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Old Mar 24, 2015, 6:09 am
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Last edit by: irishguy28
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============================================

Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 (Barcelona - Dusseldorf) crashed on 24 March 2015, coming down in the Alps near Barcelonette France
Aircraft involved is Airbus A320 reg D-AIPX. It was delivered to Lufthansa in 1991 and passed to Germanwings in 2001. It received routine maintenance at DUS the day before the crash (performed by Lufthansa Technik) and had its last major overhaul ( C-Check) in the summer of 2013. Lufthansa have said the plane was in 'perfect' condition.

Circumstances
It is very likely that the aircraft was deliberately crashed by the co-pilot Andreas Lubwitz

As per Germanwings press conference held 1400 on 24th March:
The aircraft flew from DUS to BCN on the morning of the crash
The flight left BCN at 1001 local time, it reached crusing altitude of 38000 at 1045 but remained there for only one minute before beginning a descent which lasted 8 minutes and ended in the crash.
ATC permission was not asked for the descent and it is unclear whether or not the crew were in ATC contact and under what circumstances an emergency was declared.

Subsequent reports suggest there was no communication between the crew and ATC after the aircraft began to descend.

The weather was good at the time of the crash:
Surface weather near where they started the descent:

METAR LFTH 240800Z AUTO 07012KT 9999 NSC 15/08 Q1008
METAR LFTH 240830Z AUTO 07012KT 9999 NSC 15/09 Q1008
METAR LFTH 240900Z AUTO 08016KT 9999 FEW035 SCT130 15/08 Q1008

That's basically unrestricted visibility at the surface.

Posted by Captainmiles Post #156 in this thread

US govt sources say no evidence of terrorism (reported on sky news uk)


Germanwings/Lufthansa official response

Germanwings press conference announced for 1500 local time, to be held in Cologne

Press conference reports: Lufthansa group employees enroute to crash site, families of victims being informed, crisis center set up at DUS airport

New flight number have been announced
4U9440 DUS0645 – 0855BCN EQV
4U9441 BCN0935 – 1155DUS EQV

Relatives of victims have been transported to the crash area by Lufthansa

Lufthansa press conference held at 1330 GMT on 26 March stated that the plane was most likely brought down deliberately by the co-pilot.

Video recording of the press conference (26 March):
In German
In English (simultaneous translation)

Victims

Latest reports are 144 passengers and 6 crew aboard, Spanish government report 45 Spanish nationals, French government reports 0 French nationals, German government reports there are some German victims but numbers not known (German wings press conference reports 67), Sky News UK reports Turkish nationals on board. There were 2 babies, one of the belonging to a woman from Manchester and the other is German, the child of opera singer Maria Radner who was travelling on the flight with her husband.

Two of the victims were Australians - a mother and her adult son from Victoria.
Two victims from Argentina
Three from Great Britain
One Israeli
Two Colombians
One Belgian
One Dutch
Two Iranians
Three Americans
Two Japanese
Three Mexicans

The German victims include 16 pupils and 2 teachers from Joseph Koenig Gymnasium (high school) at Haltern Am See, they were returning from an exchange visit to Spain.

Crew comprised 4 cabin crew and 2 flight deck. The captain had been with Lufthansa group for 10 years and had over 6000 hours on this plane type.
The co-pilot is widely reported to have joined Germanwings straight out of training in 2013 and to have had 630 hours of experience.

French rescue services believe there are no survivors.

Emergency contact numbers
From Germany 0800 1133 5577
From Spain 902 400 012
0049 30 5000 3000

The names of the victims will be published once their families have been informed.

Crash site

The crash site has been identified by helicopters, it is not accessible by road and is around 2 and a half hours walk from the nearest road (reported Sky News UK). It is at an altitude of around 2000m. Search and rescue teams are en-route. There may be an avalanche risk which could hamper rescue efforts. Rescuers are assembling at Seyne-Les-Alpes.

Sky news UK are reporting that a helicopter has landed near the crash site. They have confirmed no survivors and have reported the largest piece of debris to be about car sized. The debris field is about 200 square meters in size. See also http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/24557269-post183.html



Investigation - confirmed information
Large numbers of French investigators are on site, efforts have been made to secure the site against outside interference.
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) has been recovered and taken for investigation at French BEA. It is damaged but functional. Voices can be heard on the recording but it is unclear if they are those of the flight crew.
BEA is working in cooperation with German BFU (Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung), Airbus and CFM.
The aircraft was complete until impact - there was no midair breakup

"Germanwings Pilot Was Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash in France"
New York Times reports that one of the two pilots was locked out of the cockpit during the descent: “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.” http://nyti.ms/1HC7g9i

French prosecuters believe that the crash was caused by the deliberate actions of the co-pilot, he is thought to have locked the captain out of the cockpit and then to have deliberately crashed the aircraft.

