Article

2015-03-26 Europe

NYT reporting Germanwings pilot locked out of cockpit before crash

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Besoeker 2015-03-26 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11126 views ] Top

#1 Breitbart story, same subject.

Posted by Besoeker 2015-03-26 05:37|| 2015-03-26 05:37|| Front Page Top

#2 More from the Telegraph.
Latest

09.30 They are not naming the pilots at this moment, and cannot give out any information as to when they will name them, writes Justin Huggler in Berlin.

They said they "cannot confirm or deny the report in the New York Times, The investigation is the responsibility of the French authorities".

Both pilots were trained at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen.

The captain had over 6,000 flight hours' experience. He joined Germanwings in May 2014. Previously he was a pilot with Lufthansa and Condor, a Lufthansa partner airline.

The first officer joined Germanwings in September 2013. He had about 630 flight hours. They were unable to confirm whether this was his first job as a professional pilot, or any previous experience.

09.22 The German pilots' union say they are making no comment and giving out no information until the next Germanwings press conference, which will be at 2.30pm CET (1.30pm London time). They say they will not name the pilots, that is for the company to do.

The Lufthansa flight training school in Bremen say they have been told to give out no information and are referring all queries to the Lufthansa press office in Frankfurt.

Posted by Besoeker 2015-03-26 06:14|| 2015-03-26 06:14|| Front Page Top

#3 The pilot is reported as Patrick S. (~6000 hrs). The First Officer was Andreas L. (~630 hrs); it was him who got locked out. The pilot might have had a stroke or heart attack--it's a possibility that will probably never be known. Their religion was not reported.

Posted by JohnQC 2015-03-26 07:12|| 2015-03-26 07:12|| Front Page Top

#4 Too much speculation and unconfirmed rumors at this point.

Posted by European Conservative 2015-03-26 07:51|| 2015-03-26 07:51|| Front Page Top

#5 Scenario: First officer leaves the cockpit to use the head & door is locked behind him as is standard. Returns & knocks normally for re-admission; no response. But so far WE have no indication of anything wrong with the flying characteristics. Knocks louder. No response.
It's in the middle of a flight, & I would expect on autopilot. So if the captain was incapacited & unable to unlock the door, how did the plane go into a death dive? Does airplane autopilot act like a car's cruise control, where touching the brakes disengages it - so if the pilot got up to unlock the door and collapsed onto the control stick & pushed it forward it would have disengaged the autopilot and put the plane into it's final dive?
The only other alternative is the mass murder-suicide, but names Patrick and Andreas are not typical for the demographic that usually does that sort of thing.

Posted by Glenmore 2015-03-26 07:54|| 2015-03-26 07:54|| Front Page Top

#6 The NYT report is unconfirmed. Sloppy journalism. What ever happened to the second source principle?

Posted by European Conservative 2015-03-26 08:04|| 2015-03-26 08:04|| Front Page Top

#7 Oh, I'm watching the official press conference of the state attorney in Marseille. This now indeed indicates a possible deliberate action of the First officer (incompetence or more?). His name was given as Andreas Lubitz (sp?)

Posted by European Conservative 2015-03-26 08:21|| 2015-03-26 08:21|| Front Page Top

#8 « Il a refusé d'ouvrir la porte au commandant de bord sorti momentanément du cockpit et actionné les commandes activant la descente de l'appareil »

means he refused to open the door and activated the descent. This looks serious.

Posted by European Conservative 2015-03-26 08:24|| 2015-03-26 08:24|| Front Page Top

#9 Breaking: French Prosecutor: #Germanwings Co-Pilot Appears To Have Intentionally Destroyed The Plane

Posted by Hupineger Glomomp52169 2015-03-26 08:30|| 2015-03-26 08:30|| Front Page Top

#10 The Marseille prosecutor has said that the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight, Andreas Lubitz may have crashed the plane deliberately.
"The co-pilot is alone at the controls," prosecutor Brice Robin said, drawing on information gathered from the black box recorder. "He voluntarily refused to open the door of the cockpit to the pilot and voluntarily began the descent of the plane."
Mr Robin said the 28-year-old had a "deliberate desire to destroy this plane. He ... refused to open the door of the cockpit to the pilot and deliberately began the descent of the plane."
A mother of a schoolmate told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that he had told her daughter he had taken a break from his pilot training because he was suffering from depression.
"Apparently he had a burnout, he was in depression," the woman, whom the paper did not name.
She said her daughter had seen him again just before Christmas and that he had appeared normal. She added he was a "lovely boy". "He had a good family background," she told the paper.
Carsten Spohr, CEO of Germanwings parent company, said in a press conference today that Lubitz "took a break in his training six years ago. Then he did the tests (technical and psychological) again. And he was deemed 100 percent fit to fly."
"I am not able to state the reasons why he took the break for several months."

Posted by airandee 2015-03-26 11:44|| 2015-03-26 11:44|| Front Page Top

#11 In the US, first officers of jets are required to have 1500 flight hours.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2015-03-26 15:24|| 2015-03-26 15:24|| Front Page Top

#12 @#11: True, but the increase in required hours came about in USA-land after two low-timers rolled Colgan Air Flight 3407 into a house in Clarence Center, New York, after experiencing an aerodynamic stall.

The 1,500 hours is an ATP thing changed owing to the above-cited accident. See here.

Posted by Hupineger Glomomp52169 2015-03-26 16:36|| 2015-03-26 16:36|| Front Page Top

23:49 JosephMendiola
23:39 KBK
23:21 OldSpook
23:19 OldSpook
23:15 3dc
23:11 Zenobia Floger6220
23:05 Zenobia Floger6220
22:51 European Conservative
22:42 JosephMendiola
22:37 JosephMendiola
22:11 Grunter
21:57 Thereting Poodle9228
21:49 Old Patriot
21:32 M. Report
21:30 Frank G
21:17 Procopius2k
20:56 Fred
20:56 Hupineger Glomomp52169
20:48 Alaska Paul
20:43 Pappy
20:35 Pappy
20:12 Hupineger Glomomp52169
20:05 Woodrow Stalin1308
19:58 trailing wife