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This was an act of Terrorism. It is only a matter of time until "ISIS" claims responsibility whether they were involved or not. More will be revealed about this co-pilot. Maybe, he was on psychotropic drugs or had recently converted to Islam. Undoubtedly, he had some Muslim friends given his age and being from Germany. No, none of that makes any one person a candidate for a suicidal mission like this one. But let's not ignore the contemporary situation in Germany. Speaking of history, is there maybe something that drives Germans in general to acts of unbridled and nearly unparalleled cruelty?
Candidate for the most confused post on this thread?
Western airlines and civil aviation agencies across the Western world dropped the ball on this one. In November 2013, Flight TM 470 crashed under almost identical circumstances on a flight from Maputo, Mozambique, to Luanda, Angola. The only difference here is that the suicidal pilot in that case was the captain, while the co-pilot was the one who was locked out (and banging on the door in futility, just like in this incident).
Well, it barely made the news. No airline or regulatory agency had a discussion about the Rule of Two. No feverish speculation, nothing. Why? Had they reacted as swiftly and decisively as they did to the Germanwings crash (by instituting the Rule of Two across the board in all airlines that didn't already have such a rule in place), this crash may never have occurred.
What the hell were they thinking? Did they think that a suicidal pilot was a purely African/Third World phenomenon? Well, they just got proved wrong and 150 people lost their lives. Crazy suicidal behavior is not an African thing or a German thing. It's a HUMAN thing. Every country has its crazies.
Somebody on another forum rationalized this by saying that it hits home closer now because people are more likely to take a German airline than an African one. Maybe that's true if you're European, but that's not really true if you're Canadian or Australian. Both Canada and Australia have swiftly instituted (or are considering) regulation mandating two crew in the cockpit from now on. WHY didn't they do this back in December 2013 when the TM-470 report came out?
Too bad the locked out pilot did not summon 3-4 very strong and muscular passengers and try to use their weight and force to break the door down.
...There is barely enough space for ONE person to stand on the cabin side of the cockpit door. There is no way to get leverage.
Secondly it's reinforced with 1/2" thick steel. Even a team of professional wrestlers wouldn't be able to break that door down. You would need a team of firefighters with hydraulic tools, which aren't easy to find at 35,000 feet.
This was an act of Terrorism. It is only a matter of time until "ISIS" claims responsibility whether they were involved or not. More will be revealed about this co-pilot. Maybe, he was on psychotropic drugs or had recently converted to Islam. Undoubtedly, he had some Muslim friends given his age and being from Germany. No, none of that makes any one person a candidate for a suicidal mission like this one. But let's not ignore the contemporary situation in Germany. Speaking of history, is there maybe something that drives Germans in general to acts of unbridled and nearly unparalleled cruelty?
I don't find it disturbing at all. You have to see the bigger picture. In 2014 for the first time in history there were more than 100,000 flights per day worldwide. It is natural that from time to time there is an incident. The same happens with trains and cars and ships. Flying is safer today than it ever was.
If you want to completely rule out being injured or killed in traffic of any kind, just don't leave your home or live somewhere in the woods far from any motorized vehicles.
It's not that there were accidents, Neuling; it's that all three were suicide/murders. That's what I find disturbing. There has to be a better way to screen pilots of commercial jets than that which is currently in play.
I have to travel anyway, and (God Willing) will continue to. I've already been in a plane crash - which wasn't fun - and it was a very bad truck accident, twelve years ago, that put me in a wheelchair. (I haven't been shipwrecked yet, or been a passenger on a derailed train!) I'm still traveling, but I know of scores of people who haven't flown since 9/11 because they are afraid to. This latest crash, and the two before it, aren't helping the situation any.
The more safety precautions you try to implement, the more people you have to monitor to make sure they are safe. It will become too much. Just let the pilots fly the planes and the airlines vet their pilots. It's not like we've had a high number of pilots who intentionally crashed a plane full of passengers. Having someone from the cabin crew in the cockpit when one of the pilots leave should be all that is necessary.
