Speculation that Tragic Plane Crash was not an Accident
Nearly a week after the plane crash that killed 150 people, the cause remains unknown
When the Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed into the mountains above Seyne-les-Alpes on Wednesday 25th March it seemed like a tragic accident. Killing all 150 people on board, including the 6 staff members, it is hard to believe that this could have been a deliberate act.
There has been much speculation over recent days about the mental health of the co-pilot, now named as 27 year old German Andreas Lubitz, and whether or not he brought down the plane deliberately. And although current evidence suggests that this is exactly what happened, the reasons behind his actions remain unclear. The discovery and analysis of the cockpit black box, which records the voices and sounds of the cockpit, took place only days after the crash and transcripts of the final few minutes have been published in newspapers around the world.
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BBC NEWS
"The German newspaper Bild published a transcript of the final minutes of the flight as caught on the cockpit voice recorder. It has not been independently verified. It shows the captain, who has been named in media as Patrick Sondenheimer, telling Lubitz he was not able to go to the toilet before take off, to which the co-pilot replies he can go at any time.
The captain says "you can take over". Lubitz, 27, then appears to refuse to let the captain back into the cockpit.
The captain can be heard banging on the door and screaming: "For God's sake, open the door!"
The captain tries to break the door down with an axe. Passengers are then heard screaming as the captain begs again to be let in."
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Reports over the weekend have mentioned the mental health of the co-pilot who apparently struggled with depression, but it is still unknown what his mental state was at the time of the incident or if he was seeking treatment.
Meanwhile in Seyne-les-Alpes, the search and recovery continues as investigators comb thousands of square metres of hillside in a bid to recover human remains as well as parts of the aircraft, including the flight data recorder which is still missing. Access to the crash site remains difficult as it can only be reached by foot or helicopter, however the construction of a make shift road should be completed at some point today and workers can then use all-terrain vehicles to access the area.
Family members of those on board the flight continue to travel to the site of the crash and an official memorial service has been arranged for Friday 17th April in Germany's most famous church, Cologne Cathedral.
