Questions swirl over reports that cell phone video captured doomed Germanwings jets final moments

So...apparently there is cell phone video footage that was recovered and viewed by at least 2 reporters at the scene. This will be very interesting if true and is released. While the obvious truth to the matter is that the co-pilot crashed the plane, I can imagine that the video would be something the investigators would regard as a very important piece to discovering the actions of the pilot and crew as well as training how to avoid this from happening again...

Source

Questions swirled Wednesday over a video reportedly taken by someone inside the cabin of the doomed Germanwings plane shortly before it crashed -- a video that reporters for two publications say was found on a memory chip that could have come from a passenger's cellphone.

Marseille Prosecutor Brice Robin, who is overseeing the French criminal investigation into the crash, told The Associated Press that investigators had found no such video. But in a statement Wednesday, he left open the possibility that such video had been found but not given to authorities.

Another story with some of the same quotes and a bit more on it...

Source

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, in charge of the criminal inquiry into the crash, told CNN that "so far no videos were used in the crash investigation."

He added, "A person who has such a video needs to immediately give it to the investigators."

Robin's comments follow claims by two publications, German daily Bild and French Paris Match, of a cell phone video showing the harrowing final seconds from on board the flight as it crashed into the French Alps on March 24. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz is accused of deliberately bringing down the plane, killing all 150 on board.

Paris Match and Bild reported that the video was recovered from a phone at the wreckage site.

The two publications described the supposed video but did not post it on their websites. They said that they watched the video, which was found by a source close to the investigation.

"One can hear cries of 'My God' in several languages," Paris Match reported. "Metallic banging can also be heard more than three times, perhaps of the pilot trying to open the cockpit door with a heavy object. Towards the end, after a heavy shake, stronger than the others, the screaming intensifies. Then nothing."

"It is a very disturbing scene," said Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of Bild online.

For 8 minutes the Pilot belted on that door and the passengers knew there was a problem,so where are the cell phone calls,sms,text messages and videos?...if I was a reporter with such material the authorities wouldn't be getting anything.

originally posted by: khnum
For 8 minutes the Pilot belted on that door and the passengers knew there was a problem,so where are the cell phone calls,sms,text messages and videos?...if I was a reporter with such material the authorities wouldn't be getting anything.

I doubt there was coverage where they were. Likely a call could not have gotten out as they were in the mountains and towers were not around. The video would just be on the phone itself.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

If there is a video out there, that reporters took from the crash site, there are serious questions to be answered.

This should have been a secure site, no journalist should have been able to be there to take anything away from the crash site, at all.

If these journalists did in fact take a memory card belonging to the dead, it's not only a criminal act, it's utterly and completely morally reprehensible. These people are disgusting.

The German and French authorities should now be seeking these individuals to seize whatever it is they have in their posession relating to the victims.

Freedom of the press is one thing, abhorrent abuse of victims is an entirely different, and entirely sickening thing.

originally posted by: Rocker2013
a reply to: Vasa Croe

If there is a video out there, that reporters took from the crash site, there are serious questions to be answered.

This should have been a secure site, no journalist should have been able to be there to take anything away from the crash site, at all.

If these journalists did in fact take a memory card belonging to the dead, it's not only a criminal act, it's utterly and completely morally reprehensible. These people are disgusting.

The German and French authorities should now be seeking these individuals to seize whatever it is they have in their posession relating to the victims.

Freedom of the press is one thing, abhorrent abuse of victims is an entirely different, and entirely sickening thing.

Yeah....I didn't even think about that. That would be a MAJOR no-no. Taking evidence from a crash site before the investigation.

a reply to: khnum

If they stole this from the crash site and watched it, to report on it, to get off on sharing the gruesome drama of the murders of 149 people, they should be arrested and charged.

This is sickening. It's not freedom of the press to glory in the murders of people in such a f-ed up way.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Just looking at the French cell coverage map there are 824927 cell towers and 825 networks there are a few weaker signal areas but generally there seems to be acceptable coverage in the alps nothing that would last 8 minutes long in a jet I can see

a reply to: Rocker2013
from what i read yester day..the German and French authorities DO have the phone.

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
Yeah....I didn't even think about that. That would be a MAJOR no-no. Taking evidence from a crash site before the investigation.

