PILOT HAD “SUICIDAL TENDENCIES”
|| By FITSNEWS || The Germanwings co-pilot who deliberately crashed an Airbus passenger jet into the French Alps – killing himself and 149 other people in the process – was previously treated for suicidal tendencies. In fact 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz was deemed “unfit to fly” at one point – and a note from his doctor written on the day of the crash indicated he was too sick to work.
Crazy, huh? Guess that super-certification the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been bragging about – in which aviators around the world meet or exceed “the high educational, licensing and medical standards” – isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.
In 2009 Lubitz acknowledged a “previous episode of severe depression” to Lufthansa officials (Lufthansa is Germanwings’ parent company). In fact he had to break off his flight training for several months to receive treatment.
He also apparently had vision problems – and writings from his apartment in Düsseldorf, Germany indicate he was fearful they (along with his mental health problems) were going to cost him his job.
If only they had …
Despite his ongoing issues (antidepressants were also found at Lubitz’s apartment), the young pilot was permitted to complete his training – including six months at a U.S. facility – and in September 2013 he became a Germanwings aviator.
“There was nothing to worry about,” Lufthansa’s CEO said of Lubitz.
Was being the operative word …
The Germanwings’ Airbus A320 took off at 10:00 a.m. from Barcelona, Spain. Ten minutes into the flight, pilot Patrick Sondenheimer told Lubitz he “didn’t have time to use the bathroom before taking off.”
“Go whenever you’d like,” Lubitz responded, according to investigators familiar with the plane’s cockpit voice recorder.
Fifteen minutes later – as the plane reached its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet – Sondenheimer finally answered nature’s call.
“You are in control now,” he told Lubitz.
“I hope so,” Lubitz responded jokingly.
After Sondenheimer departed, Lubitz locked the cabin door and set the plane’s altimeter to 100 feet above sea level – its lowest possible setting. That put the jet into a dive pattern – dropping 3,000 feet per minute.
Over the next ten minutes frantic cries from the pilot, crew and passengers can be heard outside the cockpit as Sodenheimer repeatedly attempts to break through the door. Inside Lubitz sits in silence, breathing calmly into an oxygen mask.
Two European media outlets – Paris Match and Bild (a German site) – have obtained a cell phone video which they claim depicts the plane’s final moments. Investigators have not confirmed the authenticity of the video – which neither outlet immediately published.
12 comments
Crazy? “The Great Waldo Pepper” is good fodder for the fearful.
Look, there are literally tens of thousands of perfectly good pilots flying perfectly good airplanes … The need for media to zero in on that one screw loose is what they do.
(Still covered up: that co-pilot’s flirtations with the taliban.)
Hey man, FastEddy,
Remember a few days ago when I told you it got up to 86 degrees in Colorado (81 in Denver) and you told me it wasn’t a record? I forwarded the national weather service page URL to you, verifying it and how its never been hotter earlier in the state? You told me I was wrong.
Well, do you want to respond? Your directly contadicted a fact and your credibilty is now at stake. Will anyone care what you write hereafter if you can’t take responsibility for your direct statements?
Carefully craft your response here. We await.
Lay off girl. The dude is obviously misinformed, but he means well. Its not like he’s GrandTango.
People died in this plane crash thanks to a crackpot committing a horrific atrocity, and you have the audacity to interrupt the anti-government circlejerk opportunity? You should feel ashamed of yourself, mister.
He’s a little loose with his facts, & will contend actual facts-even forcefully-with no apparent shame if it doesn’t fit his worldview. He doesn’t appear to be playing with a full deck. I’ve been curious as to why he’s even reading a SC political blog whilst living in CA.
Maybe he and a few of the other not so smart commenters can combine their cards at come up with a full deck? Probably not, but worth a try.
I stand corrected.
There is a confidence game a foot in temperature reporting that has skewed all of the old records. The Warm Mongers and Global Worms are “adjusting” temp records all over the planet trying to justify their claims for fatter g’ment grants, “research” payola and general steam for blaming you for “the problems”. One Example: Upstate New York where in the winter of 1963 the temps ran below -50F. three days running, but those records seem to have been lost.
…and the fluoridation of water is a government brainwashing tool.
Yeap! … Same, same as with mandatory vaccinations for school children.
They called him Tomato Andy–check out the coverage in International Business Times–so it will be claimed he was subjected to bullying. However, he had an extensive mental health history, and given the nature of his job and his fixation on suicide, I’d like to know what ethical responsibility the doctors had to notify the airline instead of leaving it up to him. Had they done so–instead of writing letters giving him the responsibility to turn them over, which he tore up–those 149 victims would have reached their destination. If he was deemed unfit to fly, why was he trusted to notify his superiors? It’s like the commercials for anti-psychotic drugs–ask your doctor. If a person is grappling with psychosis, shouldn’t a physician be selecting their treatment medications, not the patient with psychosis. You are correct FITS, this is negligence on the part of Lufthansa, and I am guessing the families of those poor victims will be suing for more than the 50k euros they have been offered.
“I am guessing the families of those poor victims will be suing for more than the 50k euros they have been offered.”
German law has tort liability caps. I believe this offer is about twice the cap. You gotta love tort reform. I wish we had that in this country. The airlines could pass the savings on to its customers by lowering air fares. These guys can’t really complain. Well for one they literally can’t complain, but in addition they had already received a partial benefit by virtue of the lower air fare they paid for this trip.
Sue the psychiatrists who knew he posed a threat to others.