The news that came out today from the French Investigators today was not what anyone wanted to hear, and that was the confirmation of The New York Times story that broke last night – the captain of the plane left the cockpit, and was locked out of it by the first officer.
The Marseille’s public prosecutor confirmed the co-pilot was alone during the fateful flight descent from cruising altitude, causing the plane to crash.
Such an altitude change could not be carried out unintentionally. Breathing was heard from the Cockpit Voice Recorder until the aircraft crashed.
Lufthansa held various press updates during the day:
26.03. 07.30 p.m.: Daily summary, 26 March 2015
A few hours ago we thought last Tuesday was the darkest day in the history of our company. But today, Thursday, has been no less devastating.
We were stunned to learn today that the airplane we lost in southern France was to all appearances made to crash by deliberate act—presumably by the co-pilot. This is evidently the conclusion of the French investigative authorities who have studied the voice recorder that was recovered from the ill-fated Airbus A320. It appears that, once the plane had reached cruising altitude, the captain stepped out of the cockpit but was unable to re-enter it a short while later, as the co-pilot had bolted the cockpit door.
Before early Thursday morning we could not have conceived of such a possibility even in our worst nightmares. At 3:00 o’clock this morning, following the first media reports, the crisis unit met for the first time this day at our company headquarters. Until the French public prosecutor’s press conference later in the morning, however, we did not really believe that such a situation could actually occur in one of our aircraft. We still are not really able to grasp it.
Today the employees of Germanwings gathered once again in front of company headquarters to observe a moment of silence at 10:53 AM, the time at which radio contact with the aircraft was lost on Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of other people were following us in this observance at the same minute—in North-Rhine Westphalia, in Germany, and throughout the world.
In the wake of mounting evidence that one of our pilots really could be responsible for the disaster, we convened a meeting of employees at 12:30 PM. Carsten Spohr, the CEO of Lufthansa, appeared before the team to report on the situation. Two hours later, at 2:30 PM, he appeared before the press along with Thomas Winkelmann, the Spokesman for the Executive Board of Germanwings, to inform the public of the situation.
We, together with the bereaved families and friends of the victims and many millions of other people, are shocked, grief-stricken, and utterly baffled by what has happened.
Airlines around the world have been updating procedures in dribs and drabs today to ensure two people are in the cockpit at all times. These include:
- Norwegian Air Shuttle
- EasyJet
- Air Canada
- Air Berlin
- Monarch
- Virgin Atlantic
- IcelandAir
Canadian Regulators have moved to order that two crew members to be in the flight deck at all times. The US FAA has it own regulations regarding two-persons in the cockpit at all times (including defending access to the cockpit area).
Other airlines, such as Ryanair already operate a two-person crew at all times.
As airlines rush to re-examine their security procedures in reaction to the events of Tuesday – there remains the families of the 150 passengers aboard, where a pilot did something deliberate.. and took those lives of those aboard.
And ultimately, the aviation industry must learn from this tragic event so another incident like this can be avoided.
