I had fairly well concluded that the most likely cause was a fire disrupting the electrical and control systems, when CNN now say the sharp left turn was pre-programmed 12 minutes before sign off from Malaysian Air Traffic control, which was followed fairly quickly by that left turn.
CNN claim to have this from an US official, from data sent back before the reporting systems went off. It is hard to know what to make of it: obviously there are large economic interests that much prefer blame to lie with the pilots rather than the aircraft. But if it is true then the move was not a response to an emergency. (CNN went on to say the pilot could have programmed in the course change as a contingency in case of an emergency. That made no sense to me at all – does it to anyone else?)
I still find it extremely unlikely that the plane landed or crashed on land I cannot believe it could evade military detection as it flew over a highly militarized region. Somewhere there is debris on the ocean. There have been previous pilot suicides that took the plane with them; but the long detour first seems very strange and I do not believe is precedented. However if the CNN information on pre-programming is correct, and given it was the co-pilot who signed off to air traffic control, it is hard to look beyond the pilots as those responsible for whatever did happen. In fact, on consideration, the most improbable thing is that information CNN are reporting from the US official.
In today’s news, the pilot was tapping on the cockpit door with an axe. In none of the illustrations published by the media do they show where the emergency axe is located in relation to the reinforced cockpit door. Now Lubitz is said to have had eye problems that caused psychological problems, not the other way around. We already knew yesterday that he was not treated for mental health issues. His girlfriend is Maria/Sabine/Kathryn or something. Did he even have a girlfriend, or is this entire scenario a work of fiction?
In one story the AX had changed into a crowbar.
Crowbars and axes strewn about the cabin of a commercial airliner. It’s so wow!
There is more than one mirage in this story. Here’s another:
http://www.dw.de/lufthansa-pilot-union-cockpit-announces-saturday-strike/a-18329198
On Saturday, March 21, the months-long rotating strike by Lufthansa pilots over Lufthansa’s transition payments for early retirement continued. Three days later, the Germanwings plane crashed. Why isn’t the international media focusing on that? It was mentioned in passing that Lubitz was worried he might never become a long-haul pilot. Pilots are paid for flying time, and longer flights mean more air time. Short-haul flights spend a lot of time on the ground.
We know now that the captain, Patrick Sondenheimer, had recently switched from long-haul to short-haul flights.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3017823/Captain-tried-prevent-Germanwings-plane-crash-just-switched-short-haul-flights-spend-time-family-says-friend-killer-pilot-s-girlfriend-quizzed-police.html
@Q I had a look at the Air Canada “hard landing ” it did make me smile glad to hear they were all safe though .
Bit of paint new wings put the engines back on new landing gear they will be good to go 🙂
Air Canada can’t quite bring themselves to admit how close to mass slaughter this incident came.
It was shockingly serious but they want to downplay it.
What on earth happened?
Here we go again.
The German airline Lufthansa says it fears the flight data recorder from the Germanwings disaster may never be found.
http://www.euronews.com/2015/03/30/lufthansa-fears-second-germanwings-black-box-may-never-be-found/
The Germanwings flight also had a hard landing, according to this definition:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/air-canada-crash-airline-accused-over-hard-landing-that-saw-airbus-a320-written-off-10143414.html
“A hard landing will often, if not invariably result in a write off. It’s a technical term that refers to the rate of descent and has absolutely nothing to do with Air Canada attempting to deny there was an accident. If the aircraft was in controlled flight but touching down with excessive vertical speed, then it’s a hard landing. Engine power is used to control rate of descent in the approach, so it’s quite possible there was some sort of engine failure. But let’s not let facts distort a good story, eh?”
As we recall, the Germanwings’ descent was in controlled flight, until it hit the mountain. It was nowhere near a runway. The Air Canada flight missed the runway by 1,100 feet. No one talks of Germanwings having an engine failure.
It sure is interesting that the Germanwings and Air Canada crashes both occurred in A320s that entered service around the same time (1990/91):
http://www.jacdec.de/2015/03/29/2015-03-29-air-canada-airbus-a320-landing-accident-at-halifax/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Canada_Flight_624
The actual owner of the Air Canada A320 is GECAS, which leased the plane back to Air Canada:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Capital_Aviation_Services
Who owned the Germanwings A320? Lufthansa is listed as a client here:
http://www.goal-leasing.com/
We know that Lufthansa leased planes to Germanwings, but who leased the planes to Lufthansa? Or were older planes in the fleet leased out to Germanwings by the owner, Lufthansa?
Leases might be a way to increase profits.
The wet leasing policy of some airlines would certainly limit career opportunities for domestic pilots. Foreign crews in foreign planes under the corporate banner of a different nation might also make passengers a little edgy about safety records of those wet leases. If they only knew.
GE Capital Aviation Services
only lease aircraft with the general electric engines
because General Electric owns the leasing firm.
Is this actually legal.
It would seem General Electric own an aircraft leasing business to off-load their aircraft engines.
Anyone heard of any recent R/R Trent engine aircraft “hard landing”?
The A320 “hard landing” at Halifax, Canada
“That’s what an ILS gives you, not only the lateral but it gives you the vertical (guidance),” the pilot said.
