Germanwings Airbus crash 24 March #1

[SouthAussie]

AFP cites an Argentine diplomat confirming that two Argentine nationals were on board the aircraft.

Two Colombians were among the 150 people killed in a plane crash in the French Alps on Tuesday, AFP reports.
Maria del Pilar Tejada and Luis Eduardo Medrano died in the crash, the Colombian foreign ministry said.

Elsewhere, there are reports from Mexico that three Mexican passengers were on board.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/li...rbus-a320-crashes-in-french-alps-live-updates

 

[SouthAussie]

Aviation safety experts said a descent of eight minutes from cruising altitude was slower than the three to four minutes that would normally be expected in the case of a sudden midair upset such as an aerodynamic stall, suggesting that the pilots may have been trying to maintain control of the plane as it lost altitude.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/world/europe/germanwings-crash.html?_r=0

http://www.theguardian.com/world/li...rbus-a320-crashes-in-french-alps-live-updates

 

[Isabelle]

Aviation safety experts said a descent of eight minutes from cruising altitude was slower than the three to four minutes that would normally be expected in the case of a sudden midair upset such as an aerodynamic stall, suggesting that the pilots may have been trying to maintain control of the plane as it lost altitude.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/world/europe/germanwings-crash.html?_r=0

http://www.theguardian.com/world/li...rbus-a320-crashes-in-french-alps-live-updates

I pray crew and passengers lost consciousness well before impact.

 

[Zuri]

Cnn/ NY TImes


Huge................

...... Riecken confirmed that a minor repair had been made Monday to the plane’s front nose gear door — a flap that closes during flight to cover the retracted landing gear — but stressed that even if it had not been fixed, “this would not be something relevant to flight safety.”

Apparently the plane had a problem yesterday with the front nosegear covers. That makes huge sense -- explosive decompression as a result of a nosewheel thing blowing off right as it hits cruise - totally makes sense - highest differntial pressure. What ever it was happened right at crusie.

So the nosewheel cover blew off , right under the cockpit , killing the crew instantly and the computer flew the plane into the mountain. This is also congruent with noises witnesses have described, it fits with intial reports (that have since vanished) that debris was found in a city miles away from actual impact site.

Bet the "debris" will be the nosewheel cover

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/world/europe/germanwings-crash.html?_r=0



Just my opin

I just woke my DH up to read him your post as he was wondering about this very thing. He is not a pilot or airplane savvy like many of you are. I had informed him of the A320 computer/pitons?/with the Air Asia flight and why I wanted to drive to Florida because of those issues. LOL.

 

[PrairieWind]

The wheel wells are non-pressurized areas and are separate from the cockpit/cabin. so the door could blow off and it would not affect the cockpit. It wouldnt be an explosive depressurization.

 

[Snoods]

[video=twitter;580575983415267331]https://twitter.com/thewest_com_au/status/580575983415267331[/video]

 

[JanetElaine]

A French TV station made a 'reconstruction' (read - what they think may have happened) of the crash at the mountain site. It's a short animation. http://www.telegraaf.nl/tv/nieuws/buitenland/23843936/__Crashte_het_Germanwingstoestel_zo___.html

Take it for what it's worth... just wanted to post it FYI.

 

[JanetElaine]

If I was a betting person, I'd bet on a pitot system failure. It could have done anything - from the pilots not knowing their exact altitude and therefor they had no idea they were about to crash into a mountain, to depressurization and everyone being unconscious.... I don't know enough about this to completely explain it all away (like why no contact, etc) but it's just what I'm thinking at the moment (ask me again in the morning, lol). The CVRs are key to ever figuring this one out, IMO.

 

[wfgodot]

Grauniad's excellent live updates page continues.

 

[wfgodot]

Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Marc Menichini said a squad of 30 mountain rescue police would resume attempts to reach the crash site by helicopter at dawn Wednesday, while a further 65 police were seeking access on foot. Five investigators had spent the night at the site.

It would take “at least a week” to search the remote site, he said, and “at least several days” to repatriate the bodies.

from Agence France-Presse piece qtd. at Guardian link above.

 

[SouthAussie]

"Carol was a loving Mother of two, a devoted wife to her husband Dave and a sister to three brothers.
She celebrated her 68th birthday on March 23rd. Carol was a registered nurse, midwife and maternal and child health nurse, most recently working for the City of Casey.

Greig was to turn 30 on 23rd April. He was a loving son to Carol and Dave and an exceptional brother to his sister Alex.
He was adored by all of his family and friends. Greig was a Mechanical Engineer who studied at Monash University and had since worked for Jacobs Engineering as an acoustic engineer."

:rose: :rose:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/li...rbus-a320-crashes-in-french-alps-live-updates

 

[AlwaysShocked]

Not to bring up a sore subject, BUT................. in looking at the video animation and then at the video of the searchers at the crashsite, it appears that this was a case of an airplane, under power, that flew straight into the side of a mountain. And there is a fairly wide area of debris. With obviously recognizable pieces of debris. And visible airplane parts.

I live near Shanksville, PA where Flight 93 flew into the ground on 9/11. There were no airplane parts and very, very little debris.

I am not a "Truther" or anything like that, just looking at these videos reminded me of that. Wondering why the crash sites look so different.

 

[SouthAussie]

There was no response to desperate attempts by air traffic controllers to hail the pilots.

More than 300 policemen and 380 firefighters have been mobilised .... 30 mountain rescue police would resume attempts to reach the crash site by helicopter at dawn Wednesday, while a further 65 police were seeking access on foot.

The plane was "totally destroyed", a local MP who flew over the site said, describing the scene as "horrendous".
"The biggest body parts we identified are not bigger than a briefcase," one investigator said.

