I got the impression that the french dude who was the spokesperson at the press conference was not an aviation guy. I was surprised by the speculation this french prosecutor reported as fact, and I really wondered whether he really had the authority to be saying the things he did.
“Perhaps irregular scheduling messed with his head somehow.”
What, how can that be? You mean overworking people to exhaustion can cause dangerous things like fatigue and depression? No, that’s impossible! Then companies would have to give people more time off in the interest of safety, instead of working them till they break, get sick, or drop dead. We can’t have that! That would cost too much money and cut into profit. 
“I got the impression that the french dude who was the spokesperson at the press conference was not an aviation guy. I was surprised by the speculation this french prosecutor reported as fact, and I really wondered whether he really had the authority to be saying the things he did”
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Made me curious too. What is a prosecutor doing, making these statements? What about their safety investigators? Or maybe the safety guys were out there doing their job instead of grandstanding for the camera. Wonder if the French prosecutor is working with the Italian prosecutor on the Amanda Knox case. Hey, maybe there’s some connection here. Perhaps the first officer was involved in some bizarre sex triangle with Amanda, and the guilt just overcame him?
Don’t the Germans and the EU more generally have relatively generous paid vacation time and maximum time allowed in the cockpit or on standby?
Busdriver, the prosecutor has been involved from the very beginning because of the possibility it was criminal (whether terrorism or pilot action.) It sounds to me that it is standard procedure in France especially given the fact that this crash happened in mid flight and in good weather - something highly unusual
The French investigators haven’t been on TV as far as I know. I have gotten my information from the NYT and I listened to part of the Lufthansa CEO Thursday.
Here is the latest information. It leads me to think one way and I’m sure it will lead you to think another way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/world/europe/germanwings-crash-andreas-lubitz.html
As a pilot, I am sure you don’t want to think or believe a pilot could do such a thing and I think that is a natural reaction.
Apparently he was hiding a medical condition, probably depression:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32081681
Don’t the Germans and the EU more generally have relatively generous paid vacation time and maximum time allowed in the cockpit or on standby?
*
I hope so, I looked up hours for domestic pilots, and they seem very high, especially when compared to other jobs with long hours like firefighting.
Well you can’t force someone to take medical leave or sick leave when they are determined not to.
I’m with you @busdriver11 that too much is being reported as fact a day or two after the crash. I don’t like to be too cynical about investigators or prosecutors but the Amanda Knox case and the Jon Benet Ramsey case have led to some doubts. I hate seeing John Ramsey going about his life because some “experts” ruled him out as the hand writer of the ransom note.
Too much speculation being taken as fact can lead to some bad outcomes.
I agree, also, with busdriver. It strikes me that the narrative is trying to be set in stone while people are paying full attention.
If an employer knows that a pilot is not fit for flight status, they can enforce that whether or not the pilot agrees. My stepdad was a helicopter pilot, and while he was on coumadin, his flight status was pulled and he had to do non flight duties. Eighteen months later, he was able to get off the medication and resume flying.
The news report I saw inferred that the doctor’s note implied that he had a condition which would have made flying unwise, but of course, we have no way of knowing whether that report was accurate.
Oldmom’s link in post #65 suggests that he had had been treated for depression in the past. Depression is a very common diagnosis and many, many people will be treated for it at some point or other. The number of depressed people who go on to commit mass murder as a form of suicide is infinitesimally small. We are going down a very dangerous path indeed if we were to conclude that past treatment for depression disqualifies a person from doing their job. (I know that isnt what Oldmom waa suggesting, but the tone of the BBC piece bothered me in it’s “ah-ha!” Tone.
According to every article I have read data from the transponder indicates that the autopilot was changed after the pilot left the cockpit to go to the bathroom. Since there was only one person left in the cockpit that person had to have been the one to reprogram the planes autopilot.
“Transponder data showed the autopilot was reprogrammed by someone in the cockpit to change the plane’s altitude from 38,000 feet to 100 feet, according to Flightradar24, a website that tracks aviation data.”
I don’t have any reason to believe Flightrader24 has any motive to push the narrative in one way or another.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/france-germanwings-plane-crash-main/index.html
Maybe not all jobs are the same. Most folks aren’t subject to random drug and alcohol testing, but pilots and truck drivers are.
Someone said earlier that maybe we went too far in locking the cockpit door and I agree. I don’t think after 911 hijackers would be able to take over a plane They would be taken down immediately by men on the plane. It’s that or an almost sure death so nothing to lose. “Let’s roll” is forever ingrained in our minds.
Here is the data from Flightradar24 and their explanations. Since I am not a pilot/techie I cannot intrepret the data but the site administrator does a good job of explaining what it shows.
“Someone said earlier that maybe we went too far in locking the cockpit door and I agree. I don’t think after 911 hijackers would be able to take over a plane They would be taken down immediately by men on the plane. It’s that or an almost sure death so nothing to lose. “Let’s roll” is forever ingrained in our minds”
No. The cockpit door needs to remain locked. It is far too vulnerable without being locked. In fact, had the cockpit doors and procedures been the same as they are now, 14 years ago, there might not have been a 9/11. However, there could be procedures put in place for emergency override, that could not be denied. For example, whomever is leaving the cockpit could set in a code each time he or she leaves, that they use to re-enter, that couldn’t be denied. But of course, that would cost money to implement, so that’s unlikely. More likely they would tell the crews to just pee in a coffee cup, and never leave the cockpit. Bummer on a long flight. But in this case, we still don’t know if the captain tried to get in via emergency entry and was denied. If he didn’t try, why not? If he did, and was denied, that is very damning for the FO.
As far as the sick leave note, that could be nothing whatsoever. I could get a note from my doctor (if my company required it), saying I was unfit to fly for my upcoming trip next week. I have a cold, but am on the upswing, so I think I’m going to fly it. I could get a note, feel like I was well enough to fly, and then toss it. If the fo or the doctor felt he was unfit to fly because of a mental condition, that’s a problem.
An extended period of being away from flying because of depression is very serious. I am most certain that you would not be hired at a major airline here in the US, with that history. If it happened on the job, you would be out for a very long time before being cleared, if at all. If it happened during your probation period (first year), I don’t know if you could keep your job. I hate to think people who suffer from depression would incur job repercussions because they get treatment, however, when so many lives are at risk, it’s a different consideration.
If a pilot is not allowed to fly with a present or past diagnosis of depression, wouldn’t that make some hesitate to seek treatment? Not saying they should be allowed to, but how to you solve the problem? Not to mention privacy concerns.
Not sure how women pilots are going to “pee in a cup”. It’s pretty bad when the captain couldn’t get back into the cockpit. Something is really wrong with the set up the way it is.
" More likely they would tell the crews to just pee in a coffee cup, and never leave the cockpit."
That’s what Mr. B said last night, “if the reaction to underwear explosives was to immediately begin X-raying grandmas and pregnant women, then naturally the next step aftet this crash would be to make pilots wear astronaut diapers. There will be a lot of p’d off pilots!”