Germanwings Flight 9525 Crash

Just a week ago, on March 24^th, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps. The plane, traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, was carrying 150 people. There were no survivors of the crash. At first, aviation experts were confused as to why a plane would make such a quick, straight descent into the ground. Information from the flight cockpit voice recorder revealed a very harrowing truth; the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had intentionally crashed the plane, in an apparent suicide mission. On the recording, you could hear the other pilot banging on the door to get in, as the co-pilot sat, breathing normally as he took the plane to the ground. In the following days, it was discovered that he had been deemed “unfit to work” by a doctor. The doctor had said he was not fit to do his job, because he was mentally unstable, possibly suffering from some type of depression. The airline never knew of this, because he had passed their initial tests at the time of his hiring, as well as other routine checks.

 

Workers sift through the wreckage, looking for the flight data recorder or other clues. 

Aside from the mental state of Lubitz, many are questioning how the system could let this happen. Why was there only one pilot in the cockpit and why isn’t that against the rules? It is believed the pilot probably left the cockpit to use the restroom or take care of a matter in the cabin. In the wake of this accident, new rules have been put in to place to prevent a similar future catastrophe. All European airlines must now make sure two pilots are in the cockpit at all times. That same rule has been in effect in the U.S. for quite some time now. As unfortunate as this horrible crash was, aviation will surely learn from it and improve, as it has with numerous accidents in the past.


http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/france-germanwings-plane-crash-main/index.html