Pilot ‘locked out’ of cockpit: Germanwings crash
New evidence from a cockpit voice recorder retrieved from the Germanwings air crash suggests one of the two pilots was not in the cockpit at the time of the plane’s fatal descent and appears unable to get back in.
Germanwings flight 4U9525 crashed into the French Alps after a steady and rapid descent on Tuesday killing all of its 150 passengers on board, including two Australians.
The New York Times reports a senior military official involved in the investigation saying there was a “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the two pilots earlier on the journey from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, but the audio recording later into the flight suggests that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.
The paper reports the audio recording does not indicate the condition of the pilot who remained inside the cockpit.
“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator, who asked to remain anonymous, told the New York Times.
“And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.
“You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”
“We don’t know yet the reason why one of the guys went out,” said the official, who requested anonymity because the investigation is continuing, the paper reports.
“But what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door.”
According to a report in the Guardian, French air accident investigators confirmed they extracted a recording that contains “voices and sounds” from the cockpit.
The French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) is also “optimistic” the second black box, the flight data recorder, would be found and the mystery of the Germanwings crash would then be solved.
The paper reports the Airbus A320 flew “right to the end”, according to investigators, and did not explode mid-flight. It also appeared not to have suffered a sudden drop in pressure.
Travel Weekly spoke to the head of aviation at UNSW yesterday who concurred there were contradictions regarding the crash.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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