The mystery surrounding what brought down Germanwings Airbus A320 earlier this week has gotten a whole lot clearer this morning, and the details are absolutely stunning. While investigators had originally said the cockpit voice recorder had suffered some damage, overnight they were able to listen to the last 30 minutes of what went on inside and it is horrific. Once the flight reached cruising altitude, the pilot, so far identified only as Patrick S., left the cockpit for a nature call. Various experts have said that this is exactly the best time for a bathroom break. Unfortunately, when the pilot returned, he was locked out of the cockpit by co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. He deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps.
According to a report by Page Six, "Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said the captain left the cockpit, presumably to use the lavatory, and then was unable to get back inside. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, 28, then manually and 'intentionally' set the Airbus A320 on its terrifying path into the mountainside in the southern French Alps. It was Lubitz's 'intention to destroy this plane,'" said Robin, who announced he has opened up an investigation into a "voluntary homicide."
Further sources are saying that they know Lubitz was alive in the cockpit because, although he stayed silent in the last minutes of the flight, they could hear him breathing normally. That rules out any kind of medical emergency from incapacitating him while at the controls. The pilot is heard first knocking on the door and then banging, yelling to be let back in right up until the moment the Airbus crashed.
Some 148 other people were onboard, and sources say they seemed oblivious to the crisis at hand because screams other than the pilot's were only heard within the last few seconds of the flight. What began as a horrible crash that caused instantaneous death without suffering for everyone onboard has now turned into a mass murder investigation.
Ironically, Lubitz had only a little more than 600 hours of flying time. In order to co-pilot in the States you have to have logged at least 1,500 hours in flight. Can you believe the evil turn this story has taken? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.
