Mar 24, 2015, 6:09 am
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 fr 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.
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"
Germanwings / 4U 9525 A320 Alpine plane crash 24 Mar 2015
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:06 am
#586
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 2,068
To actually hear the prosecutor say that the most likely explanation is that co-pilot deliberately locked out the captain with the intention of destroying the plane, and that he initiated the descent, murdering so many innocent people, is just too shocking to take in.
Last edited by cblaisd; Mar 26, 2015 at 6:56 am Reason: Removed unnecessarily personalized remark
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:09 am
#588
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: W11
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 65
To be fair the authorities may feel their hands are being forced by all the overnight press reports (esp NYT, AFP) and therefore felt under pressure to get some official info out there asap even if they would have preferred to wait.
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:09 am
#589
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http://www.breakingnews.com/item/201...ot-as-andreas/
Last edited by cblaisd; Mar 26, 2015 at 6:57 am
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:10 am
#590
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 75
That's a very strong statement to make if you think you might be wrong is it not? Yes it's preliminary, but there is nothing to suggest they have any real doubts about what happened, what they don't know is why.
I also clearly prefaced my post by saying to hear him say it was the most likely explanation.....
Perhaps the BBC and the world media should keep the preliminary stuff to themselves too? You can't expect people to then not comment on it.
Last edited by cblaisd; Mar 26, 2015 at 6:58 am
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:14 am
#591
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southern Bavaria, Germany
Programs: LH Blue, BA Blue, Hyatt Gold
Posts: 1,517
Think of the shock the family/near relatives of the pilot have if they understand the situation: That their father/husband has brought down the plane intentional.
It's like being bombed out of your house and life by a relative with additional thousands of victims. All those who lost one in the plane.
It's a double tragedy within some days. They really need time to understand that and also to evacuate to some friends/safe harbour.
You can imagine the media hunt on the family.
Or imagine them living in a compound near the airport where the majority of residents work at one airline. Or a small, tiny village.....
Or a situation like the murdered air controller after the berlingen incident.
So the first measures would be to bring out the relatives out of the line of media fire.
How would you respond if your loved one/father has done such a criminal act???
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:14 am
#592
Ambassador, New England
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Maineiac, USA
Programs: Amtrak, WN RR, Choice
Posts: 2,655
I agree - I definitely wouldn't publicize something like this unless there was near 100% certainty of it.
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:16 am
#594
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: UK, TX, UAE
Programs: BA GGL, FB Ult, BA Amex Prem, Amex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Mucci
Posts: 6,419
The news we are hearing now is sickening. I can't imagine the anguish of passengers... as they watched the captain try desperately to get back into the cockpit for 8 minutes as the plane descended. All the time being able to clearly see the mountains rising towards them.
One of the few comforts in any aircraft accident is that they are often over quickly and many times neither passengers nor crew have any idea what is about to happen.
An extraordinary tragedy. Thoughts still with the friends and relatives of all the crew and passengers. Hopefully some urgent steps can be taken to try and reduce the likelihood of this happening again.
One of the few comforts in any aircraft accident is that they are often over quickly and many times neither passengers nor crew have any idea what is about to happen.
An extraordinary tragedy. Thoughts still with the friends and relatives of all the crew and passengers. Hopefully some urgent steps can be taken to try and reduce the likelihood of this happening again.
Last edited by JDiver; Mar 26, 2015 at 7:27 am Reason: Let's not get too lurid here
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:17 am
#596
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: EDI, CGN, NYC
Programs: LH-SEN
Posts: 996
If true, this will put LH in an impossible situation. Either they'll face a huge payout in compensation (one would imagine over EUR 1 billion) or having to fight being the responsible party in court.
What a horror for the passengers and their families.
What a horror for the passengers and their families.
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:19 am
#597
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NCL
Programs: UA 1MM/*G. DL Gold for one more year.
Posts: 5,356
This really makes me think about the substantial number of Germanwings staff who refused to fly in the aftermath of this, and the understanding official line taken by the company about this. Never heard of any similar behaviour following other crashes. I wonder what they knew/suspected already then?
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:24 am
#598
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: New York, Paris
Programs: AA ExPlat 4MM, AA Life Plat, Lufthansa FT, Delta Basic
Posts: 1,593
Mind boggling.... but I believe this kills the Terrorist Plot hypothesis in favour of an act by a very sick person: A terrorist conspiracy would just as well have taken aim at a populated area, the villages or small cities of Dignes, Barcelonette, even Apt which is larger. This is no 9/11, just a tragedy and the likely non-survival of a brand.
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:24 am
#599
Join Date: Oct 2010
Programs: AA ex-EXP (buh-bye!), HH Gold, SPG Gold, UM Go Blue
Posts: 543
I share the sentiment of others here at sheer shock and sorrow if this did indeed occur as the prosecutor says. The 8 minutes of suffering as the pax and crew surely saw and/or tried to help the pilot get into the cockpit is just beyond the imagination. I am almost overwhelmed with emotion, and I cannot even begin to imagine how the families of all involved are feeling.
Mar 26, 2015 | 6:24 am
#600
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In the BBC televised conference, the same prosecutor said they had requested info about the subject but that German authorities had not yet acted upon his office's requests for more personal info about the cockpit crew member. I'm rather at a loss for words when the prosecutor's office seems to be running an aviation crash investigation and doing so like this.