Before a new documentary about the tragedy airs, these are the last words of a pilot who purposefully crashed his plane into the Alps.
Germanwings journey 9525 was scheduled to make a regular journey to Düsseldorf, Germany, on March 24, 2015, from Barcelona, Spain.
However, Flight 9525 killed all 150 passengers and crew members when it crashed into the French Alps at 430 mph less than an hour after takeoff.
After investigations revealed that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had intentionally caused the disaster, regulations governing pilots being in the cockpit alone were changed.
After leaving Barcelona just after 10 a.m. local time, the aircraft had its last communication with air traffic control 30 minutes later. Around this time, Lubitz locked the door.
When Captain Patrick Sondenheimer left the cockpit to use the restroom. He then started a quick descent into the mountains after altering the chosen height from 38,000 feet to 100 feet.
The aircraft’s black box recorder, which captured Lubitz and Captain Sondenheimer’s last comments, eventually allowed investigators.
To put together the flight’s final minutes after the accident. Complete transcript of Germanwings Flight 9525 The black box transcript shows that.
Lubitz told Sondenheimer that he was prepared to take over the controls “anytime.” His voice is heard saying to his captain, shortly after takeoff, “You can go now.”
About 28 minutes in, Sondenheimer tells Lubitz that he is in charge of radio communications before he leaves the cockpit to use the restroom. Then you hear the door shutting.
At this moment, Lubitz adjusts the altitude of Flight 9525 and disregards air traffic control’s contact efforts as the aircraft lowers.
Sondenheimer can be heard hammering on the door, but Lubitz stays quiet for the remainder of the journey.
Additionally, Lubitz was locked in by himself because he had bypassed emergency access codes, which provide flight crew access to the cockpit.
There are cries of ‘unlock the damn door’ and efforts to smash the door down as the captain becomes more and more frantic.
Passengers are heard yelling in the last seconds of the video, just before Flight 9525 crashes into the hillside.
Following the incident, it was discovered that Lubitz’s doctor had deemed him unsuitable to fly due to his acute melancholy and suicidal thoughts. But he had kept this knowledge from his boss.
After the disaster, the pilot made a terrifying comment to a German newspaper, which Lubitz’s ex-girlfriend would later recall:
“One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it.” She continued: “I never knew what he meant, but now it makes sense.”
The official assessment on the reason of the incident was rejected by Lubitz’s family, who instead asserted that he had lost consciousness before Flight 9525 crashed.
What happened on Flight 9525 of Germanwings? will be shown on Sky Documentaries tonight
