Plane crash in Alps

[MaryPoppins]

Delusionalist

But we seem to have strayed somewhat from the topic. Especially as we're not aware there were any terrorist or religious motives at this point.

Well said doogle.

Some of the FB comments on the NYT article are a bit grim.

[NotAllThere]

Times reports "The recording suggested that passengers did not realise what was happening until the last moment."

Not suicide. You do that on your own. Murder.

[FatLazyContractor]

Not suicide. You do that on your own. Murder.

Doesn't matter, does it?

[suityou01]

Times reports "The recording suggested that passengers did not realise what was happening until the last moment."

Not suicide. You do that on your own. Murder.

I truly truly hope this is the case.

However if you were sat in your seat, saw the pilot nip out to take a wiz, then knock with repeated and increasing fervour, and then start trying to hack his way back into the cockpit, this might have aroused suspicion.

[d000hg]

It can be both. I'm not sure in the UK legal system, if killing people is incidental rather than an integral part of your plan, how that is classified. In the US they have the different degrees of murder IIRC?

If he was severely depressed or delusional he may have considered he was doing the passengers a favour by helping them escape the world at the same time as him. In which case he might be classed as insane rather than a murderer, like the people in that Louis Theroux program.

[Willapp]

However if you were sat in your seat, saw the pilot nip out to take a wiz, then knock with repeated and increasing fervour, and then start trying to hack his way back into the cockpit, this might have aroused suspicion.

This is exactly what I don't get. In every plane I've been on, you can see the cockpit door quite clearly from most seats, certainly the ones towards the front. If the pilot was locked out, however discreet he may have tried to be initially, we're talking about 8 minutes of descent during which he couldn't regain access to the cockpit. Fearing the worst he must've been just as scared/determined to survive as any of the passengers, so why wouldn't he have been hammering the hell out of the door trying to break it down - or better still find the biggest, strongest passenger you can and take a run at the door.

Only thing I can think of is, can the pilot/co-pilot manually drop the air pressure in the cabin without the oxygen masks deploying, or fast enough to incapacitate the passengers? That doesn't explain the evidence that there was screaming towards the end though...

It's a horrific thing to do and I'm sure airlines are going to tighten up the regulations on not allowing there to ever be a single person in the cockpit alone from now on.

[d000hg]

I'm sure airlines are going to tighten up the regulations on not allowing there to ever be a single person in the cockpit alone from now on.

I'm pretty amazed that wasn't already the case.

[NotAllThere]

Depends how long he spent on the bog.

It's the French investigator who has named it murder. The co-pilot may have been in a frame of mind where the passengers and crew just didn't impinge on his consciousness.

[Platypus]

Tso why wouldn't he have been hammering the hell out of the door trying to break it down - or better still find the biggest, strongest passenger you can and take a run at the door.

I thought that the report I read said that you could hear on the cockpit voice recorder the sounds of the pilot's hammering getting more and more intense.

[EternalOptimist]

<cough> is anyone else on here flying quite soon ?>

where can I buy a little wooden door wedge ?