How horror Germanwings crash unfolded minute-by-minute as ‘suicidal’ pilot ‘flew passenger plane into Alps’ killing 150
THE 149 passengers who stepped onto Germanwings Flight 9525 a decade ago were completely unaware of the horror that was about to unfold.
But co-pilot Andreas Lubitz would be as he sat at the controls of the Airbus A320 when the jet was steered into a mountainside in the French Alps – killing everyone onboard.
The 27-year-old had been previously treated for suicidal tendencies and declared unfit for work by doctors – but kept the information hidden from his employees, according to air crash investigators.
Around 30 minutes into the flight, co-pilot Lubitz allegedly locked the captain out of the cockpit and took control of the flight.
What happened in the short time that followed would shock the world and be described as the “darkest day” in history by the airline.
It’s believed that Lubitz was able to override codes to the cockpit door and did not respond to calls from ground crew or shouts from the flight crew to “open the damn door”.
The crash report concluded that Lubitz crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 in the French Alps, in a murder-suicide plot.
It said:
The collision with the ground was due to the deliberate and planned action of the co-pilot, who decided to commit suicide while alone in the cockpit.
In 2017, Lubitz’s father Guenter, pictured here, told a news conference in Berlin that he did not believe his son was suicidal and had carried out “mass murder”.
He said:
We had to live with the fact that he was portrayed as a mass murderer in the media. We are searching for the truth.
Speaking about the tragedy and co-pilot’s state of mind that day, aviation security expert Julian Bray told The Sun:
Unfortunately, there’s this death wish. The red mist came over. Something happened, but it was premeditated because he had actually set it up on the the first leg of the flight. He then put the plan into operation on the second leg, and so it never reached its final destination.
A decade on, The Sun revisits the shocking crash on the day the horror unfolded, minute-by-minute.
March 24 2015
At 10am local time Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 takes off from Barcelona Airport, Spain on runway 06R heading for Dusseldorf, Germany with 150 people on board including crew.
The flight was 26 minutes behind schedule, but travelled over the sea towards France, taking half an hour to climb to an altitude of 38,000ft.
The map below shows the plane’s intended flight path, local time:
The flight should have taken two hours, and the pilots can be heard discussing their stopover in Barcelona in the cockpit voice recordings.
Prosecutors revealed that during the first 20 minutes of the flight, Lubitz appeared to be in good spirits and courteous but had become “curt” when the captain began the mid-flight briefing for the planned landing.
10.30am
The plane makes its final contact with Marseille air traffic control – a routine message asking for permission to continue its route.
Shortly after, 34-year-old pilot Captain Patrick Sondenheimer, pictured here, leaves the cockpit asking Lubitz to take over radio communications.
The cockpit door, similar to the one pictured below, is heard opening and closing on the plane’s recordings and Lubitz overrides the door code from the inside to stop anyone entering, according to the crash report.
Expert Julian explains:
He [the captain] left for a comfort break but Andreas knew that he would be going for a comfort break, because that’s what he always did halfway through and handed it over to him.
After 911, the specifications for doors were changed and there was no way you could get into the cockpit from the cabin.
Unless you knew the code for the keypad or that whoever’s in charge of the plane had a switch. So that switch could go off and on and could also override the keypad.
And what happened? Of course he’d flicked the door switch so the code didn’t work and there was no way that the captain could get back in.
Seconds later the jet’s altitude is changed from 38000ft to 100ft and it begins to descend near the French town of Toulon.
10.33am
After taking over control of the plane, Lubitz increases the speed and air traffic control attempts to make contact with him, but they get no response.
The ground team declares the aircraft as in distress and confirms loss of radio contact.
French military scamble Mirage fighter jets from the Orange-Caritat Air Base to intercept the aircraft.
10.34am
A buzzer requesting access to the cockpit is sounded.
Muffled voices are heard asking for the door to be opened as well as knocking until the end of onboard recordings.
The co-pilot’s steady breathing can also be heard.
10.39am
“Noises similar to violent blows on the cockpit door were recorded on five occasions” over a minute, according to the crash report.
The pilot could also be heard screaming, “Open the damn door”, according to reports.
The crew from another nearby plane also try to make contact with the cockpit via radio.
In the next 93 seconds before impact, the co-pilot tries to change the plane’s course further but it does not disengage the autopilot and makes no difference.
10.40am
A warning is triggered: “Terrain, terrain, pull up, pull up”.
It continues until the end of the recording and radar contact is lost as the plane drops to 6,175ft.
Passengers are heard screaming on the cockpit voice recordings which investigators were able to pull from the plane’s mangled black box.
Seen here:
It’s thought they were unaware of what was happening in the cockpit until that point as the jet descends rapidly at 3,000ft to 4,000ft per minute.
Julian added:
…the passengers at that point didn’t know, and very quickly they did realise what was going to happen when the captain started hitting the cockpit door.
Seconds later the Airbus A320 ploughes into a mountain in the remote region of Prads-Haute Bleone, 62 miles north-west of Nice in the French Alps.
It hits the southern side of the Tete du Travers peak travelling at over 400mph.
All 150 onboard, including Lubitz, are killed.
The 435mph impact scatters debris nearly one square mile across the mountainside as the plane is destroyed.
Julian told The Sun:
It [the plane] was pile drived into the side of the mountain and when the rescue teams arrived they realised there’s nothing here to rescue.
AFTERMATH
In the moments after the crash, helicopters were sent to locate the wreckage, while emergency services rushed to the scene.
The plane had been completely disintegrated – with the largest piece being roughly the same size as a car.
Personnel from the chopper confirmed that there were no survivors.
The French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis of Civil Aviation Safety(BEA) began an investigation into the crash – which their German counterparts later joined.
Days after the crash, the co-pilot’s apartment was searched as part of a criminal investigation but no suicide note was found.
However, a doctor’s letter confirming he was unfit to work was discovered that was never handed over to his employers, Germanwings claimed.
Prescription medication was also found and traces of the drugs were found to be in Lubitz’s system during a post-mortem.
Speaking about improvements that airlines had made since the crash, Julian said:
There’s a lot more social care of pilots and pilots are encouraged to not inform on each other, but encouraged to take notice of how their colleagues are reacting.
If they do report it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the pilot is going to lose his job. It means that in certain interventions can take place.
It’s another point in the successful operation and safe operation of an airline and of flights, and of course, looking after the crew and passengers which is paramount.
The investigation revealed that he had suffered previously with his mental health while training to become a pilot in the US – having been temporarily denied a license.
The report also stated that on an earlier outbound flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona, the co-pilot had also practiced changing the autopilot altitude several times when the pilot was out of the cockpit.
When the report was published on March 13 2015, it confirmed that Lubitz had deliberately crashed the aircraft in a murder-suicide plot.
In November 2021, an inquest into the death of two Brits onboard, Paul Bramley and Martyn Matthews, gave the verdict of unlawful killing.
Martyn Matthews seen here with his family:
And Paul Bramley seen here:
Two years later, the Lubitz family held a press conference where they said they did not accept the outcome of the investigation.
Working with aviation journalist Tim van Beveren, a counter report suggested that Lubitz could have fallen unconscious, that the cockpit door keypad may have malfunctioned, and that turbulence in the area could have played a part in the crash.
The time of the conference, held on the second anniversary of the tragedy, sparked backlash among the victims’ loved ones.
After the crash, a memorial was erected nearby to remember all those onboard, including 16 school children.
Passengers from 15 countries were killed, including teachers, an opera singer, the wife of a politician and newly-wed couple.
Many of the victims’ names were withheld out of respect for the families involved.