Over the last 5 days, there has been a lot of information put out about the crash of the Germanwings airplane in the French Alps. Some of it is even true. Much of it however has been conjecture dressed as fact. One of the most troubling to me is that the co-pilot was a recent Muslim convert and this was an act of Jihad. Let me tell you now, there is no evidence to that statement at this time.
What appears to be fact, is that Andreas Lubitz, was a man that was highly depressed and taking medication that would have excluded him flying that day. His depression is over several things. A recent breakup with his girlfriend, the possibility that she was pregnant with their child, and he was just diagnosed as having a disease that was about to end his Carrere as a pilot, something that he literally loved doing.
The following is a factual partial transcript of the
voice recorder recovered from the crash scene with timeline notations. You will note there is not Allah Akbar, or rantings and ravings of a disturbed mind from Mr. Lubitz. All you hear is the calm determination of a sick individual that has come to terms with the events in his life and chosen to end them while doing the thing he loves most. As to why he chose to do this with 149 other persons on board is a question for smarter people than myself. I only want to give you the facts and let you draw your own conclusions.
The recording is said to begin normally, with the captain apologizing to passengers for an almost 30 minute delay in Barcelona.
He then tells them he expects the flight to make up the lost time mid-flight to Dusseldorf.
The recordings then show the tragic captain chatting with Lubitz for the next 20 minutes.
Then, at about 10.23, the co-pilot tells Mr Sondheimer he can go to the toilet at any time – noting that he had not relieved himself at the airport in Barcelona.
A short while later, 10.27am, the plane has reached its cruising altitude of 38,000ft and the captain tells Lubitz to prepare for the landing.
According to investigators, the co-pilot’s responses are said to be “laconic”, with the 27-year-old using phrase such as “hopefully” and “we’ll see”.
In one chilling exchange, Lubitz tells the pilot “You can go now” and just two minutes later, the captain is heard saying “You can take over”, before a seat is pushed back and a door opens and closes.
It is at this point that the plane begins to descend and at 10.32am air traffic controllers attempt to contact the flight without any luck.
Shortly after a ‘Sink Rate’ alarm signals followed by loud banging on the cockpit door and Sodheimer yelling: “For god’s sake, open the door.”
According to the report, passengers can now be heard screaming in the background, before, at 10.35am, “loud metallic banging against the cockpit door” is heard once more.
Just over a minute later, another alarm begins with an
automated message going:
“Ground. Pull up. Pull up.”
At this point the pilot can be heard screaming: “Open the goddam door.”
As the plane speeds towards the Alps, Lubitz can be heard breathing normally in the cockpit. At no time after the pilot leaves the cockpit does the copilot say anything until just before the very last moment is picked up by the black box – the plane hitting the ground at 10.40am, with the chilling screams of passengers in the background.
Timeline: Germanwings plane crash investigation
DAY 1: TUESDAY MARCH 24 9.01am GMT (10.01am local time)
Germanwings Flight 4U9525 takes off from Barcelona, Spain, and is expected to land in Dusseldorf, Germany, 90 minutes later. It is carrying 150 people – 144 passengers and six crew
9.15am
Lubitz and his captain can be heard on the cockpit voice recorder talking ‘courteously… like two normal pilots’
9.27am
The plane reaches its cruising altitude of 38,000ft as it approaches southern France
9.30am
The Airbus A320 makes its final contact with air traffic controllers – a routine message about permission to continue on the route near
the settlement of Dignes
9.30am (approx)
A chair is heard being pushed back and a door shuts. The captain, who was thought to be leaving the cockpit to use the toilet, tells Lubitz: ‘You have control’
9.31am
Andreas Lubitz presses the button which sets the
autopilot on a descent from 38,000ft to 100ft – the lowest possible. The button can only be pressed voluntarily
9.31am (approx)
The captain knocks on the cockpit door but there is no reply. His attempts to
unlock the door are seemingly blocked
9.31am – 9.40am
The captain shouts, uses the intercom and tries to break down the door, even reportedly using an axe. Lubitz is silent throughout but still breathing
9.35am
French air traffic controllers issue the DETRESFA distress signal after seeing the dramatic drop in altitude and failing to get a response from Lubitz. The plane is treated as a priority for a forced landing
9.39am (approx)
Passengers, who included Brit Paul Bramley, can be heard screaming ‘at the last moment’ as proximity alarms sound inside the plane and they realize what is happening
9.40am
Radar picks up the last trace of the plane at 6,175ft, around the same height as the top of the peaks in the French Alps
9.41am
The plane hits the mountain at 430mph and smashes into pieces no bigger than a small car. There is thought to be a first impact, with the plane skimming the terrain before hurtling into a ravine
10.30am
Reports begin circulating on Twitter that a plane has disappeared from radar in the French Alps. Real-time monitoring mean users can see its dramatic drop in altitude immediately
10.52am
Germanwings says it is aware of reports one of its planes has crashed but cannot confirm anything
11am
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls confirms the crash and President Hollande says there are ‘no survivors’ a few minutes later
1pm
Germanwings confirms the accident and says it has set up a hotline for victims’ families with parent firm Lufthansa
1.30pm
First reports emerge of the tragic group of 16 German exchange students who were on board the doomed jet
2pm
Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann appears the first of many press conferences and insists the jet was checked by engineers just 24 hours before it flew
4pm
First pictures emerge of the crash site, showing scattered pieces of fuselage no bigger than a small car. It’s confirmed there are no survivors
6.30pm
First pictures of victims emerge, including celebrated opera singer Oleg Bryjak who had performed in Paris, London, Los Angeles and Tokyo
10pm
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says it is likely there were British nationals on board
DAY 2: WEDNESDAY MARCH 25
Details emerge throughout the day of the three British victims. They were student Paul Bramley from Hull, businessman Martyn Matthews from Wolverhampton, and Julian Pracz-Bandres, a seven-month-old boy from Manchester whose Spanish-born mum Marina was also killed
11.30am
Lufthansa’s CEO Thomas Winkelmann reveals Germans, Spaniards, Australians and Britons were on board with other passengers from Holland, Japan, Belgium, Argentina, Iran and the US
12.30pm
The first photos emerge of the mangled cockpit voice recorder, one of two so-called black boxes – actually coloured orange – which were on board the plane
2pm
The leaders of Germany, France and Spain tour the crash site together and pay tribute to the victims
8.30pm
Lufthansa announces it will lay on special flights to Marseilles for victims’ families the following morning
DAY 3: THURSDAY MARCH 26 1am (approx)
The New York Times reveals one of the two pilots was locked out of the cockpit and ended up banging on the door, trying to get back in
9.30am
Further reports emerge from the French news agency AFP that there was a violent struggle on board the plane
11.45am
In a horrifying press conference, Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin reveals the black box’s final recording – which shows co-pilot Andreas Lubitz steered the Airbus deliberately into the mountain after locking the captain out during a toilet break
12.15pm
First picture emerges of Lubitz as its revealed he became a first officer with Lufthansa in 2013 after years of being a flight attendant
1.30pm
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr admits Lubitz’s training was ‘interrupted’ six years ago but insists he was ‘100% fit to fly’
4.30pm
Police search Lubitz’s Dusseldorf home and his parents’ house in the town of Montabaur, removing a ‘key’ piece of evidence which is revealed the next day
6pm
EasyJet reveals it is changing its rules so two people must always be in the cockpit. Other airlines quickly follow suit
DAY 4: FRIDAY MARCH 27
Reports become firmly established in the German media that Lubitz had mental health problems and depression. Bild reports that he had 18 months of psychiatric help during his Lufthansa training
9am
Germanwings asks TfL, who run the London Underground, to remove advertising with the unfortunate slogan ‘get ready to be surprised’
10.30am
Aviation authorities confirm Lubitz had an ongoing medical condition on his file, but will not say what the condition was
11.45am
German prosecutors reveal they have found a torn-up sick note at Lubitz’s home – from the day of the crash – which says he should not have been working. They say he was hiding the illness from his employers
1pm
Its revealed victims’ families could receive up to £700,000 each, or £93,000 even if Lufthansa is in no way at fault. The Airbus A320 was reportedly insured for £4.4million
3.30pm
It’s revealed Lubitz had been to hospital on March 10, just two weeks before the crash
Now you know as much about the fight and crash as anyone else. Just another senseless act by a sick individual.
the founding fathers never saw this coming.