Agreed - I think all those systems should get looked at. I don't doubt that - as with pretty much any major accident - numerous things would've had to go very wrong for it to happen the way it did. Heads should roll at Lufthansa Technik if they messed up or overlooked the oxygen system during the previous check.

The other incident to bring in here as a possible precedent would be Helios 522. It would be shocking if it was a non-sudden loss of consciousness, considering lessons should've been learned from that one, but that's also plausible.

imploding windscreen, killing pilots instantly?...then autopilot going into descent due to pressure loss in cockpit ?...no heading chamges, no radio contact...

Not likely. Windscreen blowing out would not have caused the autopilot to just decide to descend on its own accord.

the autopilot / FMS is a pretty stupid piece of equipment. It only knows what you tell it, and it only does what you physically program it to do.

In regards to helios 522... i have long suspected when the mechanic was telling the pilot "Can you confirm the pressurization system is set to auto?" knew at that point exactly what the problem was and that he had oopsed the situation

latest news about the airbus crash

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/wo...rash.html?_r=0

Markus

I just read that. That makes this into a whole other ball of wax

Indeed, that puts it down to one of three things.

1) Pilot incapacitation
2) Pilot Suicide
3) Pilot terrorism

3 is quite unlikely, 2 goes against the fairly steady rate of descent versus a nose dive, so out of the two man crew it's possible that the pilot had a Moorgate moment and went into the deck. :hmmm:

Makes one wonder.

Illness and fainted and /or died ?

Suicide ?

There's one thing I'm not going to use and that's terror.

Maybe there's some other cause to why

Markus

From CNN source.

• FBI agents based in France, Germany and Spain are looking through intelligence sources and cross-referencing the passenger manifest of Germanwings Flight 9525, two senior law enforcement officials said. So far, their search hasn't turned up anything that "stands out" or anything linking the passengers to criminal activity, according to one official.

Wow, okay. If the pilot locked out story turns out true, then this may be not at all unlike the LAM 470 crash I mentioned from just over a year ago.

• Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr told reporters the company was struggling to understand how an airplane that “was in perfect technical condition” with two experienced pilots “was involved in such a terrible accident.” The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps, he said, “represents the darkest hours in the 60-year history of our Lufthansa Group.”


Im still of the opinion this was a deliberate act. Simply because statistcally speaking they were in the safest portion of the flight when it went down.

Lufthansa indicates that it has no information to indicate one pilot was locked out of the cockpit

It could well be a case of Chinese whispers, it wouldn't be the first time.

This is the media we're dealing with, after all.

Aye, speculations, speculations.....I just would wait till the report of the investigation comes out.
All this media ''noise'' isn't really helping to focus on the facts they already gathered and shared.

French investigators have gone for the co-pilot deliberately crashing the aircraft:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32063587

Whether it was suicide or terrorism is yet to be determined.
The co-pilots name has been released as Andreas Lubitz.
Now the witch-hunt shall commence, his family is not going to have a day of rest for months.

Whatever the reason this is a most worrying dynamic, the only plus (if you can excuse the term) is that it looks like the plane was not at fault mechanically etc. but that will be of zero comfort to those who have lost their loved ones.

Could be a passenger was the targeted for assassination as well. Only the Shadow knows.

If that's true then I'm lost for words. :-?

It could be one of four things really.

1) Terrorism - Not particularly likely as these sort of people tend to leave statements to be picked up after the incident, be it on a website or through mail or some such.
2) Murder/Suicide - The most likely, sadly, and it's not easy to find the evidence and reasoning for it. His life and communications are going to be poured over with a fine tooth comb, his family are going to face weeks, if not months of questioning from both authorities and the media.
3) Health issue - The second most likely, although it does not explain the locking himself into the cockpit. In regards to what kind of health issue would cause such a thing, I refer again to the Moorgate crash.
4) A combination of number 3 and an accidental locking of the door - Very unlikely, I don't know how cockpit doors work, whether it's possible to lock yourself out of the cockpit, I doubt it but if the pilot accidentally locked himself out and the co-pilot had a health problem then that could feasibly lead to a crash. However, it would have to be a combination of the two, and very unlikely.

Sadly, it does look very much like a murder/suicide, and there are no words that won't result in an infraction to describe the type of...thing...that would kill 149 innocent people just to end its own life. :nope: