Germanwings A320 crash in France

[Flanker2]

I had a quick check of the fleet of Germanwings, I'm surprised that there are quit a few 25 years old airplane, it's not very common for a European Airlines

Me too:

I'm surprised to read that the Germanwings A320 fleet is so old at 23.7 years average.

If the other pilots reacted like that, it is a sign of lack of confidence in their maintenance operations.
It wouldn't surprise me too. If you look at the long lists of deferred item lists (DIL) at many of the European airlines, it makes you wonder why the manufacturers even bother having all those intermediary checks.

Personally I think that the aircraft architecture/structure/design redundancies have to absorb too much of the slack, and it's coming close to how African operators stretch the wider limits of old Russian aircraft.

I'm going to float a few additional theories:
-The nose landing door or other problem in the nose section caused a local decompression in the cockpit area. The closed cockpit door caused a local decompression / high cabin altitude in the cockpit alone, which went undetected by the aircraft systems for lack of cabin altitude sensors in the cockpit. Without warnings, the flight crew was hit by hypoxia. By the time they realised that they were losing consciousness, the last ditch resort was to make an emergency descent by turning the A/P knobs, as they didn't even have the energy to grab their masks anymore, or the masks failed to operate due to lack of oxygen pressure, itself owed to a lack of servicing of the 02 bottles.

[crew1990]

the forward landing gear compartment is not pressurized so I don't think it could make a decompression in the cockpit,also there is a one way panel allowing the air of the cabin to enter in the flight deck in case of cockpit in decompression, while this panel doesn't pop out in case of decompression in the cabin, so for sure, if there were a slow decompression in the flight deck, it would be in the all aircraft.

And in case there would be a decompression the very first thing for the pilot would be to grab the mask and if there was no O2 which seem to me impossible as it has to be check i guess they would take a O2 bottle in cabin before intend anything else.

Last thing is that the mask automatically drop at a certain cabin altitude so if it was a decompression in cabin, the cabin crew would be aware of it, and if they were no communication from the flight deck they would go try to communicate with the pilot to ensure they are aware of the situation and ensure they wear the "quick donning mask" in case of the no reaction from them they would enter the flight deck.

I have been flying for 4 airlines different and all of them was insisting a lot about the helios crash, mainly in germany since the first officer was german.

[crew1990]

On flight radar there are many Germanwings flight flown by other operator, Air Berlin, Tuify, WDL Aviation, Titan Airways, Lufthansa, yesterday was the same, is it a normal operation for Germanwings?

[b.lufthansa]

Which flight duty was planned for the crew ? Just DUS-BCN-DUS or flights before/after ?

[Boeing767copilot]

Germanwings with normal flight operations today/ one cancellation / eleven aircraft and crews from Lufthansa, Air Berlin and TuiFly
Source: Germanwings
25/03/2015
Cologne / Bonn: Following the incident in France yesterday, Germanwings cancels one flight today and operates the remaining flights according to schedule. Due to emotional distress, some crew members are also unfit for service today. Germanwings understands these circumstances, as crew members have lost beloved colleagues in the incident.
Today, Germanwings operates eleven aircraft, predominantly from other airlines like Lufthansa, Air Berlin and TuiFly on approximately 40 flights.

[Passenger]

Update AvHerald (apart from the update on the rescue mission):

On Mar 25th 2015 France's Minister of Interior reported that the recovered black box was the cockpit voice recorder. The CVR is damaged but usable.

This seems to be very good news for the investigators.

[Acid-drop]

my bet is 8min of silence

[Desert Rat]

it won't be 8 minutes of silence, EGPWS Terrain ahead is probably recorded.

[RTM]

If the other pilots reacted like that, it is a sign of lack of confidence in their maintenance operations.
It wouldn't surprise me too. If you look at the long lists of deferred item lists (DIL) at many of the European airlines, it makes you wonder why the manufacturers even bother having all those intermediary checks.

Again, this is completely unsubstanciated. And on top of that complete BS. Like you have access to the cockpit and documents of many aircraft of many operators...

I'm going to float a few additional theories:
-The nose landing door or other problem in the nose section caused a local decompression in the cockpit area. The closed cockpit door caused a local decompression / high cabin altitude in the cockpit alone, which went undetected by the aircraft systems for lack of cabin altitude sensors in the cockpit. Without warnings, the flight crew was hit by hypoxia. By the time they realised that they were losing consciousness, the last ditch resort was to make an emergency descent by turning the A/P knobs, as they didn't even have the energy to grab their masks anymore, or the masks failed to operate due to lack of oxygen pressure, itself owed to a lack of servicing of the 02 bottles.

Again, you completely prove to anyone here that your knowledge on aircraft structures and systems is non-existant. So, again,please do not pretend to be the master of all knowledge.
Crew1990 has it right.
And if you really think a crew will accept an aircraft with an under serviced oxy system, let alone fly it over the Alps, you should have your head checked...

[MrG4]

AirLive.net on Twitter :
"BREAKING #Germanwings #4U9525 Second black box found, but severely damaged; memory chip dislodged and missing."

[sn26567]

From Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr: "Two special flights for families and friends of the victims will fly to France tomorrow."

"What was important to us yesterday now seems irrelevant in comparison. We cannot comprehend how a technically flawless airplane steered by two experienced pilots could encounter such a situation at cruising altitude. All of us at Lufthansa are working to ensure that such an incident will never occur again. We cannot believe that this has happened. We are doing everything to support the families."

