Germanwings crash co-pilot tested 100-foot descent setting

It has been reported that the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, Andreas Lubitz, rehearsed putting the a flight into descent during the return flight before crashing the plane into the French Alps. The BEA says that this report is based on the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. The article states that "Several altitude selections towards 100 ft were recorded during descent on the flight that preceded the accident flight, while the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit." It is believed that the captain was locked out of the cockpit for no more than 5 minutes and the co-pilot refused to let him back in. When he was asked to descend the plane, Lubitz brought it done multiple times to 100 ft before stabilizing it. This went unnoticed by Air Traffic Control due to the fact that he did not diverge from the flight plan.

During the descent, air traffic controllers and the French military called the flight crew several times without receiving any response. The captain had left the cockpit after the plane reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet. However, when he buzzed to re-enter the cockpit just over four minutes later, there was no response.

The cockpit voice recorder picked up what sounded like knocking on the door, the sound of a muffled voice asking for the door to be opened, and then what sounds like repeated violent blows on the door.

Half a minute later, the plane crashed.

There are reports that Andreas Lubitz had suffered through many bouts of depression throughout his life. This has started global debates over how pilots' mental states need to be monitored.

By: Giacomo Raimondi

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/europe/france-germanwings-crash-report/index.html