Co-Pilot 'intentionally' Destroyed Plane, Prosecutor says

PARIS (AP) — Ignoring the captain's frantic pounding on the door, the co-pilot of the Germanwings jet barricaded himself inside the cockpit and deliberately rammed the plane full speed into the French Alps as passengers screamed in terror, a prosecutor said Thursday.

In a split second, all 150 people aboard were dead

Andreas Lubitz's "intention (was) to destroy this plane," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said, laying out the horrifying conclusions French investigators reached after listening to the final minutes of Tuesday's Flight 9525 from the plane's black box voice data recorder.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the conclusions brought the tragedy to a "new, simply incomprehensible dimension."


The pilot knocked several times "without response," the prosecutor said, adding that the cockpit door can only be blocked manually from the inside.

The co-pilot said nothing from the moment the captain left, Robin said. "It was absolute silence in the cockpit."

Co-Pilot 'intentionally' Destroyed Plane, Prosecutor says

Well this is a tragedy made for ATS.

I'm sad for the families, and love ones but the facts on this plane crash are baffling so far.

It appears the co-pilot crashed the plane deliberately, and lock the pilot out of the cockpit while he revved the engines to full throttle into the mountain.

Maybe the co-pilot lost his mind, or had a mental breakdown?

Who are they going to prosecute, I wonder?

This is why I don't like to fly, you never know what type of nut is up there.

Maybe he wanted to become infamous, but all the medical and security checks never picked anything up.

I heard tonight that his parents went along with all the grieving relatives to the crash area. However, since this news broke, they have been separated from the rest of the group. It appears to be a very sad incident, which could possibly have been avoided, if they had the two rule in place. Alas, this carrier didn't.

Already a thread
BREAKING: Co-Pilot intentional crashed plane. Co Pilot Named

a reply to: Cobaltic1978

That is sad about his parents. They are victims just like the families of all the others and I hope they are not treated as if they did it.

I've been thinking the same about the "two rule" you mentioned. Such a simple rule that could have prevented this from happening.

Hopefully he left a clue behind as to why this happened. For closure for the families it would be best if they knew why.

a reply to: Blaine91555


I'm hope something comes to the surface as well, not for the families but for the sake of everyone that flies. When we read the facts there was nothing anyone could actually do, and the fact it was a trusted employee makes it an even more difficult situation to comprehend.

The first thing that came to mind after reading this story is a complete mental breakdown, and delusional behavior.

Our news channels are reporting the co-pilot had to suspend his training because he went through a period of depression, the lack of a two people-in-the-flight-deck-at-all-times-rule, as well as the design of the door locks which meant that someone could lock everyone else out of the flight-deck.

The two person rule wouldn't have helped as he might have been able to overpower the other person. I guess they are going to have to program in more intelligence into aircraft navigation systems so they are smart enough not to fly into mountains.

a reply to: stormcell

GCAS. The US Air Force recently installed it on F-16s, and it almost immediately saved an aircraft that would have flown into the ground.

a reply to: STTesc

I don't like to fly any more either. My reasons are: 1. The corporations are neglecting maintenance and pulling all the income out as profits, and 2. The corporations treat their employees like crap, underpay them and overwork them - and I don't want some justifiably but terminally fed-up PO'd guy holding my life in his hands.




But that's me.

a reply to: soficrow

The companies that cut corners on maintenance are caught fairly quickly. Quite a few have even turned themselves in to regulators.

Last year, there were 21 aircraft crashes (20 accidents, 1 shootdown). A little over 900 people were killed. It comes out to 1 crash for roughly every 4 million flights.

a reply to: Realtruth

Yes, but still all data is not available! It seems indeed that te co pilot deliberately crashed the plane. Still, to be so quick to point the finger is strange.

a reply to: stormcell

Depressed people normally just kill themselves.... If indeed he operated intentionally something else must be going on.

a reply to: QueenofWeird

I agree!
It seems odd to me that we are just over 2 days in and it has been determined that it was a "mass-murder" or "suicide" situation. I am not saying I believe it was or wasn't.
Have they found a suicide note, parents or girlfriend said he made statements about dying? Did his FB page reveal something?
I have heard that he took time off to battle depression but, this was I believe I read in 2009. I realize that depression doesn't just "go away" but, it would seem THAT taking off of work and THIS tragedy may not be connected...
I don't know how hearing the pilot banging on the door and screams from the passengers indicate an intentional act.
Quite possibly it was but, I would like to know how they've arrived at that conclusion other than the recording...

I'm not "defending" the co-pilot. I'm simply wondering...?
ETA: I sounded insensitive and this was unintentional...Thoughts of strength for the families and sadness for those they lost.

The odds of surviving a regulation plane flight are getting slimmer and slimmer every day.

Another baffling mystery in the history of air travel.

The world has gone completely around the corner bat # crazy

a reply to: twentyeight

Are you kidding? Last year, including MH17, which wasn't an accident, just over 900 people died in crashes last year. There was an average of one crash every 4 million flights.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

That's what I was thinking until I read the line about how the cockpit door had to be intentionally locked by the co-pilot.

If it's true the only conclusion I can draw is it was intentional.

Pretty messed up and selfish way to end your life.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Ya think? ...So how long have all those planes been in the air? How old are they?




?

a reply to: soficrow

Southwest has twice in the last five years turned themselves in for missing inspections.

It depends on the airline. Most major carriers average less than 10 years. The average age is dropping as airlines buy newer, more efficient aircraft.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thing about averages is - they’re just averages. Lots of planes in the air are much older than the “10 year” average. So it really depends which plane you board. Here’s a quick look from AirFleets.

American Airlines fleet details

Fleet age 12.7 years

Boeing 757 75 18.7 years
Boeing 767 58 20.7 years
McDonnell Douglas MD-80/90 131 22.6 years

Air Canada fleet details

Fleet age 13.7 years

Airbus A319 16 17 years
Airbus A320 37 21.7 years
Airbus A321 10 12.9 years
Airbus A330 8 14.4 years
Boeing 767 21 21.8 years

Southwest Airlines fleet details

Fleet age 11.8 years

Boeing 737 140 21.7 years
Boeing 737 Next Gen 519 9.1 years
TOTAL 659 11.8 years

* The calculation of the fleet age can be approximated because it is only based on the supported aircraft