to change its safety regulations.

Look how easy it is to take hundreds of lives in an instant.

Frightening!!!!

[saminoz]

I'm beginning to suspect that all is not well inside the German airline industry. First, you have a group of Germanwings pilots refuse to fly their planes after this crash. Adolf Galland, they're not. And, now, the keys to a plane with 149 people on it being given over to a 28 year old just two years out of the company flight school. Soft, soft, soft. Not exactly the same sort of stuff that went into Ernst Udet, who had the decency to do himself in while alone. These Germans seem emotionally fragile, sloppy, and downright weak.

Hold it. Young co-pilots fresh out of training man (or wo-man) controls everywhere in the world. How do you think they earn their experience? Simulator? But no, they are not always up to their sort of image. I always mistrust sort of images and people and organisations who appear too perfect. I d gladly fly anytime with one of those half-drunk Ukrainians who fly the UN planes in Congo. They d never do such a thing.

I'm assuming you're referring to the same half drunk Ukrainians who, drunk, failed to climb from the domestic airport in Kinshasa and ploughed through the market at the end of the runway killing scores of women and children?

The crew then exited the plane, went back to base and continued drinking, I heard.

[Jingthing]

U.S. rules about preventing lone pilots, not always followed in Europe:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/security-experts-say-us-rules-aim-to-prevent-lone-pilot-scenario/2015/03/26/ee240db8-d3cc-11e4-ab77-9646eea6a4c7_story.html?hpid=z1

[mrjonyoung]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I'm beginning to suspect that all is not well inside the German airline industry. First, you have a group of Germanwings pilots refuse to fly their planes after this crash. Adolf Galland, they're not. And, now, the keys to a plane with 149 people on it being given over to a 28 year old just two years out of the company flight school. Soft, soft, soft. Not exactly the same sort of stuff that went into Ernst Udet, who had the decency to do himself in while alone. These Germans seem emotionally fragile, sloppy, and downright weak.

What a load of nonsense!!

So because of one nutcase you classify all German pilots as emotionally fragile??

Are you German....................................

Actually its good that the pilots did not fly.. they might have felt stressed after this accident. They lost two coworkers who they might have known well. Stressed people make mistakes.. that is something you don't want on a plane. So in a way they chose for safety.

If you loose close co worker in general it will impact you and sure you can act tough and step over it.. but if that causes you to make errors. That would be real bad.

(just speculating here on the reason but seems valid enough)

I dont want a pilot that cant deal with stress 24/7 no matter how emotional he may be.

I think he was dealing fairly well. If it is true that his breathing was normal then that shows something very strange in deed. It is pretty difficult to put ones self in that situation, but I am 100% sure that I would have been experiencing fast breathing; even if it was intentional. There could be more here.

[zydeco]

I'm beginning to suspect that all is not well inside the German airline industry. First, you have a group of Germanwings pilots refuse to fly their planes after this crash. Adolf Galland, they're not. And, now, the keys to a plane with 149 people on it being given over to a 28 year old just two years out of the company flight school. Soft, soft, soft. Not exactly the same sort of stuff that went into Ernst Udet, who had the decency to do himself in while alone. These Germans seem emotionally fragile, sloppy, and downright weak.

Germans emotionally fragile

I think not

Are you some sort of retard?

Many people have lost their lives

I usually don't need to explain this sort of thing to people who have at least a minimal understanding of the English language, and it gets boring doing so. "These" is an adjective modifying "Germans" in my sentence. Hence, I did not refer to Germans as a people or nation but to antecedent, "these Germans" at Germanwings. Apparently, it is not only "these Germans" who are emotionally fragile.

[empireboy]

Sad on so many levels. My condolences to the families and friends of the lost!

[Hawkman]

Terrible tragedy. Unfortunately in these tragedies, the victims get forgotten about as somewhere in the world, some conspiracy theorists will be trying to create a conspiracy theory for this crash and link this all to Illumaniti/CIA or something. Create a youtube video with a deep sounding voice, then all the conspiracy theorists will lap it up and believe it while Alex Jones, Jesse Ventura and the like fill up the pockets even more.

