Germanwings airliner crashes in French Alps

Germanwings airliner crashes in French Alps

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An Airbus A320 airliner has crashed in the French Alps near Digne, French aviation officials and police have said.

The jet belongs to the German low-cost airline Germanwings.

The plane was reported to be carrying 142 passengers and six crew members.

More to follow...

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Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32030270

Last position of Germanwings flight #4U9525 at 09:40 UTChttp://t.co/FHoX6q0GHt pic.twitter.com/72pxGKolRM

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 24, 2015

oh dear

Not great. It apparently dropped in altitude by quite a lot before dropping signal.

Just seen this now on the news. Hopefully everyone somehow is miraculously fine.

Just seen this as breaking news on tv. A very remote area too :(

i read the area where it crashed is so remote that the only way to access it is by helicopter and it will take 2 hours to get there by foot

France's President Francois Hollande said there were likely to be "no survivors" and that he expected a significant number of German casualties.
"It's a tragedy on our soil," he said.

"There were 148 people on board. The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors."

The country's Prime Minister Manuel Valls said the causes of the crash were not yet known.

“It surprises me, that this aircraft flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, would have been at low altitude because nobody goes low in the Alps unless you are landing at Zurich or Geneva.

“So something catastrophic as either taken place or there has been a major emergency. If it was the second it would probably have been preceded or consistent with a radio call.

All these air incidents recently make me not want to travel by air. I hope somehow that the people on the plane survived but judging by the location of the crash I don't know how much hope there is. My thoughts are with the people's families at this time of uncertainty.

Saddened to hear about this - very shocking, and obviously VERY rare - particularly for European airlines.

RIP to those who died.

Hopefully the to all the crash site can be reached sooner rather than later. RIP to all those that have died.

Just some of the images from the crash crash:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17...1.jpg~original

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-byg1NlXytj...2B16.27.50.png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlrZ...ature=youtu.be

How awful, especially hearing it was going down for 8 minutes.

I know how safe flying is but the fact is that if you're going down and you know it it must be one of the worst things to experience. RIP.

This is shocking, knowing that the plane was slowly going down must of been terrifying, RIP.

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Germanwings Pilot Was Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash in France

As officials struggled Wednesday to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed amid a relatively clear sky, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.

A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger, and no answer. There is never an answer.”

He said, “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”

While the audio seemed to give some insight into the circumstances leading to the Germanwings crash on Tuesday morning, it also left many questions unanswered.
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“We don’t know yet the reason why one of the guys went out,” said the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation was continuing. “But what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door.”

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Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/wo...id=tw-bna&_r=1

It's always awful to see these stories because of what it must have been like for the passengers, RIP.

So now it's looking like it was done on purpose by one of the pilots. No way...

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Originally Posted by mdport.

So now it's looking like it was done on purpose by one of the pilots. No way...

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Unfortunately, it does look like this is the case.

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Germanwings plane crash: Co-pilot 'wanted to destroy plane'

The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday appeared to want to "destroy the plane", French prosecutors said.

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.

The co-pilot, now named as Andreas Lubitz, was alive until the final impact, the prosecutors added.

The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain on Tuesday after a rapid eight-minute descent.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-euro...1670209934#_=_

The coming weeks should be interesting. I wonder what their motive and reasoning was. No doubt they'll investigate him down to every last detail to make better sense of the situation.

It would've been better if it was an accident :( This just makes it so much worse.

A change in procedures is most likely going to happen as well here. Two people in the cockpit at all times? Some airlines may do that already but I don't think it's a mandatory thing.

i'm not surprised, human error is the main cause of car accidents and I don't see why it's not the same for air accidents if bad weather is not involved

it'll be interesting to know more of what happened later, hopefully they release all information to the public. heartbreaking for the families if it is suicide by pilot :(
@xxMATTGxx; yeah they will have to make it mandatory! reading up on this though it seems EVERYONE knows to follow the protocol of having a flight attendant in place of the co pilot, or blocking the door with the trolley
wonder why it didn't happen on this flight

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Originally Posted by wixard

wonder why it didn't happen on this flight

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Maybe the fact it was a smaller airliner and not one so well known, meaning people would not expect anything to happen to that particular airline? The pilot was said to be experienced so they probably thought if anything it would be a passenger trying to do something.

It makes sense for there to be a change in rules regarding pilots in/out of the cockpit after something like this though.

While Germanwings is low-cost, it's owned by the Lufthansa group who are a MASSIVE airline. I am not sure what procedures they have when one of the pilots leave the cockpits, It may differ between each airline.

i fly with ryanair monthly, just a 40 minute flight

last month i sat at the very top and saw the trolley block off the door while a pilot left to pee

One of the worse things about this as everyone on board was most likely still alive before the actual impact as well :(

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Originally Posted by wixard

i fly with ryanair monthly, just a 40 minute flight

last month i sat at the very top and saw the trolley block off the door while a pilot left to pee

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Yeah, I believe that is common and also someone to "sit" in there while one of the pilots goes to the toilet or do whatever. Now questions are: Did this airline have this procedure? If so, why wasn't it followed.

