Germanwings crash video 'must be handed to investigators' (4 minutes ago)

[Surya Gayatri]

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2015, 06:11 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: BBC News

A lead investigator into the Germanwings crash has called for anyone with footage of the disaster to hand it over to the authorities.

French prosecutor Brice Robin said he was not aware of a video, reported by German and French media, showing the last seconds before the crash.

Bild and Paris Match said on Tuesday they had mobile phone footage from inside the plane.

It comes amid mounting questions about how much the co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's employers knew about his mental health after it emerged he had disclosed a previous bout of "severe depression".

FYI, for excellent, balanced European reporting on this on-going investigation, you can livestream here:

http://www.france24.com/en/

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32144374

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to the French investigating team and to special prosecutor Brice Robin in particular.

His methodical and thorough approach will surely elucidate this tragedy as far as humanly possible.

Airline mental health screening and monitoring seems increasingly to be in the cross-hairs.

[jakeXT]

1. No FDR memory card piece, but cell phones ?

Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, a French Gendarmerie spokesman in charge of communications on rescue efforts around the Germanwings crash site, told CNN that the reports were "completely wrong" and "unwarranted." Cell phones have been collected at the site, he said, but that they "hadn't been exploited yet."

Menichini said he believed the cell phones would need to be sent to the Criminal Research Institute in Rosny sous-Bois, near Paris, in order to be analyzed by specialized technicians working hand-in-hand with investigators. But none of the cell phones found so far have been sent to the institute, Menichini said.

Asked whether staff involved in the search could have leaked a memory card to the media, Menichini answered with a categorical "no."

Reichelt told "Erin Burnett: Outfront" that he had watched the video and stood by the report, saying Bild and Paris Match are "very confident" that the clip is real.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/31/europe/france-germanwings-plane-crash-main/index.html

[Surya Gayatri]

2. Well, I guess they want to leave no stone unturned...

If media outlets have obtained video footage, from whatever source, the investigators have a right to subpoena it.

The FDR casing has been found, but not the contents.

The Gendarme captain in charge of on-site forensics says they will not stop looking, and will examine every clod of earth and morsel of plane.

But, what shape will the recording be in if and when they find it.

[joshcryer]

10. I can see cell phones surviving.

I mean, you have 1-2 FDR's right? But pretty much every person on board probably had a cell phone. One or two was going to make it statistically. That mountain is probably littered with cell phones, tragically...

[jakeXT]

11. Sure, but still the empty FDR casing bothers me /nt

[joshcryer]

12. It's disconcerting.

But those things are tough, I wouldn't bet against finding it. I think the cockpit voice recorder tells us way more about what happened, though, since the autopilot descent command could not have been made accidentally (like someone passing out).

[Blue_Tires]

26. The FDR would only officially confirm what is already a given

which is that the co-pilot intentionally flew a perfectly serviceable airframe into a mountainside...

[Surya Gayatri]

17. See this German breaking news:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141055259#post14

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141055259#post16

Wow, just wow!

[joshcryer]

18. My god. Absolutely tragic.

[Surya Gayatri]

19. The horror, the horror...credit to 'Heart of Darkness' and 'Apocalypse Now'.

[BB1]

3. It's not real.

Shot during turbulence over japan in 2014,

[Surya Gayatri]

4. Links?

[renegade000]

24. i believe this is the video he's referring to

[Surya Gayatri]

25. I don't think so...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141055546

'In a video interview on the Paris Match website, Frédéric Helbert, the senior investigative reporter who wrote the story, said he and the editorial team had watched the “chilling” and “moving” film dozens of times. He said it had been shot by someone at the back of the plane and did not identify passengers, who were all seated.'

[dorkzilla]

5. could the video been found on someone's cloud?

When I take videos or photos with my iphone or ipod it immediately uploads to my cloud and I can view it on my laptop (or any other apple device). Couldn't that be the case here?

