Germanwings Crash: Black Box Recovered But Disaster Remains A Mystery

[Purveyor]

Jacquelin Magnay
The Australian
March 26, 2015 1:01PM

Evidence from the black box voice recorder indicates one of the Germanwings Airbus pilots was locked out of the cockpit and unable to get back in before the plane started its steep, catastrophic descent, according to reports.

The New York Times quotes a senior military official involved in the investigation who reports a pilot left the cockpit after an earlier “smooth, cool” conversation between the pair.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator told The New York Times.

“And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down

Black box recovered

Crash investigators have revealed the final audible words on the ill-fated Germanwings Airbus 4U 9525 recordings appeared “routine” but the two pilots failed to respond to three increasingly concerned requests from air traffic control shortly before the catastrophic disaster.

more...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/germanwings-crash-black-box-recovered-but-disaster-remains-a-mystery/story-e6frg6so-1227278913

[cwydro]

1. I think the one in the cockpit took the plane down.

So far, the airline has released info about the pilot, but nothing about the co-pilot.

I thought that was weird from the beginning.

[JHB]

2. Was it a "steep" descent? Other reports say "not dramatic, but steady"

[sendero]

3. There "news" folks.....

.... are at odds on this. Many talk like it was a quick descent. 32000 feet, 8 minutes, I'll accept the opinion of aviation experts but that doesn't sound like all that quick a descent to me.

[JHB]

4. Yes, it's not as if it was pointed straight down

So far I haven't heard anything that is at odds with a scenario where the co-pilot lost consciousness for some reason. Certainly nothing to start speculating to any degree beyond simply laying out the possibilities.

Kind of why we should let the professional investigators actually have the time to look into it before playing guessing games.

[sendero]

5. Ok...

... so pilot or copilot leaves the cockpit for a restroom break or other reason. The remaining co/pilot locks the door as I'm sure the cockpit door is always locked.

But when the co/pilot returns he depends on the co/pilot IN the cockpit to let him in? Really? No way for him to get in without the help of the person in the cockpit?

If that is so then it is a miracle this has not happened many times before. There should be a lock/key or something. That is a MAJOR hole in protocol IMHO.

[JHB]

6. No argument with it being a big hole in the protocol.

I also wouldn't be surprised if it had happened any number of times before but fortunately didn't end up in a disaster.

But again, everything at this point is speculation, especially by people who are not actual investigators or knowledgeable about the craft and practices, so best to tamp down on wild speculations and let the investigators do their job.

[sendero]

7. one reason...

.... IMHO, that people speculate (like me) about stuff like this is that most of us realize that the revelation of the actual truth of what is discovered by the investigation cannot be counted on at all.

And given that the pilot was locked out of the cockpit, assuming we can believe THAT bit of info, well, one doesn't have to speculate a whole helluva lot to reach a conclusion.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Airbus planes do have a protocol for this

See video and explanation here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1049505

There's an emergency keypad entry that the cockpit has 30 seconds to override.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Its vertical speed was about 40mph

So it would be like going down a 1 in 12 hill (I can't remember how Americans express gradients, sorry) at 500 mph. That gradient is steeper than you'd normally have at the end of a routine flight, I think (the plane kept its airspeed up, so I think it would have to be pointed downwards to do this - the passengers would have noticed, I think).