NYT says one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit before the Germanwings crash.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

PARIS — As officials struggled Wednesday to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed in relatively clear skies, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.

A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”

He said, “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/world/europe/germanwings-airbus-crash.html?module=Notification&version=BreakingNews&region=FixedTop&action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=31597569&pgtype=article

---

Maybe the other pilot had a medical emergency and couldn't open the door, or maybe he decided he wanted to crash the plane. In any case, the story just got a little stranger.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

1. And it doesn't appear there will be any body to autopsy -

to determine if it was a medical emergency. Hopefully info on how the plane flew will offer insight into what happened.

[PM Martin]

2. k/r

[JI7]

3. if a pilot leaves are they only able to get in if the other pilot allows them to ?

what i'm asking or wondering is if the pilot themselves usually have power to get in and it would take effort on the part of the copilot to prevent the person from getting in(and which would be unusual) ?

[Logical]

4. What if the pilot left in the cabin passed out or had a medical emergency. Scary if that is the.....

only way for someone to get back in is to be let in.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

6. I believe that after September 11, 2001, the FAA mandated cockpit doors be locked.

I don't know all of the particulars, but I'm guessing if a pilot had a key to get in after going to the restroom or whatever, the bad guys might be able to overpower him in the cabin. Of course, if the pilot remaining in the cockpit had bad intentions, this strategy wouldn't be very helpful.

[backscatter712]

7. Since 9/11, cockpit doors have been reinforced, and are, by regulation, always locked.

Supposedly, this is to keep hijackers from storming the cockpit and repeating what happened on 9/11.

But if one pilot gets out to go pee, and the other pilot is determined to crash the plane, maybe that's what happened on this flight.

[Fumesucker]

8. If someone has a key to the door they can be overpowered and the key taken..

Evidently this was only a two person cockpit crew (?), if there is in fact a key to the door then the locked out pilot didn't take it with him when he left the cockpit.

[awoke_in_2003]

13. yep, no flight engineer on an A320

Most modern aircraft have done away with this position

[jeff47]

19. Yes, the door has to be opened from the inside.

Another crew member is supposed to wait in the cockpit if a pilot needs to pee or otherwise leave. That way there's still two people in there.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. rule -another crew member stands inside until pilot returns

[JI7]

21. so this would mean the medical issue as contributing to the crash would be less likely ?

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. maybe

[dumbcat]

22. That's the rule in US and some other airlines

I'm still waiting to hear definitively if this is a rule for Germanwings airline.

[cwydro]

5. This is an odd accident.

I've said this from the beginning.

[Logical]

9. Well, maybe he crashed on purpose or passed out and fell forward and leaned on the yoke??

[rickford66]

27. the aircraft has a joystick, not a yoke

[applegrove]

10. When a pilot leaves the cockpit, a flight attendant should take his seat if there is going to be a

locked door. That way, if something medical or nepharious happens, the flight attendant can jump up and open the cockpit door from the inside.

[Brother Buzz]

12. Works for me!

[former9thward]

16. The regulations says that the flight attendant

is supposed to stand outside when a pilot is opening or closing the door to provide an obstacle to anyone trying to storm the cockpit. So it would not work to have them inside.

[boston bean]

18. That has been what I have witnessed on flights. nt

[Takket]

26. do all airlines have that regulation or only american ones?

[former9thward]

33. I don't know.

[Warren DeMontague]

35. According to my Wife, that's exactly the rule on Domestic US flights.

No one is supposed to be alone in the cockpit at any time.

I have no idea if that is a rule for European, etc. flights- if it is, obviously it wasn't followed in this instance.

[beam me up scottie]

11. How terrifying that must have been.

Jesus fucking christ.

[4139]

14. Why no frantic cellphone use? By the guy locked out etc

[jberryhill]

17. At that altitude, speed and backcountry environment...

...a modern cellphone is not going to connect to a tower.

[Logical]

15. Some expert on MSNBC just said the pilots have a way to get back in for an emergency......

unless the LOCK OUT setting has been set on the cockpit door.

This is sounding like a intentional crash to me.

[FourScore]

30. I'm afraid so, too n/t

[brooklynite]

23. It seems unusual for the pilot to have left the cockpit that early in the flight...

...suggests that the pilot had left the cockpit for some issue more than getting a cup of coffee.

[Angleae]

25. It could be something simple as needing to use the lavatory.

[FourScore]

32. If the pilot who was still in the cockpit did it deliberately,

He may have figured out a way to lure the captain out of the cockpit.

[stevenleser]

28. OMG How horrifying. I think the pilot still in the cockpit had a stroke or heart attack.

I am trying to imagine the horror of the pilot locked out of the cockpit because he would realize pretty early on that the other guy is somehow incapacitated and there is no way for him to reach the controls and they are all going to die.

[FourScore]

29. I was also thinking about the pilot who was locked out and what his last minutes were like.

And the flight crew would also have eventually realized they were crashing as the pilot tried busting down the door. Surely, the passengers would also have figured it out at some point. Horrifying.

[Logical]

31. Scary, but at least not painful. Nt

[cwydro]

34. Very creepy if

this is another pilot suicide like the Egypt Air crash.

To have this happen even once is unimaginable. Twice is pretty scary.

And we still don't know what happened to that Malaysian plane.