Officials say co-pilot intentionally crashed Germanwings Airbus
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Officials said on Thursday, after analyzing data from the Germanwings Flight 9525 cockpit voice recorder, that the airbus crashed into the French Alps because its co-pilot deliberately crashed it.
On the cockpit voice recorder, the captain can be heard trying to get back into the cockpit. Transponder data indicates the autopilot was told to descend form 38,000 feet to 100 feet. The last part of the recording contains screaming during the sudden decent.
Investigators are still searching for the plane’s flight data recorder.
The co-pilot started training in 2008, and was diagnosed in 2009 with serious depression according to BBC News. Later he completed his training and passed all his tests to pilot, according to Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr.
In light of this incident, several airlines announced a ban on leaving any one person alone in the cockpit.
The flight path and altitude chart can be seen in the images below.
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4U9525 flight path
Image: Andrew Heneen
4U9525 flight path
Image: Kopiersperre
Altitude Chart for Flight 4U9525 register D-AIPX
Image: Lämpel