I knew immediately Lufthansa Airlines was sketchy as soon as I saw the CEO, Carsten Spohr, on television being interviewed about the U.S. FAA regulation for two people in the cockpit at all times. Mr. Spohr said he was unaware of the rule and it sounded like a “carrier specific” guideline. One would think the CEO of an international airline, who is discussing his own co-pilot intentionally crashing a plane – and killing 149 people, might be a little more up to speed on that aspect. I digress…
Unbelievable. The authorities are now stating Andreas Lubitz, the mass murderer who flew 149 people into the French Alps, was previously diagnosed with “Suicidal Tendencies”. He was also currently having psychological treatments for depression; and the transcript of the flight plan being discussed that morning shows him saying “hopefully we make it” and “we’ll see” when discussing landing path requirements into Dusseldorf….. Yet the authorities are scratching their heads trying to identify a motive.
Go Figure.
Note to self – avoid Euro airlines unless flying with Captain Obvious.
(Via CBS) German prosecutors said Monday that Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who deliberately flew his Airbus A320 into French mountainside last week, was treated years ago for suicidal tendencies.
The prosecutors in Duesseldorf said Lubitz received psychotherapy “with a note about suicidal tendencies” for several years before becoming a pilot.
The prosecutors in Dusseldorf said, however, that they still had not found any indications of co-pilot’s motive for crashing the plane with himself and 149 other people on board.
French officials have refused to confirm or deny news reports which first surfaced last week in German media suggesting Lubitz had been on medication for the treatment of depression or other mental issues, and that he suffered a significant depressive episode during his training about a decade ago.
German prosecutors said Friday that Lubitz was hiding an illness and sick notes from a doctor for the day of the crash from his employer, but they did not elaborate then on what illness they believed he was hiding. European investigators had already been focused, however, on the psychological state of a 27-year-old German co-pilot, according to a French police official speaking earlier Monday to The Associated Press.
Returning from a meeting with his counterparts in Germany, judicial police investigator Jean-Pierre Michel told the AP that authorities wanted to find out “what could have destabilized Andreas Lubitz or driven him to such an act.”
“To have carried out such an act, it’s clearly psychological,” Michel said.
Authorities are trying to understand what made Lubitz lock his captain out of the cockpit and ignore his pleas to open the door before manually ordering the plane to descend on what should have been a routine flight. To that end, they are speaking with people who knew and worked with Lubitz — such as co-workers, his employer, his doctors.
CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reported Monday that the first hints Lubitz could have been planning something unbelievable on the morning of March 24, were contained in a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder, published Sunday by the German newspaper Bild.
Prompted to go over landing procedures for Dusseldorf, Lubitz reportedly used the words “hopefully,” and “we’ll see,” but then said he was fine to man the controls while the pilot took a bathroom break.
When Captain Patrick Sondheimer came back, however, the cockpit door was locked. He knocks, then bangs harder and shouts “For God’s sake open the door,” according to the published transcript. Passengers are screaming. More banging, and then an automatic warning goes off in the cockpit: “Terrain. Pull up.”
The captain screams: “Open the damn door.” Inside the cockpit, Lubitz can be heard breathing normally. A sound like metal scraping a mountaintop is heard, more screams, and then nothing. (read more)
RECOVERY PICTURES HERE
