Airbus A320 - Flight 4U 9525

I hope that the black box can throw some light on what has happened with this crash.

At present there are too many loose ends, like the plane not sending a distress signal during it's eight-minute descent.

Perhaps the crew were too busy trying to fix whatever the problem was to send a distress signal?

Some shocking news today with French investigators saying that the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight deliberately crashed the plane.

Citing information from the cockpit voice recorder, they said the co-pilot took sole control of the plane and intentionally caused its descent.

If someone wanted to commit suicide I don't understand why he would need to take 149 other people with him. But then if the balance of his mind was disturbed he may not have been thinking in any rational manner.

The reinforced and security locked cockpit doors in planes these days were designed to eliminate the risk of 9/11 style hijackers. Now we find that whilst they do indeed achieve that (if only by deterrence) as nobody has hijacked a plane in this way since, they have unfortunately introduced a totally new risk that didn't exist before.

The outcome is going to be that they has to been two members of the crew in the cockpit at any one time.

Lufthansa have announced they have full confidence in their pilot selection processes and won't be changing their cockpit policy of allowing one pilot to be on their own. Other airlines have already announced they are changing their policies. So given the choice of Lufthansa (inc subsidiaries) or another airline who would you now choose

(26-03-2015 18:39 )Charlemagne Wrote:  The outcome is going to be that they has to been two members of the crew in the cockpit at any one time.

Budget airlines won't like that, paying a third qualified pilot, especially on short haul flights.

^it doesn't have to be a pilot, just a crew member.

^^
Doesn't need to be a pilot - just another crew member to make sure the door is not kept locked by the one pilot left in the cockpit. Many other airlines already do this.