Breaking: Germanwings Pilot Was Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash in France

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.”

www.nytimes.com...

This is getting stranger and stranger.

Why did the Pilot leave the cockpit and when he returned he couldn't open the cockpit door and he tried to smash it in. Why was it locked?

They need to check the background and any activity from the Pilot that wouldn't let the other Pilot back in. Could this be a terrorist dry run? They're not claiming responsibility because they want to take down several planes at once. Maybe it can be a simple explanation like the other Pilot had a heart attack, but why would the door be locked so the other Pilot couldn't get back in?

Since 9/11 its been standard to lock cockpits doors. Something must have happened to the copilot after the one went to the pisser. Heart attack, stroke, suicide...who knows.

Maybe the investigation will turn up some evidence.

Wow this really puts a whole new spin on this one. I had a suspicion that this would turn out to be more sinister than many would suspect. The way it never lost speed but did lose altitude and did not respond to calls from control. The world of flying just got a whole lot scarier.

If this is a health issue which some will allude to then I hope we hear the entire medical history of these pilots soon

Not being in aviation but I have been in a cockpit

I didn't see a bathroom so that be a good reason

Also I bet locking the door is SOP after 911

All i got for input

Bizarre bizarre.
Waiting for more info, it's an important detail to find out why the hell he was locked out of the cockpit.

Far from the first time a pilot was locked out of the cockpit. It doesn't automatically mean something sinister happened.

www.foxnews.com...

www.cnn.com...

www.worldwideweirdnews.com...

originally posted by: Zaphod58
Far from the first time a pilot was locked out of the cockpit. It doesn't automatically mean something sinister happened.

Tell me that usually they're able to unlock the damn door before crashing..

a reply to: neoholographic

Why did the Pilot leave the cockpit and when he returned he couldn't open the cockpit door and he tried to smash it in. Why was it locked?

Well because it wasn't an accident. When you make a door no one can break into to protect from terrorists this type of thing can happen. Every action has unintended consequences. Now we know the people were aware of what was going on for several minutes. This makes the whole thing much worse imho. Captain goes to take a leak or whatever and the co pilot puts it in a shallow dive so he won't notice. Locks the door. That is some cold blooded # my friend. Absolutely frightening.


V

a reply to: Zaphod58

But it doesn't mean it didn't either, all angles need to be made possible.

I have had strong suspicions that some of these mysterious international plane crashes may have a terrorism connection. I find it odd that so many huge jets are just falling out of the sky or disappearing completely like the Malaysian 370 flight. The 2nd malaysian that was shot down over the Ukraine confirms that rebels are capable of shooting down a commercial airliner. Either planes fall out of the sky more frequently and didn't get as much coverage in the past or something is seriously amiss here.

a reply to: Avicenne

If the pilot still in the cockpit is dealing with a problem, the LAST thing he's worried about is unlocking the door.

Usually when a pilot leaves the cockpit, a flight attendant goes in and locks the door, so there is always more then one person in the cockpit for various reasons.

a reply to: whatnext21

No it doesn't mean it wasn't nefarious. It's simply a data point right now.

So a pilot breaks protocol by leaving the cockpit without letting a flight attendant know, then on top of that the co pilot has a medical emergency.

two extreme coincidences.

Kind of agreeing with the CNN guy in thinking that this looks more and more nefarious

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Avicenne

If the pilot still in the cockpit is dealing with a problem, the LAST thing he's worried about is unlocking the door.

I have 2 questions regarding this , i apologise in advance if they are dumb

Would a pilot be able to solve any worst case emergency situation by himself ?

Would the pilot locked out ( for instance on the toilet ) feel the plane going in this descend mode and would try to get back to the cockpit ?

There was an incident in one of the airline crash investigation series (Federal Express Flight 705) where the flight engineer tried to take out the flight crew so his family would get life insurance.

a reply to: neoholographic
Maybe as simple as as an ineffectual risk assessment on the controls introduced to combat the terrorism threat?

a reply to: TheGreazel

He possibly could resolve it alone. It depends on the problem.

Yes, he'd feel the nose go down.

Why aren't the pilots in possession of a key to unlock the door should they need to?

Is there even a way to unlock it from outside?

a reply to: masqua

The Purser usually has a key on US Airlines, but not all of them do.