"The only possible access was by helicopter and people had to be winched down because the choppers couldn't land."

Weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash, with conditions calm at the time, French weather officials said.

http://dunyanews.tv/index.php/en/World/269646-Rescuers-struggle-to-recover-bodies-in-French-Alps


Gilbert Sauvan, from the local council, told Les Echos newspaper: "The plane is disintegrated. The largest debris is the size of a car."

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/british-nationals-likely-crashed-plane-221926363.html#pQUDeas

 

[FranP]

Not to bring up a sore subject, BUT................. in looking at the video animation and then at the video of the searchers at the crashsite, it appears that this was a case of an airplane, under power, that flew straight into the side of a mountain. And there is a fairly wide area of debris. With obviously recognizable pieces of debris. And visible airplane parts.

I live near Shanksville, PA where Flight 93 flew into the ground on 9/11. There were no airplane parts and very, very little debris.

I am not a "Truther" or anything like that, just looking at these videos reminded me of that. Wondering why the crash sites look so different.

The pictures I've seen look quite similar, to me. Apart from the fact that the Shanksville plane caught fire (and a lot of the larger debris in ended up under the soft ground - at least one engine had to be dug out, as I recall, where here the plane struck what appears to be rocky ground) and the tail section appeared mostly intact.

Reports on the BBC are saying that the black box recovered is the voice data recorder, and is damaged, but they hope to still be able to retrieve the information on it.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

The pictures I've seen look quite similar, to me. Apart from the fact that the Shanksville plane caught fire (and a lot of the larger debris in ended up under the soft ground - at least one engine had to be dug out, as I recall, where here the plane struck what appears to be rocky ground) and the tail section appeared mostly intact.

Reports on the BBC are saying that the black box recovered is the voice data recorder, and is damaged, but they hope to still be able to retrieve the information on it.

No, the plane at Shanksville did not catch fire. There was no plane there to catch fire. All that was there was a hole in the ground, about 40 ft. long by about 15 ft. wide with some smoke coming out of it. As for debris, there was nowhere near the debris seen in this crash. There were some burned trees nearby and some small bits of debris. Nothing, nothing like this scene.

I personally know people who were first responders at the scene, plus there are numerous photos of the site online.

Yes, it is true, the hole itself was excavated and some parts of the plane were found in the hole. But what I am saying is there was NOT the widespread debris pieces that are seen in this crash. That is what struck me as being so different.

 

[FranP]

No, the plane at Shanksville did not catch fire. There was no plane there to catch fire. All that was there was a hole in the ground, about 40 ft. long by about 15 ft. wide with some smoke coming out of it. As for debris, there was nowhere near the debris seen in this crash. There were some burned trees nearby and some small bits of debris. Nothing, nothing like this scene.

I personally know people who were first responders at the scene, plus there are numerous photos of the site online.

Yes, it is true, the hole itself was excavated and some parts of the plane were found in the hole. But what I am saying is there was NOT the widespread debris pieces that are seen in this crash. That is what struck me as being so different.

Fair enough, all the pictures I've seen seemed to show a large area of burning at the site, but I wasn't there. But that's a derail, so I'll say no more on that subject.

Differences in the appearance of the two scenes are probably to do with the vastly different terrain and angles of impact.

 

[SouthAussie]

French Interior Minister says black box from plane crash is damaged but can be used to find information

http://www.theguardian.com/world/li...rbus-a320-crashes-in-french-alps-live-updates


In Seyne-les-alpes, the picturesque alpine mountain village of 1500 people which had been transformed into a make-shift centre of operations, support staff are preparing to greet the first relatives of the victims.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/li...us-320-crash-victims-to-be-named-live-updates

 

[Elley Mae]

No, the plane at Shanksville did not catch fire. There was no plane there to catch fire. All that was there was a hole in the ground, about 40 ft. long by about 15 ft. wide with some smoke coming out of it. As for debris, there was nowhere near the debris seen in this crash. There were some burned trees nearby and some small bits of debris. Nothing, nothing like this scene.

I personally know people who were first responders at the scene, plus there are numerous photos of the site online.

Yes, it is true, the hole itself was excavated and some parts of the plane were found in the hole. But what I am saying is there was NOT the widespread debris pieces that are seen in this crash. That is what struck me as being so different.

Agree. Not the same at all. I heard from locals that debris was found 7 miles north of the crash site as well, (shanksville).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...a6d974-d26b-11e4-8b1e-274d670aa9c9_story.html

Looking at the picture here of the planes travel it's like it's on auto pilot in a gradual decline. So no one on this plane knew something was wrong, no calls from passengers on board saying something is wrong we are flying too low.

 

[Elley Mae]

This flight is very similar to mh370 to me in that it just flew off on it's own.

 

[Elley Mae]

In the last 10 minutes of the flight there was total radio silence from the crew of the Barcelona–Düsseldorf flight operated by Lufthansa’s low-cost subsidiary.

Ségolène Royal, a French cabinet minister, said the seconds between 10.30am and 10.31am are considered vital to the investigation into the crash. She said the pilot stopped responding after 10.31am.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...h-resumes-for-victims-as-leaders-pay-respects

Amid reports that the plane had been recently grounded owing to safety concerns, a spokesman for Germanwings said there had been a problem with the door for the plane’s landing gear, which was investigated on Monday, but which was not a safety issue.
“It was only a problem with the nose landing gear door, so just the door in front of the nose landing gear and it had to be repaired not for safety reasons but for acoustic reasons,” he said. He said after the issue was investigated, the plane was passed for flight. “It was cleared to fly again.”