It's a criminal act to tamper with any evidence, or remove any potential evidence, from the scene of a crime, or from the scene of an investigation. They broke the law.

Aside from this, they breached ethical and moral codes of conduct, just like the journalist seen on British TV picking through the belongings of a victim of a the downing of flight MH17. He was swiftly and appropriately attacked for his lack of judgment, just for opening up a bag on the ground.

If these "journalists" (and I use that term VERY loosely) did indeed steal a memory card with a video on it of the victims' last moments, this goes far beyond anything we've seen before. This is the fertilization of murder, the titillation of death, reducing 149 people to nothing more than entertainment while they die.

I don't have words strong enough for those guilty of such a gross breach of basic Human morality, and I hope the authorities treat them with the utter disdain they deserve when they are arrested for this.

a reply to: khnum

The cell phone topic has been covered in the following thread.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: Vasa Croe

I read an article yesterday that supposedly had the entire transcript of what the video captured - the pilot yelling to the co pilot from the outside of the cockpit and whatnot.

RT Article

A 26 year old cabin crew member also said something that put up red flags in my mind:

"I did not know what he meant by that at the time, but now it's clear," Maria said, adding that Lubitz, 27, sometimes woke up at night screaming, "We're going down!" in terror.

(from the article).

Why would Lubitz have night terrors about a plan crashing if he intended to crash the plan.

Also from the article:

Lubitz’s ex-girlfriend has claimed in an interview with Bild that the co-pilot had been planning to do something to "make everyone remember him.”

a reply to: Rocker2013

An informed reporter would know they outright lied about TWA 800 and more recently MH17 which the authorities will never tell you the truth about and MH370 information on which the NSA recently declined to give over for national security reasons,there may be a ghoulish aspect to this but there is also the right for families and loved ones to get closure.

a reply to: khnum

I have no reason to doubt that the first thing someone would do in that situation is check to see if they could get a call out.

So what do you think the reason is other than no cell coverage?

a reply to: khnum
There is NO cell coverage in any airplane while flying in Europe.
Video's and pictures on a memory card or phone memory are the only possibility if they survived the crash of course.

a reply to: rockintitz

Well an investigative reporter would probably be checking Orange and the other major cell phone providers to see if there was any outages,in truth I dont know why no calls got out and that includes the so called solution proposed on the link given to me by another poster on this thread.

a reply to: Exitt

Thank you

originally posted by: khnum
a reply to: rockintitz

Well an investigative reporter would probably be checking Orange and the other major cell phone providers to see if there was any outages,in truth I dont know why no calls got out and that includes the so called solution proposed on the link given to me by another poster on this thread.

There is a very good reason why they are called "Cell" phones and not "Satellite" phones.

If you are in an area that does not have cell towers, your phone will be out of whatever network it works in.

For me, that's just down the road. I get one bar here where I live, and if I go a bit further down the road, there's no bars and no service.

There are not too many cell towers sitting around in the Alps.

Without cell service, you can try to call and text all you want, but nothing is going to leave your phone unless you are close enough to a cell tower for that service.

Well this quote from another article makes me think it was one of the investigators that showed the cell video to the reporters. Also makes me think it is likely they do have it and are just not stating so at this time.

Menichini said he believed the cell phones would need to be sent to the Criminal Research Institute in Rosny-sous-Bois, near Paris, to be analyzed by specialized technicians working hand in hand with investigators. But none of the cell phones found so far has been sent to the institute, Menichini said.

Asked whether staff involved in the search could have leaked a memory card to the media, Menichini answered with a categorical "no."

Reichelt told CNN's "Erin Burnett: Outfront" that he had watched the video and stood by the report, saying Bild and Paris Match are "very confident" that the clip is real.

He noted that investigators only revealed they'd recovered cell phones from the crash site after Bild and Paris Match published their reports.

"That is something we did not know before. ... Overall we can say many things of the investigation weren't revealed by the investigation at the beginning," he said.

Source

Considering they don't even have the FDR (flight data recorder), and yet somehow cell phone video footage survived this...

I want to buy whatever brand of cell phone that is, as mine breaks from normal wear and tear.

Does this not sound like the finding of pristine passports at ground zero?