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Old 03-26-2015, 02:50 PM
 
622 posts, read 523,746 times
Reputation: 564

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It would appear that the pilot who alledgedly deliberately flew the Germanwings A320 into a mountainside didn't have a commercial pilot's licence (CPL).

After the Asiana crash in San Franscico on July 6, 2013 the FAA increased the number of hours needed to gain a CPL from 250 flight hours to 1,500. Their British counterparts the CAA adopted the same rules shortly afterwards.

Yet the 28 year old FO only had 630 flight hours to his credit at the time of the crash even though he'd been with Lufthansa for nearly six years which in itself doesn't seem to be very many considering the length of time.

In any event, he should never have been left solely in charge of a commercial airliner with 150 pax onboard even if the captain did need an urgent toilet break.

According to the news media, he was only certified to fly single engine aircraft and gliders.

In the Mirror.co.uk it mentions that he had a girlfriend and was interested in a German electronica band called Schiller, ten pin bowling and a technical site about the A320. Doesn't sound like the type of guy who would become a mass murderer somehow.

Could this tragedy be the result of an accident? Because of his interest in the A320 tech site, he may have thought he could experiment with the flight controls without anyone noticing. As a precaution he locked the cockpit door when the opportunity arose just in case the captain returned unexpectedly, but then got out of his depth. Even if he'd have been able to arrest the rapid descent, it probably would have meant the end of his career with Lufthansa at least. The captain trying to re-enter the cockpit through the locked door may also have sent him into a blind panic.

It's happened before after all. On March 23, 1994, a Russian captain allowed his 12 year old daughter and 16 year old son on to the flight deck of an Airbus A310-300 performing flight 593 from Moscow to Hong Kong. While seated at the controls, one of the children inadvertently disengaged the autopilot's control of the ailerons which sent the aircraft into a steep bank and dive from which the crew were unable to fully recover even though they were able to level off shortly before impacting the ground killing everyone onboard.

Last edited by Xircal; 03-26-2015 at 02:52 PM.. Reason: corrected spelling mistake
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Old 03-26-2015, 03:05 PM
 
Location: MMU->ABE->ATL->ASH
9,317 posts, read 20,901,735 times
Reputation: 10443
Dup of http://www.city-data.com/forum/aviat...ench-alps.html
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Old 03-26-2015, 03:13 PM
 
Location: Groveland, FL
1,299 posts, read 2,565,155 times
Reputation: 1883
They say the first officer's breathing stayed calm and steady all the way down until they crashed, so it definitely seems intentional. If he'd accidentally made the jet go out of control, I'd expect him to be in panic mode, yelling, swearing, labored breathing, etc.
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Old 03-26-2015, 03:47 PM
 
13,811 posts, read 27,302,854 times
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The 1,500 hour rule is a US FAA rule. Not an ICAO (international) rule.

Over in Europe they do things a little differently. The "cadets" are typically selected by the airlines and trained from the ground up. The lucky ones at least. The other ones have to foot the bill, which is considerably more expensive than the FAA training even if done here in the US, and typically then even have to purchase their job in large transport category aircraft from shady operators (*cough* Norwegian) in order to get qualified for the better paying gigs.

However the result is getting on at much lower time than US counterparts flying similar sized equipment. In the US the commuters used to hired 250-500 hour guys without issue. However at the larger carriers, such as Delta, United, and American, you're looking at at least 5000-8000 hours to be competive on the civilian side. The Colgan crash which drove the 1,500 rule was great at reducing supply of pilots but did very little for quality, Colgan was a dirt bag operator who paid very little, non-union etc. and as such got what they paid for. Subpar pilots.

It's interesting to note that there used to be a company here in the US that also sold jobs. Gulfstream International. That "carrier" had at least one pilot in the last half dozen or so of US crashes that was up front. Comair, Pinnacle, Colgan and at least one other that I'm drawing a blank on right now.
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Old 03-26-2015, 03:53 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
1,421 posts, read 1,624,000 times
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Just going to post what wheelsup said. 1500 is US only.
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Old 03-26-2015, 04:07 PM
 
9,408 posts, read 11,879,988 times
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Also, it's 1500 hours to qualify for the Airline Transport Pilot certificate, not the CPL.
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Old 03-26-2015, 06:13 PM
 
5,139 posts, read 8,807,674 times
Reputation: 5248
I thought I heard it reported that he was only with Lufthansa for a little over a year...haven't heard anything about where he worked/flew before that.
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Old 03-26-2015, 06:58 PM
 
Location: Honolulu
518 posts, read 758,900 times
Reputation: 592
Grossly misleading and false title. The 1500 hour rule is not German/Europe rules butUSA/FAA jurisdiction. The guy was obviously deemed competent to fly a A320.
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Old 03-26-2015, 10:56 PM
 
Location: Saint Louis, MO
3,483 posts, read 8,953,918 times
Reputation: 2479
And as stated, you can still get a commercial pilots certificate in the US with 250 hours of flight time. But you are now required to have a Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate to fly for the US airlines, which requires 1500 hours minimum time (plus a bunch of other items) in order to take the test.

And no, being a fan of a A320 technical site does not mean he "thought he knew better" the systems training provide by the airline on the A320 would be more than adequate to fulfill the needs of any crewmember. If he enjoyed learning more about the mechanics of the aircraft, then more power to him...doesn't make him rouge. I can remember one of our ground instructors going through additional detail on the laser gyros used internal to the AHARS system onboard the aircraft...all the studying/reading he did to prepare for our "in depth" explanation was done on his own time using material not provided by the company...he just had a general fascination with how things worked, which in turn actually made him a better pilot.

Also, I assume you don't believe the First Officer sits on his hands unless the Captain tell him to touch something, do you? They're a qualified crewmember who typically fly every other leg. Captain flies a leg, FO flies a leg, etc...The Captain has the authority for the safe operation of the flight, but the plane was designed to require TWO pilots...not one and an apprentice.
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Old 03-27-2015, 02:46 AM
 
Location: San Francisco
2,415 posts, read 2,007,292 times
Reputation: 3998
Maybe time to wrap this thread up?
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