[Surya Gayatri]

6. No help from me, I'm afraid...complete tech dunce here.

[Angleae]

15. Only if the plane was equipped with a satellite based wifi system.

Otherwise you won't get a signal to upload it to. Considering that the airline is one of those low-cost airlines seperate from it's major parent, I doubt it.

[treestar]

7. Who would be alive and have it who

is not part of the investigative team?

Do they think there could have been people in the mountains who happened to see it go down?

And what would that tell them, if anything? We know it went down.

[Surya Gayatri]

8. Your guess is as good as mine. Just reporting what

the investigator said.

By the way, the CEO of Germanwings is at the crash site right now:
making sympathetic noises and self-righeousness pronouncements, refusing to take any questions from the press.

His desperate corporate damage-control is darkly funny to see.

Did you know you can livestream France 24 here?
http://www.france24.com/en/

[treestar]

31. Fascinating, thanks

In English, too, so we can get a different perspective.

[Surya Gayatri]

32. My pleasure...France 24 has become a very respected name in broadcasting since it launched about

8 years ago.

Fair and balanced international coverage (in the true sense), with a French 'je ne sais quoi'.

Lots of interesting programs on French life and culture, too.

[jakeXT]

9. Bild claims it was found by someone who is part of the investigative team

http://www.bild.de/news/ausland/flug-4u9525/was-verraten-die-handys-von-der-unfall-stelle-40383184.bild.html

[Surya Gayatri]

13. Do you speak or read German, jake? If you do it would

Last edited Wed Apr 1, 2015, 07:39 AM - Edit history (1)

be interesting if you could bring more German sources over here.

I speak and read only French, and avoid the German press 'cause it's so much trouble to run it through google translator.

[jakeXT]

14. I just noticed they have parts of it in English and French

The data carrier with the video sequence that survived the crash apparently unscathed was found on the crash site by one of the investigators. The video is an important piece of evidence!

http://www.bild.de/news/ausland/flug-4u9525/absturz-englische-version-40379746.bild.html

I speak German....no French for me

[Surya Gayatri]

16. This is front page news, if verified. Holeee shite!

Keep bringing those links over here!

"Video shows last seconds of death flight 4U9525"

[joshcryer]

20. Germanwings plane cellphone video actually a hoax, French officials say

Two European newspapers reported Tuesday that a cellphone video showing what happened inside a Germanwings plane during the final seconds of ill-fated flight 9525 was found among the wreckage, but authorities say this never happened.

...

But French officials told NBC News that this is not true.

"The video claim by Paris Match is false. It is a fake," the officials said. "There is no such video."

Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, a spokesman for the French Gendarmerie, told CNN that Paris Match and Bild were "completely wrong" and their reports "unwarranted."

http://news.yahoo.com/germanwings-crash-cellphone-video-recovered-bild-175901858.html

[Surya Gayatri]

21. Well, it's certainly interesting that he has publicly called

'for anyone with footage of the disaster to hand it over to the authorities.'

Does that mean that they fear some sort of leak, or that they're just trying cover all bases?

'Tis a mystery.

[joshcryer]

22. We'll see soon.

Just covering the bases.

[Surya Gayatri]

23. All shall be revealed, much to Lufthansa's discomfiture, I fear...

[Blue_Tires]

27. I find it hard to believe that some worker collecting wreckage

would discover the cell phone and sell it to tabloids instead of turning it in to the BEA...

The BEA is supposed to have a much better reputation than that...

[Surya Gayatri]

28. Yes, they are supposed to be above reproach.

Did Bild's and Paris Match's money talk?

More revelations to come...

FWIW, France 24 is now reporting this same story, and they are extremely reticent about anything without basis.

Livestreaming in English:
http://www.france24.com/en/

[Blue_Tires]

29. If it's real, then some people at the BEA or the Police nationale are getting fired

[Surya Gayatri]

30. That IS a likely outcome. 'Faute grave', 'motif de licenciement'

under French labor law.

(serious misconduct, motive for dismissal)