Airbus A320 Plane crashes in the Alps

[Acey]

report: Audio indicates 1 pilot was locked out of cockpit before crash in france, investigator says - @nytimes nyti.ms/1gwxwly

f^$&%*$

[burn_this_city]

Suicide then? ####ing brutal.

[Peanut]

Omg. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/26..._r=1&referrer=

[Acey]

...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 up to the Germanwings crash, it also left many questions unanswered.

"We don’t know yet the reason why one of the guys went out,” said the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is 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."

If this horrific revelation proves to be what we fear it could be... it wouldn't be the first time: there was a 737 crash in 1997 that the NTSB believes was murder-suicide after the captain locked out his FO and pulled the circuit breaker on the CVR. An EgpytAir 767 went down two years later, the NTSB also believes that crash was also intentional.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/wo...id=tw-bna&_r=0

[burn_this_city]

I've wondered when the locked cockpit door would be an issue in an accident. The very same thing may have happened on MH370.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I've wondered when the locked cockpit door would be an issue in an accident. The very same thing may have happened on MH370.

This crash happened in 8 minutes... SilkAir crash was less than 8 minutes. I feel like if MH370 was in the air for 6+ hours after turning off course like they believe it was, somebody would have helped the other pilot get the door down. If malicious action brought down MH370, I think either both pilots are responsible, or both were incapacitated either by a failure of the aircraft or a third party.

[burn_this_city]

True, but isn't the door reinforced, what's readily available in an airliner to batter it down or pry it open? To be honest I've always thought it was mechanical failure on the Malaysian jet. I do wonder however if you could even break the door down in an event like this.

[Acey]

It is. Granted I've never been on a Malaysia 777, but if the door is like those on Air Canada's 777, then enough strong dudes fearing for their lives can eventually get it down over a period of 6 hours.

We also have to find out of if the Lufthansa/Germanwings policy is to have a flight attendant up front when a pilot leaves the flight deck, as is the policy stateside.

[Peanut]

Is this why they haven't released the names of the pilots - they suspected it was deliberate action? Or is it normal protocol to not release their names?

[Northendzone]

Here we go with the drive and drabs of information getting out.

[Acey]

Not sure why they haven't released the names, no protocol against it as far as I know. Even if there is, the names will leak right away here anyway.

I forgot about this crash in 2013, which sounds eerily similar:

...the preliminary investigation report, according to which Captain Herminio dos Santos Fernandes had a "clear intention" to crash the jet and manually changed its autopilot settings. The plane's intended altitude was reportedly changed three times from 38,000 feet to 592 feet, the latter being below ground level, and the speed was manually adjusted as well. The cockpit voice recorder captured several alarms going off during the descent, as well as repeated loud bangs on the door from the co-pilot, who was locked out of the cockpit until shortly before the crash.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

Here we go with the drive and drabs of information getting out.

Hearing one pilot was locked out of the cockpit and trying to smash the door down while the plane was in a 3500 ft/min controlled descent straight into a mountainside is a pretty big drib.

[Art Vandelay]

The reports of the plane levelling off at 6500' prior to impact were concerning. The murder/suicide theory fits with that if true.

So sad.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay

The reports of the plane levelling off at 6500' prior to impact were concerning. The murder/suicide theory fits with that if true.

So sad.

Why is that? Because it indicates someone was consciously making inputs into a functional plane?

[Flabbibulin]

I was under the impression that airbus were fly by wire and the computer basically wont let a pilot intentionally crash? Im guessing I am incorrect on this, or it is a system easily deactivated?

[jeffman]

Co pilot heart attack?

[Acey]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

I was under the impression that airbus were fly by wire and the computer basically wont let a pilot intentionally crash? Im guessing I am incorrect on this, or it is a system easily deactivated?

You are correct that the plane is fly-by-wire, but it's only slightly more difficult to intentionally crash the airplane than a comparable Boeing. EGPWS (enhanced ground prox warning system) will have given a few "too low, terrain! whoop whoop PULL UP" as they approached the mountain but the descent rate commanded wasn't outside limits, so you could fly into a mountain as they did all day with no intervention.

[Peanut]

Originally Posted by jeffman

Co pilot heart attack?

I dunno. They were at cruising altitude. If the guy had a heart attack, you'd think the plane would've just kept on at 38,000ft. The controlled descent stands out to me as not fitting with a medical event (as a total armchair, non-expert, analyses).

[KelVarnsen]

I worry that now when passengers see a pilot leave the flight deck during flight they will panic thinking that the plane will suddenly crash.

[Art Vandelay]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

Why is that? Because it indicates someone was consciously making inputs into a functional plane?

Yes.