[zydeco]

If Lubitz did suffer a mental breakdown, as indicated in the above posts, then this makes the matter all the more serious for the German airline industry. He should have washed out at that point. What sort of people are German airlines putting into the skies? It also makes me wonder if American and other airlines are giving a pass these days to unstable people, too. In this day and age, after all, it is better to put the lives of hundreds at risk than hurt the feelings or job opportunity of a single individual.

[MaxLee]

What a *deleted*.... it gives the high so's in Thailand a reason to bash more Falang....

.... and more importantly, my deepest condolences to the victims..

[Fullstop]

It was aliens...

[crusty]

How many other Disasters , have been done in by the pilots, Malaysia anyone...

Yes my thoughts also, both the Malaysian crashes so similar but the info passed to the public well controlled. The truth only emerged from the German crash after two whistle blowers leaked the findings so they had no optoons but come clean with what really happened. The first Malaysian case "they" manufactured evidence that had searches looking for the plane thousands of kms. in the wrong direction yet silence when a one Mal McKay working on an oil rig off Vietnam reports seeing an airliner crash in to the sea not far from his rig ! And the second crash off Indonesia where a newbie co-pilot was also to blame the investigation has been slowed almost to a stop. Who is pulling the "right to know" levers here , Airbus, IATA ???

[ABCer]

Quotes from OP:

• "Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's "intention (was) to destroy this plane,"
• " Lubitz, a 28-year-old German, manually set the plane on the descent that drove it into the mountain."
• "... co-pilot said nothing from the moment the commanding pilot left."
• "... the override code known to the crew does not go into effect — and indeed goes into a lockdown — if the person inside the cockpit specifically denies entry..."
• "The circumstances of the crash are likely to raise questions anew about the possibility of suicidal pilots."
• "In the 1999 crash of an EgyptAir jet off Nantucket that killed all 217 people on board, U.S. investigators found the co-pilot intentionally caused the plane to go down despite the pilot's efforts to regain control."
• "CEO Spohr said: "We choose our cockpit staff very, very carefully."
• " Lubitz had never been flagged as a terrorist and would not give details on his religion or ethnic background."

Call me heartless for not joining the RIP brigade - costs little and is worth even less.

Call me paranoid if you are more confident in your own mental condition.

But the circumstances, facts and opinions quoted above do not seem to me supporting "psychotic" version.

Also they do not seamlessly stitch together IMHO. I'm afraid I smell a rat here.

European Laws forbid disclosure of details related to ethnicity, religion etc. of this Andreas Lubitz.

He was (?) permitted not to give details of his ethnic and religious background when trained and employed (?).

Bingo! I do not like this! Whether it is true or false...

Well, his name looks classically German, so ethnicity is likely not an 'issue'. But what are you saying? That airlines should discriminate against people of certain ethnicities or faiths in their hiring??

You are right, - I am abhorred at my own inner thoughts.

I also understand some kissing lips calling certain group of posters here idiots.

But when idiotic tragic and incomprehensible things happen - people try to rationalize.

Of coarse Andreas Lubitz name sounds German. As his passport is most likely showing German Nationality.

But in these days and times perhaps this is not enough? At least for security checks?

And what if I'm saying what you thought I was saying? Surely you can call me an idiot. Question would be which one of us is an idiot...

We live at bad times. Bad things happen. It is time to think bad thoughts. Not that I like it...

[friendphil]

I never heard of ths incident before now, and the story doesn't say when it happened. Or did I miss something?

[wabothai]

Not for one second do I believe that this was a one man's show of rage and anger.

[ravip]

I'm beginning to suspect that all is not well inside the German airline industry. First, you have a group of Germanwings pilots refuse to fly their planes after this crash. Adolf Galland, they're not. And, now, the keys to a plane with 149 people on it being given over to a 28 year old just two years out of the company flight school. Soft, soft, soft. Not exactly the same sort of stuff that went into Ernst Udet, who had the decency to do himself in while alone. These Germans seem emotionally fragile, sloppy, and downright weak.

