On 24 March 2015, the aircraft Airbus A320 (D-AIPX) Germanwings crashed in the French Alps. The plane operated the 4U9525 line flight, on the Barcelona - Düsseldorf route, and had 150 persons (144 passengers and 6 crew members) on board. Among the passengers were 2 children.
All aircraft are equipped with two "black boxes". One records all the sounds and conversations in the cockpit, including the conversations between the pilots, being called and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR). The second records dozens of aircraft parameters and flight parameters, also being called Flight Data Recorder (FDR).
Investigators found only the black box with the sounds in the cockpit - Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR).
Even if it was damaged, the information storage unit was not affected and the data could be recovered in a specialized center. Investigators were able to hear the sounds of the cockpit, and the prosecutor in charge of the case, Brice Robin, made the following statement:
"In the first 20 minutes, the two pilots talked normally, cheerfully, nothing abnormal. The commander of the aircraft was preparing the information for the landing in Dusseldorf, and the co-pilot's answers seem laconic. The commander asks the co-pilot to take command and the sound of a seat and the door closing. He probably went to satisfy a natural need. The co-pilot then manipulates the flight monitoring system to begin the descent while alone at the command.
The most plausible interpretation is that, by a voluntary act, the co-pilot refused to open the cabin door to allow the commander to enter. He deliberately pressed the button that triggered the descent of the aircraft. "
Only the information extracted from the CVR was analyzed. Related to the second aircraft box, which records all the flight parameters, it seems that it was not found. Or that only the housing was found, but not the device where the information is stored. The international press gives several assumptions.
For the time being, the reasons that led to this gesture made by the co-pilot are not known, nor can we know with certainty whether it was willed or produced in other circumstances. Following this information, a social investigation also began in the case of the young Andreas G. Lubitz (28 years), the co-pilot who remained alone in the cockpit.
From my point of view, the prosecutor made a rather hasty statement, without having the information from the second black box of the plane, which can "say" with certainty when and how the flight parameters were changed. The investigation is ongoing and we will return to it in detail, and we will probably find out the final verdict much later.