Simon Hradecky has done some pretty good detective work here.

https://www.avherald.com/h?article=483a5651/0164&opt=0

 

Interesting.

But what are the odds that all these things happened at the same time?

1. Pilot out of cockpit.
2. Pilot Sudden Incap.
3. Keypad Fails.
4. FCU fails.


Only way that smells plausible is if Germanwings (aka Lufthansa) had REALLY bad MX processes and REALLY bad safety culture.

If my ALT selector spun itself down by a large number (as opposed to 100 feet on either side of the detent), I'd have either diverted, or written it up and refused to fly it until fixed (depending on conditions at the destiantion).

Are the Euro safety agencies trying to protect their industry and corporate interests, ie scapegoat a pilot? That's more plausible I suppose.

 

Source: "Trust me bro, the government experts are WRONG"

 

Well, that’s how most accidents happen. It’s not just one thing. It’s a perfect storm, a chain of errors. Break one link of the chain and there is no accident. There are a lot of question marks. I actually have seen the A320 FCU dial a different altitude all by itself once.

This whole thing is a perfect example of why I am a fan of the NTSB and the way they do things, instead of having the court system investigate accidents. They had made a decision two days after the accident.

 

Here's a reasonably good article that was published in 2015. Mental Health Issues

TLDR; The man had a well documented history of mental health problems (depression and probably schizophrenia).

While he reported and was treated for his inital diagnosis to his employer, in his last few months alive he took actions that suggested he was having a relapse that was probably going to ground him forever.

This included a subset of schizophrenia where the person believes they're going blind even when there is nothing physically wrong with their eyesight; he was seeing doctors for both vision problems and depression without reporting it to the German equivalent of their aeromedical authority.

While not reported as such in the cited article, he also had a nickname from other pilots that was a slur about being a closeted homosexual.

According to the cited article, two different doctors had ruled him "unfit for work." But this was never directly reported to the airline.

 

Yes, his medical history clearly adds to the weight of the official conclusions.

 

Did you write it up?

Did the ALT knob also pull itself immediately after?



I agree with that, prosectors naturally see anything and everything as a crime.

 

Of course we wrote it up.

 

Except, according to this article, there may be evidence suggesting the investigators concluded the wrong pilot stepped out of the flight deck. So if indeed the captain was the one at the controls, and the first officer stuck outside, then all his mental health issues are completely irrelevant to the crash.

 

I think were they found the bodies in the crash would tell who was flying.