What a load of nonsense!!

So because of one nutcase you classify all German pilots as emotionally fragile??

Are you German....................................

Actually its good that the pilots did not fly.. they might have felt stressed after this accident. They lost two coworkers who they might have known well. Stressed people make mistakes.. that is something you don't want on a plane. So in a way they chose for safety.

If you loose close co worker in general it will impact you and sure you can act tough and step over it.. but if that causes you to make errors. That would be real bad.

(just speculating here on the reason but seems valid enough)

I dont want a pilot that cant deal with stress 24/7 no matter how emotional he may be.

The human brain is such, no one can predict 100% how things will happen.

No matter where the being is from or from what social strata he comes from.

If only we could realize this...

If you dont want a pilot that cant deal with stress 24/7 no matter how emotional he may be the safest would not to fly - but the risk is still there for a plane to crash onto you while taking a stroll in the woods!

RIP for the innocent victims.

[JakeSully]

OMG is this really possible?

The perpetrator isn't Arab/ Muslim/ Iranian/ Frenchman with an arabic name/ Russian/ Ukrainian/ Indian or Obama.

Holy crap.. seriously? What will all the mods do now when they don't have to delete any racist posts?

Ok on a more serious note, I can't understand why after 9/11 a second person (usually head flight attendant didn't enter the cockpit) or why it wasn't routine.

[ABCer]

Frankly speaking, I would be more comfortable with a properly designed and secure robot (or program) flying me from A to B.

Maybe with a possible override from land base.

Human link is obviously the weak one for one reason or another.

Gowd! I am flying in a couple of days, really...

[NeverSure]

I can sympathize with someone who feels so stressed out that he wants to end his own life, but how anyone can plan to take 150 men, women and especially children with him suggests that the airlines need to tighten up the psychological screening ... and ensure that a single person is never left alone in the cockpit.

Quite easily it seems judging by the actions of this insane maniac.

Governments around the world need to do more, possibly making it mandatory to have security guards on every flight, and judging from this event, one inside the cockpit.

No if's or but's.

The more people you put on that plane the more chances you have of someone going postal. What if the security guard is the nut?

I can't find world statistics real fast, but the US NOAA says that every day in the US there are 28,000 airline flights. This crash as news is very sobering, but as a statistic it's insignificant enough for me not to worry.

Cheers.

Oops. LINK

Edited March 27, 2015 by NeverSure

[Mosha]

As I posted in the other thread. The guy had an history of depression.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/germanwings-plane-co-pilot-andreas-lubitz-5406020

[flyingdoc]

Terrible revelations!

RIP all the innocent passengers on that flight.

[ravip]

German police make 'significant discovery' at his flat

>>> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3012053/Andreas-Lubitz-Germanwings-flight-9525-French-alps-crash-French-alps-Germanwings-plane-crash-Airbus-A320-Barcelonnette.html

What happened in the Germanwings Flight 9525 cockpit: From ‘cheerful’ chatter to ‘screams in the final seconds’

>>> http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03/26/what-happened-in-the-cockpit-of-germanwings-flight-9525-from-cheerful-chatter-to-screams-in-the-final-seconds/

[maidee]

only allow stable married men with children and a psy evaluation every few months ?

let's see what the future info will bring ... did he change his religion recently to the religion of so called PEACE ....

[MJKT2014]

What amazes the crap out of me is that now this flight has been quickly detected to be a pilot suicide flight (well done to the flight investigators for coming up with this fast), comparisons are being made with other large airline pilot suicides of the past such as Egypt Air and Silk Air but NONE seem to include the MH370 in the stats yet. At least this event may change things for the better and regulations changed to ensure that never ever again is just ONE person allowed to be in the cockpit alone again. Sooner this happens the better.