The Germanwings tragedy: how one pilot changed history

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

The infamous flight took off from Barcelona on March 24, 2015, and never arrived at its intended destination. Instead, the plane was involved in a devastating crash in the French Alps that killed everyone on board. Germanwings Flight 9525 was one of the worst tragedies in the history of air travel, but the horror only truly set in when the cause of the crash came to light. What first appeared to be a terrible accident was revealed to be a senseless crime of epic proportions.

 

The fateful day

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

On the morning of March 24, 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 left El Prat Airport in Barcelona. It was headed for Düsseldorf in Germany with 150 people on board.

An average morning

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

The Airbus 320 took off on its planned route over the sea towards France. The pilot monitored the plane's ascent for the first 30 minutes until they reached 38,000ft (11,600m).

Inside the cockpit

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

The pilot then left the cockpit to go to the bathroom, leaving the plane in the hands of the co-pilot.

Route

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

However, something happened in the cockpit while Lubitz was alone. According to flight records, Lubitz changed the plane's altitude as soon as the pilot left and slowly started to descend.

The pilot returns

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

At this point, the pilot returned from the bathroom and rang the bell to the cockpit, which is always locked for security reasons. Lubitz didn't answer him or open the door.

Tragedy looms

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

The recorder inside the cockpit captured the sound of the pilot trying to break down the door after a few minutes had passed with no response from Lubitz. Lubitz's steady breathing can be heard throughout.

Passengers

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

The passengers became agitated and scared as they noticed something was going wrong. Screams were picked up on the voice recorder.

The crash

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

Soon after, the Germanwings plane crashed into the French Alps. Only 11 minutes had passed since Lubitz was left alone in the cockpit.

Searches

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

Air traffic controllers quickly initiated a search mission when the plane disappeared from their radar. Within 20 minutes, a mountain rescue team was flying towards the crash site.

Criminal investigation

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

News broke soon after that Andreas Lubitz may have purposefully crashed the plane, a revelation that shocked the world.

Andreas Lubitz

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

It was discovered that Lubitz had a history of severe depression. A few years earlier he had taken a break from his pilot training to undergo treatment for his mental health. It was reported that he had suffered from a serious depressive episode and considered taking his own life. After working with a psychiatrist for several months and taking antidepressant medication, he was cleared to return to training.

Victims

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Of the 150 people on the flight, 72 were German and 51 were Spanish. The rest of the victims were a mix of 16 other nationalities.

Flight recorder

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Investigators managed to find one of the plane's black boxes, which helped them piece together the details of what happened during that fateful 40-minute flight.

Theory

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The theory that the co-pilot was responsible for the crash only gained traction as more details came to light.

Controlled crash

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

In addition, the descent was carefully controlled, which ruled out the possibility that the crash was caused by Lubitz's lack of ability.

New rules

The fateful day, An average morning, Inside the cockpit, The pilot returns, Tragedy looms, Passengers, The crash, Searches, Criminal investigation, Andreas Lubitz, Flight recorder, Controlled crash, New rules

After 9/11, cockpits were turned into impenetrable fortresses. After the Germanwings tragedy, there was a new consideration that those inside the cockpit might also pose a risk. New rules banning pilots from being alone in the cockpit were introduced by several airlines following the crash.

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