Five key questions about Germanwings crash

WHAT DOES THE FLIGHT PATH TELL US?

Given that the plane was headed directly for the mountains while making a controlled descent – which appears to exclude the scenario of a sudden drop or emergency descent – experts say the descent is likely linked to the crew’s actions.

The aircraft continued to have lift in its final moments, according to pilots and ex-investigators of the French air crash investigation agency BEA.

The plane also stayed on its trajectory except for the change in altitude. It sent no distress signal.

“Heading straight for the mountains makes no sense. All of this indicates that there was either an unusual action taken by professional pilots in full possession of their senses or a lack of reaction from the crew,” the pilot of a large European airline company said.

HOW CAN THIS UNUSUAL ACTION OR LACK OF REACTION BE EXPLAINED?

“If the pilots failed to stop the plane from crashing into the mountains, they were either unconscious or dead; they either decided to, or were forced to die,” one of the experts said.

Another theory is the plane lost cabin pressure and the oxygen masks did not work. In that case, the pilots could have fallen victim to hypoxia, or oxygen starvation.

It’s too soon to rule out other options such as one of the pilots committing suicide or a third person forcing their way into the cockpit. That is why the analysis of the black boxes is crucial.

CAN DATA STILL BE RETRIEVED FROM THE RECOVERED BUT DAMAGED COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER?

“Damaged does not mean unusable,” said former BEA director Jean-Paul Troadec.

“The memory card, similar to those found in computers, is particularly well protected. This is the CVR’s useful part.”

The plane’s second black box, which was recording flight technical data, has yet to be found.

WHAT CAN THE BLACK BOX TELL US?

“We should be able to learn who was in control, whether the captain was alone in the cockpit or not, and whether there were people other than the pilot and co-pilot present. If so, it is likely that words were being exchanged,” says Troadec.

The CVR also records noises of the cockpit door opening and closing, as well as of the different controls and switches. All these small clicking noises can provide information about the cause of the crash.

Fire or depressurisation alarms would have also been audible.

WAS THERE AN EXPLOSION PRIOR TO THE CRASH?

BEA director Remy Jouty says radars have shown the Airbus “flying right to the end”, and that it had therefore not exploded prior to crashing.

This was corroborated by the evidence of debris found at the crash site, indicating the plane had still been in one piece when it crashed.

Witnesses had also confirmed seeing the full plane before it hit the mountains.

Image: Wall Street Journal

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Germanwings Plane Crash