A German plane carrying 150 people crashed into the French Alps Tuesday in an operation that may have been a suicide attempt by the co-pilot, French officials said Thursday. All passengers were killed on the plane traveling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, Germany.
Voice recordings from Germanwings plane 9525 show evidence that the captain was locked out of the cockpit. A criminal investigation focused on the co-pilot, 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz, is now being conducted, according to the New York Times. The identity of the captain remains unclear, as of Thursday.
Information from the “black box” of the plane proves that Lubitz manually started the eight-minute decent after the pilot was locked out, according to BBC News. Voice recordings show that passenger screams and attempts by the pilot to re-enter the cockpit were ignored as the jet spiraled downward.
Brice Robin, chief prosecutor of the investigation, said air traffic controllers’ attempts to contact the plane were unsuccessful. There is no evidence that links any of the passengers to terrorism, nor is there any indication of a terror attack.
Half of the passengers were Germans, according to the German Foreign Ministry. Search teams continue in pursuit of any clues related to the incident.
What a senseless and tragic act of violence. If a person wants to kill himself, he should do it without ending the lives of innocent people.
This indicates that perhaps periodic mental health evaluations should be conducted of everyone who has control of the lives of others on a daily basis.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Sad to hear that this could of been a suicide attempt, very disturbing and sickening. It’s tragic the pilot may have taken his life at the cost of 150 other innocent lives. I agree with Cindy, mental health evaluations may need to be a part of the screening process for pilots and those who control the lives of so many others.
When something like this happens, it makes me scared to board planes again! I think that steps should be taken to insure the safety of passengers aboard public flights as well. Hopefully policies can be implemented to achieve this in the future.
Wow! Such a tragedy. I have a real love for airplanes but these situations scare me. Very informative article.
Really unsettling story; so tragic for everyone involved.