Germanwings Flight 9525: Co-Pilot Lubitz Researched Suicide, Cockpit Doors Online; 2nd Black Box Reveals He Acted Deliberately

Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz researched suicide methods and cockpit doors on the Internet days before the plane’s crash. The tablet device belonging to the 27-year-old German pilot, believed to have deliberately caused the crash of the Airbus A320-200, has been retrieved from his Dusseldorf apartment.

German prosecutors discovered the tablet in his Dusseldorf flat. The browser history of the gadget from March 16 to 23 revealed that Lubitz search online for information about suicide and cockpit doors. The Germanwings flight crashed on March 24.

“During this time, the user was searching medical treatments, as well as informing himself about ways and possibilities of killing himself,” the prosecutors said in a statement. “On at least one day, the person concerned also spent several minutes looking up search terms about cockpit doors and their safety measures.”

Lubitz As The Main Suspect

Lubitz is suspected of deliberately crashing the Germanwings plane in the French Alps, killing all 144 passengers and six staff on board. According to both French and German prosecutors, Lubitz locked Captain Patrick Sondenheimer out of the cockpit when the latter briefly left the area for a probable toilet break. Sondenheimer requested access inside the cockpit, but Lubitz ignored him. The captain was heard in the recovered cockpit voice recorder banging on the door and trying to break it down. He received no response.

Investigators have since focused on Lubitz’s mental health and whether he was fit to fly the passenger plane. They discovered he was deemed “unfit to work” by his doctor but he hid his illness from his employers. There were also information that emerged about his struggles with depression. Despite all these, some commentators argued about definitively declaring Lubitz as a killer.

The revelation of Lubitz’s online search history appears to indicate he had intended and planned to crash the aircraft. As prosecutors have also noted, it was unlikely Lubitz was unconscious or incapacitated during his final moments because the speed alarm was deactivated twice. His steady breathing could also be heard on the CVR.

Second Black Box Reveals Lubitz’s Intention

The second black box in the plane has been recovered on Friday, and which reveals Lubitz knowingly caused the crash. French investigators said he repeatedly accelerated the plane as he flew it into the French Alps. Flight 9525 was travelling at 430 mph when it crashed into the mountains.

“A first reading shows that the pilot in the cockpit used the automatic pilot to descend the plane towards an altitude of 100 feet (30 metres). Then, several times during the descent, the pilot changed the automatic pilot settings to increase the aircraft’s speed,” BEA investigators, the French authority on safety investigations, said in a statement.