Germanwings co-pilot was ‘fit for flying without restriction’
The co-pilot, who appears to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings airliner into the Alps on Tuesday, was a German national who was not on any terrorist watch list.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said the co-pilot as Andreas Lubitz, 28, locked the pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately worked to ‘destroy the plane’.
Investigators said the co-pilot was ‘not known by us’ to have any links to extremism or terrorism.
He said the co-pilot pressed the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the aeroplane, adding that this action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate.
In a press conference, Carsten Spohr, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG said that the co-pilot had been ‘fit for flying without restriction’ adding that despite all safety procedures, you can never prevent such an ‘individual event’.
The news conference heard that as part of the regulations brought in post 9/11, pilots can open the locked cockpit door using a code, in case of a co-pilot losing consciousness, but that this can be over-ridden for five minutes from a button in the cockpit.
Spohr confirmed that there is no protocol to have a second member of the flight crew in the cockpit if one of the pilots leave, adding that European regulations do not require it.
Diane
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive
Euromonitor International unveils world’s top 100 city destinations for 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports