On this day: in history (2015), Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of a German airliner deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps, killing himself and the other 149 people onboard. When it crashed, Germanwings flight 9525 had been traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany.
Andreas Lubitz, was previously treated for suicidal tendencies and declared “unfit to work” by his doctor. Lubitz kept this information from his employer and instead reported for duty. Shortly after reaching cruise altitude and while the captain was out of the cockpit, he locked the cockpit door and initiated a controlled descent that continued until the aircraft impacted a mountainside.The captain tried to break down the door, but like most cockpit doors made after the September 11 attacks, it had been reinforced to prevent intrusion. During the descent, the co-pilot did not respond to questions from Marseille air traffic control, nor did he transmit a distress call.Contact from the air traffic control tower, the captain’s attempts to break in, and Lubitz’s steady breathing were audible on the cockpit voice recording. The screams of passengers in the last moments before impact were also heard on the recording.
The BEA final report into the crash was published on 13 March 2016. The report confirmed the findings made in the preliminary report and concluded that Lubitz had deliberately crashed the aircraft as a suicide.Criminal investigators said Lubitz’s web searches on his tablet computer in the days leading up to the crash included ways to commit suicide and cockpit doors and their security provisions.Prosecutor Brice Robin said doctors had told him Lubitz should not have been flying, but medical secrecy requirements prevented his physician from making this information available to Germanwings.
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Created by Okey Obiabunmo