[sean1982]

If the other pilots reacted like that, it is a sign of lack of confidence in their maintenance operations.
It wouldn't surprise me too. If you look at the long lists of deferred item lists (DIL) at many of the European airlines, it makes you wonder why the manufacturers even bother having all those intermediary checks.

Again, this is completely unsubstanciated. And on top of that complete BS. Like you have access to the cockpit and documents of many aircraft of many operators...

I'm going to float a few additional theories:
-The nose landing door or other problem in the nose section caused a local decompression in the cockpit area. The closed cockpit door caused a local decompression / high cabin altitude in the cockpit alone, which went undetected by the aircraft systems for lack of cabin altitude sensors in the cockpit. Without warnings, the flight crew was hit by hypoxia. By the time they realised that they were losing consciousness, the last ditch resort was to make an emergency descent by turning the A/P knobs, as they didn't even have the energy to grab their masks anymore, or the masks failed to operate due to lack of oxygen pressure, itself owed to a lack of servicing of the 02 bottles.

Again, you completely prove to anyone here that your knowledge on aircraft structures and systems is non-existant. So, again,please do not pretend to be the master of all knowledge.
Crew1990 has it right.
And if you really think a crew will accept an aircraft with an under serviced oxy system, let alone fly it over the Alps, you should have your head checked...

Not to mention that he doesnt have a clue about how the body reacts when exposed to hypoxia. You make it sound flanker that the pilots would be physically impaired but not mentally which is completely wrong. In fact, your mental capacity would decrease FIRST behaving more or less like when you're drunk before you become physically incapacitated

[regi]

A Mirage 2000 was dispatched because there was no more contact, and the fighter reached the area before the crash.
It resembles a lot like the Helios crash.

Must be dreadful for the figher pilot as well, witnessing such a disaster.

[Passenger]

A Mirage 2000 was dispatched because there was no more contact, and the fighter reached the area before the crash. It resembles a lot like the Helios crash. Must be dreadful for the figher pilot as well, witnessing such a disaster.

Could be, but there is no official confimation about this encounter yet. I doubt it, as French ATC only pushed the alarm button few minutes before impact.

[Acid-drop]

What's the source of this information ?
I find hard to beleive that the french gov hides this...
8min to take off and reach the place or what it before those 8 min ?

[Homo Aeroportus]

A Mirage 2000 was dispatched because there was no more contact, and the fighter reached the area before the crash. It resembles a lot like the Helios crash. Must be dreadful for the figher pilot as well, witnessing such a disaster.

Could be, but there is no official confimation about this encounter yet. I doubt it, as French ATC only pushed the alarm button few minutes before impact.

I also doubt about this.

The nearest air base is BA115 at Orange (LFMO), about 130km from the crash site. Mirages 2000 are based there.
I don't think the French Armée de l'Air maintains QRA with pilots on board and strapped ready to blast off at the end of the runway.
Even if, and considering the ATC only needed 2 minutes after noticing the altitude change and unsuccessful comm before calling for a scramble, It seems impossible to be on site before the crash.
The time lapse between departure from assigned FL380 and the crash is 9 minutes only.

The only possibility for a military aircraft to be on scene prior to the crash is that it was already in the air at that time.
And I would really prefer to read that there was no military activity in the air, including drones, or on the ground near the coast at that same time.

H.A.

[sn26567]

Lufthansa offers special flights to Marseille for the next of kin of flight 4U 9525 passengers
Airline to provide two special flights from Barcelona and Dusseldorf to Marseille

Lufthansa will provide two special flights to Marseille for the relatives and friends of passengers of Germanwings flight 4U 9525. The flights operated by Lufthansa on behalf of Germanwings will depart Dusseldorf en route to Marseille tomorrow at 8.40 CET and take off from Barcelona to Marseille at 8.45 CET. Relatives and friends will be taken care of by Lufthansa and Germanwings employees at a special assistance center in Marseille.

Germanwings and Lufthansa will continue to provide all the care and assistance needed by relatives and friends of passengers of flight 4U 9525 in this difficult situation.

[Bralo20]

BREAKING (CNN via NYTIMES):

One of the pilots on Germanwings Flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit when the plane crashed Tuesday, a senior military official told The New York Times, citing evidence from the cockpit voice recorder.

Interesting development if true... (I already found that there was something fishy at the BEA press conference where they said that the plane didn't suffer decompression, that it seemed to be a controlled flight until the very end and when they didn't want to discuss anything from the CVR except at the start that it was interesting.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world ... .html?_r=0

[MrG4]

PARIS — As officials struggled Wednesday to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed in relatively clear skies, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.

A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”

He said, “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”
"We don’t know yet the reason why one of the guys went out,” said the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is continuing. "But what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door."
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/wo ... &referrer=

[RTM]

Well... that puts a different spin on things...

They did not comment on the emergency cockpit entrance buzzer... So, was it not used, or was it not disclosed as to prevent the public from drawing conclusions.
If the buzzer was used, should be audible on the CVR, and there would be no response to it from the flightdeck, the door unlocks after 30 sec. This can be overruled from the flightdeck by selecting the door closed. That is a conscious and deliberate action, that would deny entrance.
Banging down the door is anyway a last desperate resort, as these doors are designed to keep people out...
If the buzzer wasn't used... Why...?