Video of cockpit operation and manual override switch to block door from being opened externally. From The Guardian.

A locked door is opened by a flight crew inside the cockpit but can also be unlocked by cabin crew entering a keycode from the outside. Crew inside the cockpit can manually override it to keep a door locked for up to five minutes.
Investigation - confirmed information

On 6 May 2015, the BEA released its preliminary report.

Reliable Sources

AV Herald page on the crash.
FlightRadar24 flight path map
flightware tracking log
BBC News "What we know so far"
Print Wikipost

Germanwings / 4U 9525 A320 Alpine plane crash 24 Mar 2015

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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:10 am
  #151  
 
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Originally Posted by montezume
Yes, but if I book on a foreign airline, enter schengen on my British passport, and give foreign airline my British passport info, how will they know? There is no exit immigration out of canada. Maybe I am underestimating their IT compatabilties.
Possible extrapolation from your place of birth? (This is is just a guess)
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:12 am
  #152  
 
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Originally Posted by montezume
Yes, but if I book on a foreign airline, enter schengen on my British passport, and give foreign airline my British passport info, how will they know? There is no exit immigration out of canada. Maybe I am underestimating their IT compatabilties.
In time they will find out who has dual citizenship. Its easy sharing of data between countries.
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:14 am
  #153  
 
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Originally Posted by AlonsosRightBoot
For the love of God...the Daily Mail immediately making hay out of "No emergency call, Turkish nationals on board"....

What a disgusting website.

Cant even express how terribly sad I feel for all involved.
Oh FFS

I am watching the press conference and will update the wiki afterwards - I can't type fast enough so am writing notes. I will make ATC contact or not a section on its own as it is so unclear what happened.

Safe flying guys
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:15 am
  #154  
 
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67 German souls on board.
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:16 am
  #155  
 
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Pilot- 10 years with the company, 6,000 flight hours per Germanwings press conference.
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:35 am
  #156  
 
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Dear fellow FTers,

The crash of 4U 9525 is shocking and sad new. In light of this event, may I remind you to respectfully discuss this topic and stick to the FT rules. Currently, some persons circulate fake photos on the internet. Please refrain from posting any such content, as it is not helpful at all. Please think twice before posting anything on this terrible event in order to ensure you will not offend fellow FTers who might be directly affected by this event.

Please report any post that you think is a violation of the FT rules.

totti
Moderator M&M forum
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:38 am
  #157  
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What was the LH flight number? Or was the flight only marketed as a 4U flight?
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:45 am
  #158  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
What was the LH flight number? Or was the flight only marketed as a 4U flight?
No codeshares appear to be listed
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:46 am
  #159  
 
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Originally Posted by irishguy28
Yes, BBC reporting the same. It was ATC that declared the "Emergency, Emergency" on the basis of not being able to get a response from the crew.

This changes completely the complexion of this incident...
Completely. Seems now that it is a loss of cabin pressure or was done intentionally. I am sure the manifest is being reviewed by every intelligence group the world over.
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:48 am
  #160  
 
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In a sudden loss of cabin pressure, would:
A) the pilots be quickly incapacitated?
B) the autopilot descend quickly in the way we have seen?
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:55 am
  #161  
 
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Originally Posted by McCoy
In a sudden loss of cabin pressure, would:
A) the pilots be quickly incapacitated?
B) the autopilot descend quickly in the way we have seen?
a) no, at least not quickly. If they follow procedures and use their oxygen masks it should be pretty safe
b) no, it won't do that automatically

(see Helios 522 for reference)
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:56 am
  #162  
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Originally Posted by McCoy
In a sudden loss of cabin pressure, would:
A) the pilots be quickly incapacitated?
B) the autopilot descend quickly in the way we have seen?
It depends on the circumstances; humans (even well trained, fit, experienced humans) do not always act predictably to unexpected events.

At 40,000 feet there is apparently usually sufficient oxygen for something like 15 to 20 seconds of "useful consciousness" (the data are taken from 'healthy young military pilots': http://www.theairlinepilots.com/foru...andhypoxia.php).
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:58 am
  #163  
 
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8 minutes steady descent after reaching target cruising altitude, at 6000 fpm until impact. No communication from the cockpit. Or, as far as we know, from any passenger.

Conclusion?
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:58 am
  #164  
 
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Originally Posted by largeeyes
Completely. Seems now that it is a loss of cabin pressure or was done intentionally. I am sure the manifest is being reviewed by every intelligence group the world over.
This makes the autopilot and pitot tubes theory look less likely, though they could have frantically been trying to restart everything without communicating - but it could also be a sign that there was a loss of power on the plane.

Do terrorists benefit from communicating their intentions while airborne?
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Old Mar 24, 2015, 8:59 am
  #165  
 
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Originally Posted by fraisse10

Conclusion?
That there's no way to draw any conclusions...
greg99 is offline  


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