Things Noticeable this week

[jumbo prawns]

Originally Posted by seany65

But could the co-pilot have been unconscious through a medical reason? Could he have switched the door lock on when he fell unconscious while trying to open the door?

Could the pilot have knocked the co-pilot unconscious, left the cabin and gone back and pretended to be unable to get in?

No, the door lock doesn't work that way. The door can be opened from the outside by entering a code. BUT that code can be overridden by the pilot, but has to be done every 5 minutes. So given the time of the decent, the co-pilot would have to had to press the override button at least twice.

Further we also know that the co-pilot also set the autopilot to its lowest altitude setting. Otherwise the planes avionics would have also prevented the crash. This was clearly intentional.

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

If there is only a pilot and co-pilot, if one leaves the cockpit a flight attendant is suppose to come into said cockpit to prevent just what happened.
The lock is a manual lock on the inside so it can only be manipulated from the inside.

That is an American regulation and is not required outside of America. Though I suspect that this crash will change that. Canada for example adopted this regulation about 4 hours ago.

Second on the A320 the lock is electronic and is controlled from the pilot console. There is an external keypad override, but that only works if the person in the cockpit has not overridden it.. And in this case the Co-Pilot would have had to press the override button at least twice in the >5 minute decent into mass murder.

Third, I'm not sure that even if a steward was in the cockpit, if that could have prevented a copilot intent on mass murder/suicide. Even if the steward could have opened the door, and its not clear that they could, then you'd have the Pilot, the Copilot and a steward all wrestling for control of the plane. Yikes.

The sad truth is that you can't prevent every "accident" and trying to prevent an "on purpose" is even harder. Counting this one, since 1990 only 5 Pilot suicides/mass murder have occurred (and I suspect that Malaysia air 370 is a 6th time) So they are very very very rare. Still very very very freaky and disturbing.

[Wendigo]

Another week, another sex scandal
Three new claims of Metropolitan Police corruption over child abuse are to be managed by the police watchdog.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-32086251

I've always thought that the judiciary hid a lot of sex offenders, far too many lenient sentences for the lowest vermin in our society.
I have no confidence that this will not be another whitewash.

[Nobody1]

Originally Posted by SanteeFats

If there is only a pilot and co-pilot, if one leaves the cockpit a flight attendant is suppose to come into said cockpit to prevent just what happened.
The lock is a manual lock on the inside so it can only be manipulated from the inside.

Putin is to blame.

[Nobody1]

News from the cesspool of cheaply sold souls. Today : A Monsanto creature mimics human behavior. Barf bag is recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovKw6YjqSfM

Fat booty of madness.

[Tester2010]

Absolutely creepy ...

The co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a Germanwings airliner into the French Alps hid details of an illness, German prosecutors say.



Will this be a future dialogue before takeoff ... ???

Stewardess: "Welcome aboard!"
Passenger: "THX! But before you lead me to my seat ... does one of your pilots suffer from a mental illness such as a serious depression?"

[Nobody1]

Originally Posted by Tester2010

[B]Absolutely creepy ...

... does one of your pilots suffer from a mental illness such as a serious depression?"

If you are in Germany, the answer is yes with a 95 percent probability. The rest are only lies.

[Tester2010]

Originally Posted by Nobody1

If you are in Germany, the answer is yes with a 95 percent probability. The rest is lying.

Sorry, but IMHO this is (perhaps) not only a German, but a world wide phenomenon. Lots of airlines only seemed to rely on a simple medical checkup, but they gave a damn about a thorough and regular(!) psychological examination!
Only now and after this very sad disaster important (and efficient?) changes will (perhaps!) be introduced.

[Greenman]

On another light note did you notice that today is National Cleavage Day? No? Neither did I until I saw something that mentioned it on Facebook. They've got some front!

[Nobody1]

Originally Posted by Tester2010

Sorry, but IMHO this is (perhaps) not only a German, but a world wide phenomenon. Lots of airlines only seemed to rely on a simple medical checkup, but they gave a damn about a thorough and regular(!) psychological examination!
Only now and after this very sad disaster important (and efficient?) changes will (perhaps!) be introduced.

Psychological examinations are nice, you know. Unfortunately, that's not the heart of the matter. Most professions have reached a pathological level of exploitation. This is especially true for low-cost airlines like Germanwings.

In the end, we are just a cost factor in a corporate balance sheet. Financial interests of shareholders are more important than the health and wellbeing of workers, employees or customers. Exactly this has to change. No more and no less.

[gedly]

This pilot was 27. I recall that period in my life being particularly tough. It's even referred to as the quarter life crisis.