German Airplane Crashes In French Alps

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An Airbus A320 airliner has crashed in the French Alps between Barcelonnette and Digne, French aviation officials and police have said.

BBC News
 
Doesn't sound very hopeful, very sad for the relatives :(
 
I've flown with Germanwings quite a few times, invariably between Spain and Germany. Very professional outfit. Sounds like it must have been very sudden and catastrophic.

Very sad.
 
Mountkeen said:
I've flown with Germanwings quite a few times, invariably between Spain and Germany. Very professional outfit. Sounds like it must have been very sudden and catastrophic.

Very sad.
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From the news the aircraft issued a distress signal then crashed. Sounds horrific as the crew and passangers on the plane probably new what was going to happen.
 
Just been reading in El Mundo that the authorities in Spain are investigating a number of tweets making fun of some of the victims. Just read one which said "let's not make a drama out of it, those in the plane weren't people they were Catalans". Sickening.
 
Reports today are saying one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit.
 
Rather sickening that leaks like that can happen while the investigation is still so fresh. Indeed, that leaks happen at all.
 
French authorities are saying that the co-pilot deliberately crashed the aircraft (story seems to be on the major news networks).
 
arclight said:
French authorities are saying that the co-pilot deliberately crashed the aircraft (story seems to be on the major news networks).
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Just read that on the BBC website, just can't understand why someone who's not believed to be linked to terrorism would do such a thing.

Perhaps the investigators will be able to work it out in time?
 
crofter said:
He must have had the hump about something,girlfriend trouble perhaps.
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That's a really distasteful post.
You'd be pretty p***ed off if someone you knew died on that 'plane, and some forum wazzock made light of it.
 
Russ77 said:
Just read that on the BBC website, just can't understand why someone who's not believed to be linked to terrorism would do such a thing.

Perhaps the investigators will be able to work it out in time?
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Methinks that there will be an exhaustive investigation into this. The event goes well beyond anything that one would attribute to the guy being a bit disturbed by something.
 
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Does seem a bit odd. If it was terrorism related, wouldnt the pilot have tried to aim for something of significance (im not saying for one second that the loss of 150 lives isnt significant by the way), something to harm infrastructure etc? I appreciate that if it IS terrorism related, then they HAVE indeed created terror by doing what has been done. It just seems to me that they could have inflicted a lot more damage than crashing the plane into the Alps. Im glad they didnt of course...just sayin' :thinking:

I suppose the truth (well some of it) will come out soon enough.
 
arclight said:
Methinks that there will be an exhaustive investigation into this. The event goes well beyond anything that one would attribute to the guy being a bit disturbed by something.
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Sadly, if that turns out to be the case, it wont be the first time a pilot has simply comitted a horrific suicide this way
 
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boliston said:
its terrorism that made cockpit locks mandatory but both pilots should surely have the ability to unlock the door from both sides?
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From what I've heard normally they do. You have to enter the correct code on a touch pad to open the door from the outside.
There is a lock on the inside...

Edit: 7 digit code
 
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It seems like a good idea to copy the American idea of always having 2 in the cockpit, if a pilot wants a break then one of the flight attendants goes to the cockpit to allow the pilot to leave.
 
there should never be a situation where one person has complete control - both pilots should have a master key or master code which bypasses any locking
 
boliston said:
there should never be a situation where one person has complete control - both pilots should have a master key or master code which bypasses any locking
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Not only do the flight crew have access codes, so to the cabin crew.
As per Byker's post, pilot sabotage is maybe suspected here to prevent ANYONE from gaining entry.
 
Interesting as the US have rules to replace a pilot with another member of staff so they aren't alone on their own. I can see similar rules coming in.
 
Reading something now on beeb and it says the code entered just is for request to enter and activates a buzzer/intercom.
In all cases the person inside still has to open the door.
 
Having listened to a few interviews with pilots, the door has a coded lock and can be opened by both sides. The pilots and cabin crew have the codes. However and this is the debating point at the moment. Whoever is in the cockpit can block the request from outside. Should this be the case. Of course, because of the reason these were introduced, otherwise all a potential hijacker would need to do is force a member of the cabin crew to enter the code and they have control of the plane. What should happen is that the flight deck should not be left with only one person in. A policy that most major airlines operate.
 
boliston said:
there should never be a situation where one person has complete control - both pilots should have a master key or master code which bypasses any locking
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The trouble is, what would happen in a terrorist situation outside the cockpit? There would be no point in keeping the cockpit locked.

Edit, Chris beat me to it.

BTW, this is becoming a habit after the last one...
 