“It’s just like keeping the needles crossed and you’re going down a glide path.”
But without the ILS precision-approach system, he said pilots like those in control of the Airbus A320 must rely on the lateral (localizer).
“All they had was the lateral. They obviously landed short and that is what they were missing, the vertical component of the ILS.
“I don’t know what it costs to install and maintain, but when you’re talking lives and safety, and Saturday night was a perfect example of why it is so vitally important to have the ILS precision approach available to the pilots.”
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1277705-stanfield-urged-to-upgrade-landing-system-in-wake-of-crash
It seems like “they” are slightly back-peddling on the lone nutter CO-Pilot theory
Quote SKY
“Investigators have so far been unable to find the aircraft’s second black box, which would provide technical flight data of its final moments.”
It seems quite “fishey” that it can not be found,
don’t they give off a signal, so they can be found?
Why, yes, they do give off a signal, MN. Unless like MH370, someone removed the battery. This tends to happen when there is an inconvenient truth. The missing battery excuse was used too recently for further application, so how about “it went missing, mysteriously, because it does not fit with the official story”? Political maneuvering?
For some reason, I find it interesting that Andreas Lubitz trained at a facility in the U.S. that also trains German Air Force pilots.
I also note that Andreas Lubitz was a runner.
http://www.myhighplains.com/story/d/story/germanwings-pilot-trained-in-arizona/14159/-ML-Ho4cl0CRWgr2pZxkrQ
http://www.atca.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Goodyear_Airport
There it is, the Luftwaffe. It’s interesting that the German Air Force trains its pilots at a facility owned by Lufthansa. I don’t know why the various air forces seem to play even a peripheral role in various, assorted French Alps tragedies. Do you? Probably a coincidence.
Alex Jones was all over the “freak out” of Phoenix residents in 2013.
http://www.infowars.com/phoenix-residents-freak-out-over-dod-military-exercises/
Interesting facts about the history of the German Air Force at Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_Air_Force_Base
There is a book for air force history buffs:
http://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=The_History_of_the_Luftwaffe_-_A_Phoenix_Rising
Is the Lufthansa logo a stylized crane, or a stylized phoenix? I can’t see the difference. Oh, well. It’s not important.
Basic training for the Luftwaffe takes place at Goodyear Airport in Phoenix. A large part of practical training for Lufthansa pilots takes place at Goodyear:
http://www.congressionalresearch.com/96-462/document.php?study=German+Military+Presence+in+the+United+States+The+Case+of+Holloman+Air+Force+Base
http://www.lufthansa-flight-training.com/en/phoenix
The U.S. military and Lufthansa are connected to Bremen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremerhaven_Army_Airfield
http://www.lufthansa-flight-training.com/en/bremen
Random info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League
Could anyone tell me if Andreas Lubitz was training for the Luftwaffe when he went to Goodyear, or was he actively employed by Lufthansa at the time? Was he rejected from basic military flight training? Was he military at any point? It’s causing me some confusion, because I don’t think this has ever been made clear.
Dag Hammarskjold death: UN to open enquiry
‘New evidence’
The UN set up this new enquiry after a group of independent investigators said that there was significant new evidence concerning Hammarskjold’s death.
They said the evidence was “persuasive” that “the aircraft was subjected to some form of attack”.
The commission said that the US National Security Agency (NSA) might hold crucial evidence.
It said that given the NSA’s worldwide monitoring activities at that time, “it is highly likely” that the radio traffic on 18-19 September 1961 was recorded by the NSA and possibly also by the CIA.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-32114531
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=57206
History is so interesting. This suggests there was no thin red line between the Luftwaffe and the Lufthansa.
What would commercial airline passengers have to say if it ever became evident that the same sort of thing is going on now, in 2015?
What do we know about Andreas Lubitz’s time of compulsory service in the military?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Germany
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/16/conscription-germany-army
Those days are done now, but what happened to him when he was serving? If he did not find some way to be excused, he would have entered at age 19. Wiki says he was born on December 18, 1987.
A stylized crane?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachbataillon#/media/File:SichVersRgt_BMVg.svg
It’s surprising no one has said Lubitz suffered from PTSD.
http://www.mhanys.org/publications/factsheets/fsptsd.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20435270
That might lead to some inconvenient questions.
http://retinatoday.com/2012/09/ptsd-concussion-link-discovered-in-military-personnel
“Supporters have been posting alternative theories on Facebook page and say Lubitz is the victim of a ‘witch hunt’.”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/germanwings-crash-andreas-lubitz-been-5435823
Mobile phones and memory cards must be stronger and more visible than flight data recorders.
http://www.bild.de/news/ausland/flug-4u9525/absturz-englische-version-40379746.bild.html
Q
if true it would be astonishing if a memory card from an ordinary persons phone could survive with useful data,
if the ORANGE box designed to withstand it and having a locator
is said to be missing / unusable / stolen.
@Pink: I don’t know if you are following a site called Glial Jelly: the unscripted retina. They have a page that breaks down Jeff Wise comments by poster. Interesting name for the blog, with the retinas and all.