Not entirely. The way that I've seen some people on the far-left talk about certain issues, it borders on tacit support for groups like ISIS. For all we know the co-pilot would have been a leftist, and along with his depression had a serious case of "white guilt". It seems strange to me that so much information is being "leaked" so quickly and the story that's being constructed is one of it only being due to "depression". Too convenient and precise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by modernist1
Candidate for the most confused post on this thread?
It's not that there were accidents, Neuling; it's that all three were suicide/murders. That's what I find disturbing. There has to be a better way to screen pilots of commercial jets than that which is currently in play.
I have to travel anyway, and (God Willing) will continue to. I've already been in a plane crash - which wasn't fun - and it was a very bad truck accident, twelve years ago, that put me in a wheelchair. (I haven't been shipwrecked yet, or been a passenger on a derailed train!) I'm still traveling, but I know of scores of people who haven't flown since 9/11 because they are afraid to. This latest crash, and the two before it, aren't helping the situation any.
That was my point.
Blessings,
Mahrie.
I'm sorry I'm not able to link it, but there's a very good article on Slate.com written by Jeremy Stahl titled "Have there been more plane crashes recently, or does it just feel that way?"
Statistically, it supports Neuling's post that flying overall continues an upward trend of improved safety over the long term. But it also completely supports your concern that the recent acts of sabotage in 2014 resulted in an inordinately higher number of deaths than previous years -- 990 deaths in 2014; the highest since 2005. It also states that 2015 could surpass 2014 if the trend continues -- six fatal commercial crashes with 236 fatalities & it's not even April yet.
(*ETA - I think it included MH370 in that total of 990. I'm of the opinion that there is no definitive proof yet of what happened to MH370, even tho the government declared otherwise & all souls perished.)
Last edited by bridgerider; 03-28-2015 at 12:25 AM..
I'm sorry I'm not able to link it, but there's a very good article on Slate.com written by Jeremy Stahl titled "Have there been more plane crashes recently, or does it just feel that way?"
Statistically, it supports Neuling's post that flying overall continues an upward trend of improved safety over the long term. But it also completely supports your concern that the recent acts of sabotage in 2014 resulted in an inordinately higher number of deaths than previous years -- 990 deaths in 2014; the highest since 2005. It also states that 2015 could surpass 2014 if the trend continues -- six fatal commercial crashes with 236 fatalities & it's not even April yet.
For me, it's a trust issue.
Passengers who travel on domestic flights need to know (not merely hope) that the pilots of said planes are among the best in the business. They need to know that they aren't on SSRIs or other prescription medications that alter the state of the brain. They need to know that their pilots are not members of extremist groups, religious or otherwise. They need to know that, barring life's usual accidents and mishaps, they can travel with confidence and in peace.
As an aside, there is no possible way that the co-pilot could have maintained normal breathing until the plane hit the mountain, which the airline has asserted is the case. The brain simply doesn't work that way. The fight or flight mechanism in his brain would have increased his heart rate, and consequently his breathing, as adrenalin, epinephrine, nor-epinephrine and other catecholamines (stimulants) coursed through his bloodstream. Breathing normally, while awake and aware, and effecting this suicide/murder is a biochemical impossibility.
It has been suggested that the co-pilot may have been sedated using a fast-acting hypodermic gas. I find this suggestion, albeit speculative at this point, to make more sense than anything else. So, given all the facts that we know of, and all those we don't, it is just as likely that it was the pilot, and not the co-pilot who was responsible for the crash, as he could have programmed the plane to automatically dive at a preset speed and on a particular trajectory prior to leaving the cockpit.
I hadn't considered the possibility of an injected sedative, but it's the only explanation that I've heard thus far that would or could explain the 'normal' breathing of the co-pilot.
So, now we don't even know who's responsible for the crash, let alone why whoever effected it - did.
the doctor and patent are protected under the patient confidentiality laws...we may never know what the problem really was. It will likely get leaked, but we'll never hear it from the doctor or the airline.
Do you know that to be a fact in the case of criminal proceedings under French law? In the US, the doctor-client privileged relationship is governed by state and Federal law, depending on the jurisdiction. There is no such privilege under US Federal Law and it is limited in many cases by US states.
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