Germanwings A320 believed crashed

[Grahame Hutchison]

The CVR was damaged in the crash, first images released by BEA France. The flight data recorder has not been located at this time.

[Philip Argy]

Given the forces these devices are built to resist (typically 3,400 Gs and 5,000 psi), those photos are a graphic illustration of the forces unleashed on impact. And the scratches suggest quite a bit of post-impact bouncing and scraping too.

[Greg Hyde]

No more speculation:

Breaking News ABC Radio

From French Prosecutors "Co-pilot crashed the plane"

[Philip Argy]

It may be plausible but I'd like to understand why that might have been done - there doesn't appear to be any reason to get back at either Germany or Spain, there were no demands made, and if the intent was truly malicious why not fly the plane into the centre of a town - why in such a remote location? In other words, the 'reward' for the suicide mission that is being described is not discernible, making it quite unlikely to me ... Having said that, the French prosecutor is quite adamant that 28 year old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit, set the aircraft to descend, switched off TCAS, and ignored all calls from ATC. What an awful scenario if that turns out to be true.

[Dave Powell]

Originally Posted by Philip Argy

It may be plausible but I'd like to understand why that might have been done - there doesn't appear to be any reason to get back at either Germany or Spain, there were no demands made, and if the intent was truly malicious why not fly the plane into the centre of a town - why in such a remote location? In other words, the 'reward' for the suicide mission that is being described is not discernible, making it quite unlikely to me .

Philip - why would there necessarily be demands or malice?

Might just be a guy who decided he had had enough - unfortunately his method took out 149 innocent lives as well. Mental instability can result in actions incomprehensible to those who are not suffering.

[Grahame Hutchison]

EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic have both announced they will implement a "Two crew in the cockpit at all times" policy, following the GermanWings tragedy.

[Rowan McKeever]

As have Norwegian and Air Berlin.

[Philip Argy]

Originally Posted by Dave Powell

Might just be a guy who decided he had had enough - unfortunately his method took out 149 innocent lives as well. Mental instability can result in actions incomprehensible to those who are not suffering.

It is increasingly likely that you were quite right, Dave. I wonder if we'll get mandatory reporting on doctors as we do now. Where a doctor deems you unfit to drive they are required to report you. Hard to see why that logic would not apply to a pilot.

[Nigel C]

That might only work if you actually tell the doctor that you're a pilot in the first place.....

[MarkR]

Originally Posted by Philip Argy

It may be plausible but I'd like to understand why that might have been done - there doesn't appear to be any reason to get back at either Germany or Spain, there were no demands made, and if the intent was truly malicious why not fly the plane into the centre of a town - why in such a remote location? In other words, the 'reward' for the suicide mission that is being described is not discernible, making it quite unlikely to me ... Having said that, the French prosecutor is quite adamant that 28 year old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit, set the aircraft to descend, switched off TCAS, and ignored all calls from ATC. What an awful scenario if that turns out to be true.

Given the history of similar accidents, I suspect the scenario is very plausible. To a certain extent logic does not have a place, it's all about emotion. I would not be surprised if a similar thing happened with MH370, we may never know, but it's likely the Silk Air incident was similar, and obviously this recent accident:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAM_M...nes_Flight_470