For those of you who have missed the recent breaking developments, it appears that the Cockpit Voice Recorder has been investigated and preliminary results are available.
According to a wide variety of trustworthy sources, it appears that the CVR has captured a shocking scenario aboard the aircraft.
It appears that one of the pilots was not in the cockpit at the time that flight 9525 began its unexpected descent. The recording captures one of the pilots knocking on the cockpit door, looking to gain access. The knocking goes unanswered as the plane began its descent.
The recording reflects the pilot increasing his sense of urgency as his knocking and voice increase in volume to the point that you can hear him trying to break down the door to get to the cockpit.
Experts have not supported the idea that this was an intentional act since the descent was steady and controlled. They cited that past incidents that were ruled as suicides, had the planes nose over and enter deep and unrecoverable descents. Also thought to be unlikely is the fact that the cockpit had depressurized. Experts suggest that the entire aircraft would have depressurized and there is no evidence to support that scenario.
In a scenario such as this we may never know if the pilot in cockpit was in conscious control of the aircraft or if a medical condition rendered the pilot in the cockpit unable to respond to the aircraft or to the pilot trying to get into the cockpit.
This was not a scenario that I even remotely had entertained.
please correct me if I’m wrong but that is an DoT regulation and not required for flights not touching the US?!
Correct, the cockpit policy of an FA being there when a pilot leaves is a US policy. Other countries have similar policies, but not everyone.
Normal practice is for a FA to be the 2nd person in the cockpit if a pilot leaves it. This ensures that there are always two people in the cockpit, as required. It also allows for the door to be locked while the pilot is out, as the FA can unlock the door without the pilot at the controls having to leave his seat. I am assuming that would be the practice for Germanwings too, making the scenario that it was a medical situation less likely. Both people in the cockpit can only get incapacitated at the same time by depressurization. However, that would depressurize the whole plane. Still a lot of unknowns…
That true. I’m not sure if the CVP could ‘tell’ if there was a 2nd person in the cockpit. Initially, I don’t think there was since the investigators said no responses were coming from the cockpit. The CVP would have captured the moment the FA stepped into the cockpit. I’m not sure that it did…..
@Sanjeev
Actually this week I was on an Aeromexico regional flight and saw the copilot leave the cockpit and got to the WC but was looking for the FA to get a refill on my coffee but she was nowhere to be found, around 10 minutes later I saw the copilot head back to the cockpit and the FA leave it, I tought it was for that purpose, specially after the flight in LAS that landed with the pilot locked out from the cockpit. However I wasn’t aware that it was required to have 2 members of the crew at all times. It is nice to know.
Also, my thoughts and my prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew aboard this flight.
@Sanjeev – It is only practice on US Airlines for an FA to be present in the cockpit when a pilot leaves. Certain flights/airlines elsewhere on the globe also practice this “system,”however LH and most EU, Asia, and African Airlines do not.