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Mr Bump said:
Reading something now on beeb and it says the code entered just is for request to enter and activates a buzzer/intercom.
In all cases the person inside still has to open the door.
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From the link @boyfalldown gave:

In the event of whoever is in the cockpit being incapacitated there is a touchpad that will allow cabin crew who know the code to enter.

In "normal" mode the cockpit is locked but can be accessed - after a 30-second delay - by touchpad should the cabin crew get no response from inside.

"Unlocked" mode is what a pilot would use to open the door for a colleague returning from the toilet.

"Locked" means the locking mechanism ignores the touchpad entry code and remains locked for five minutes (it can be repeated). It's easy to see how this would be used to prevent hijackers who have managed to get hold of the code from cabin crew from entering the cockpit.
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So if the person in the cockpit sets it to "Locked" it overrides the entry codes for 5 minutes and can be reset to locked repeatedly so the code won't work.
 
Russ77 said:
Just read that on the BBC website, just can't understand why someone who's not believed to be linked to terrorism would do such a thing.

Perhaps the investigators will be able to work it out in time?
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Suicide. Who knows what goes through someones mind when killing themselves. Probably not logical ones.

Pilot suicide (or here co pilot suicide) isn't unheard of, rare.

To me its premeditated murder of those who've entrusted their lives to that pilot (and his crew). If it is this, its an appalling act, but it might be a depressurisation of the cabin, heart failure of the co-pilot or the co-pilot passing out and accidentally knocking the descent buttons.
 
ST4 said:
Suicide. Who knows what goes through someones mind when killing themselves. Probably not logical ones.

Pilot suicide (or here co pilot suicide) isn't unheard of, rare.

To me its premeditated murder of those who've entrusted their lives to that pilot (and his crew). If it is this, its an appalling act, but it might be a depressurisation of the cabin, heart failure of the co-pilot or the co-pilot passing out and accidentally knocking the descent buttons.
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There's no such thing as UNpremeditated murder Steve :rolleyes:
 
ST4 said:
Suicide. Who knows what goes through someones mind when killing themselves. Probably not logical ones.

Pilot suicide (or here co pilot suicide) isn't unheard of, rare.

To me its premeditated murder of those who've entrusted their lives to that pilot (and his crew). If it is this, its an appalling act, but it might be a depressurisation of the cabin, heart failure of the co-pilot or the co-pilot passing out and accidentally knocking the descent buttons.
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Im no expert, Steve, but I wouldnt have thought it would have been as simple as accidentally knocking the buttons. It would happen more often if that were the case.. From the report I read, the French Authorities had said that the act of actually pressing those buttons in sequence would need to be a very deliberate act.

Like I said though, im no expert.
 
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Nikon_Nick said:
Im no expert, Steve, but I wouldnt have thought it would have been as simple as accidentally knocking the buttons. It would happen more often if that were the case.. From the report I read, the French Authorities had said that the act of actually pressing those buttons in sequence would need to be a very deliberate act.

Like I said though, im no expert.
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In all likelihood you are correct. Its just such a horrible thought.
 
viv1969 said:
For example?
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Planning to kill someone like in this is premeditated... agreed?

Non premedidated murder can be a crime of passion, ie not pre planned but committed under loss of temper, in anger etc. For instance, someone might see a yob coining their car and find a brick and crack said yob over the skull, said yob dies. The murder wasn't planned, but done "in the heat of the moment".

Or you and I meet, we talk, you throw a bottle at me, my head cracks and I die. You are sent down for Murder. You didn't plan to kill me, it just happened as I once again set you off. A premedidated murder would be you waiting outside my drive, to catch me walking to work and cracking me over the head with the bottle...

I suspect you knew all this already and just wanted me to take the bait...I did...

This appears to be a little different and taken at an opportune moment.
 
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ST4 said:
Planning to kill someone like in this is premeditated... agreed?

Non premedidated murder can be a crime of passion, ie not pre planned but committed under loss of temper, in anger etc. For instance, someone might see a yob coining their car and find a brick and crack said yob over the skull, said yob dies. The murder wasn't planned, but done "in the heat of the moment".

Or you and I meet, we talk, you throw a bottle at me, my head cracks and I die. You are sent down for Murder. You didn't plan to kill me, it just happened as I once again set you off. A premedidated murder would be you waiting outside my drive, to catch me walking to work and cracking me over the head with the bottle...

I suspect you knew all this already and just wanted me to take the bait...I did...

This appears to be a little different and taken at an opportune moment.
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All of your examples would qualify as Manslaughter Steve, not Murder.
And you knew this, because it's been covered in previous threads. Your threads.
 
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