If not? Time to make sure all airlines in Europe do?

looks like co-pilot deliberately crashed it

Omg just read that it was on purpose and you could hear the captain pleading with him to open the door and their screams at the last moment :((((((((

Must have been awful in those last moments when they realised they were going to crash...

A couple of European airlines have announced they are changing their cockpit procedures in regards of 2 people in cockpit at all times. I would suspect more to follow as well.

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Originally Posted by xxMATTGxx

A couple of European airlines have announced they are changing their cockpit procedures in regards of 2 people in cockpit at all times. I would suspect more to follow as well.

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Easyjet have done this.

May the co-pilot burn in Hell if this is the case.

Much worse than a mechanical failure if you ask me. This loser dragged all these people to their deaths along with him. Scum.

It's being reported over here that German police have apparently found something of significance in the co-pilots house.

Bit of an update this morning :(

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Alps crash co-pilot Andreas Lubitz hid the details of an existing illness from his employers, German prosecutors say.

They said they found torn-up sick notes in his homes, including one covering the day of the crash.

In their report, Duesseldorf prosecutors did not say what illness Mr Lubitz had.

But German media have said aviation authority documents suggested he suffered depression and required ongoing assessment.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence of a political or religious motive to his actions, and no suicide note was found.

Mr Lubitz and 149 passengers and crew died when Germanwings flight 4U 9525 crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday.

Data from the plane's voice recorder suggest Mr Lubitz purposely started an eight-minute descent into mountains as the pilot was locked out of the cockpit.

In their statement, prosecutors said they seized medical documents from Mr Lubitz's two residences which indicated "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment".

But "the fact that, among the documents found, there were sick notes - torn-up, current and for the day of the crash - leads to the provisional assessment that the deceased was hiding his illness from his employer", the report states.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32087203

came here to post this

when it first came out that he may have deliberately crashed the plane i asked someone how often do pilots have psychological evaluation

does anyone know? do airlines even provide this or is it just in the initial training?

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Originally Posted by wixard

came here to post this

when it first came out that he may have deliberately crashed the plane i asked someone how often do pilots have psychological evaluation

does anyone know? do airlines even provide this or is it just in the initial training?

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I can only go by what I have been reading but I think it may differ between each airline by the looks of this article: http://www.wsj.com/articles/screenin...lps-1427414062

Maybe @Kieran; can answer part of your question. I think they have to get checked every year or something? But I don't know what sort of tests it involves.

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Originally Posted by wixard

came here to post this

when it first came out that he may have deliberately crashed the plane i asked someone how often do pilots have psychological evaluation

does anyone know? do airlines even provide this or is it just in the initial training?

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Shouldn't that be done with everyone in a position that have full control of others? My bus driver could easily go full speed into a wall. Obviously it wouldn't be as catastrophic but it could still kill people.

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Originally Posted by wixard

came here to post this

when it first came out that he may have deliberately crashed the plane i asked someone how often do pilots have psychological evaluation

does anyone know? do airlines even provide this or is it just in the initial training?

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I heard that pilots have an annual medical exam and that's mainly a physical exam, although the doctors taking the exam often ask psychological questions. So that sounds to me like it all depends on your doctor in regards to psychological checks after your initial checks.

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Originally Posted by Yet

Shouldn't that be done with everyone in a position that have full control of others? My bus driver could easily go full speed into a wall. Obviously it wouldn't be as catastrophic but it could still kill people.

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i feel like operating a plane could lead to something more catastrophic and endanger a much greater number of lives if you also take into consideration the area they crash

obviously my taxi driver could swerve onto a road and kill about 7 people, a plane could crash into a building killing hundreds

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Originally Posted by wixard

i feel like operating a plane could lead to something more catastrophic and endanger a much greater number of lives if you also take into consideration the area they crash

obviously my taxi driver could swerve onto a road and kill about 7 people, a plane could crash into a building killing hundreds

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yeah I argued that point on Skype to him, if you started psych testing bus drivers, you'd have to do it to taxi drivers then even going on from that a civilian could cause same damage as a taxi driver etc. so wouldn't work

obviously a plane of 100-300 people and the massive size of the plane and fact it's in the air and not stuck on a road makes it a lot more dangerous and maximizes potential casualties than say a bus.

I see myself being included so ask away :P

Yes we have yearly medicals and no they don't contain psychological stuff, purely a physical exam of your health. When starting with companies you may undergo a psychological test but that's about it. Very rarely would you do one again unless it was deemed necessary that you may need one.