Finding that the memory within was not damaged, investigators were able to download the recording and listen to its contents only about 24 hours after the accident, an unusually quick turnaround. A routine morning shuttle from Barcelona, Spain, to Dsseldorf, Germany, the flight was not expected to encounter any adverse weather, and the 24-year-old Airbus A320, registration D-AIPX, was in good working order with only cosmetic defects recorded in the technical log. Although he eventually managed to get a medical certificate, it came with a clause that virtually guaranteed his career would end if he ever became depressed again. He also expressed a desire to fly from an early age, and the passion never left him. (CNN) On the 24th of March 2015, an Airbus A320 flying for low-cost carrier Germanwings stopped responding to air traffic control, entered a steep but steady descent, and impacted a mountainside in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Sean Archuleta, who was riding in the jump seat, were killed in the crash. unknown. But even an aviation expert they hired to poke holes in the official report didnt seem to believe their assertions, even though he dutifully did what they asked. According to these sources, the conversations between the pilots were normal at first, and confined to operational matters. It took two minutes for the controller to notice, by which time flight 9525 was already approaching 30,000 feet. Pieces of bodies torsos, limbs, hands and feet lay strewn across the mountainside. From an aviation safety perspective, Lubitzs exact thought process matters a great deal less than the question of whether he could have been stopped. But the doctors at Lufthansas aeromedical center denied his application on account of his ongoing major depression and medication thereof, which rendered him unfit to fly under European and German law. And the problem is that if we keep denying everyone with that medical profile, most of whom are probably fit to fly, even if it turned out Lubitz wasnt, then the culture of deceit will remain. were gonna put that on four and a half. Controllers indicate some severe weather in the area and that the plane shouldnt have a problem getting to the airport after the change. got four and a half and we weigh 534. Although pilot unions and independent non-profits are increasingly pushing for common-sense aeromedical reform, with some limited success, to my knowledge the FAA and its global equivalents have not yet acknowledged that major changes are needed, let alone established any kind of timeline for implementing them. indicate 10, leading edge lights are green. And If you had a minor depressive episode in high school, if you were erroneously diagnosed with ADHD as a child, if you went to rehab 15 years ago, or even if you went through a hard breakup that required seeing a therapist, disclosing as much to an AME can make your certification process considerably more difficult, and sometimes even impossible. If he had simply been denied on account of that history, the argument goes, the crash would never have happened. Also contributing were systemic deficiencies in the aviation industrys selection and performance measurement practices, which failed to address the first officers aptitude-related deficiencies and maladaptive stress response. Many suicidal people are deeply empathetic, even refusing to take their own lives for fear of upsetting loved ones. Minutes later, he was cleared down to 21,000 feet, and again he selected an altitude of 100 feet. With all this information in mind, it should be clear why rolling back medical confidentiality rules wont solve the problem, and might make it worse. By the time either flight crew saw the other plane in the fog, it was too late to avert the disaster, which arose out of a series of miscommunications among both flight crews and the control tower. Yeah, Okay, DCA19MA086.aspx - NTSB Communications with Air Traffic Control, automated radio weather briefings, and conversation between the pilots and ground or cabin crew are also recorded. Goddamn, that [expletive deleted] is coming!" Cockpit Voice Recorder Database KLM 2Klaas Meurs, KLM First Officer two left, center, two right center. ultimately the controllers decide to send it taxiing straight down the runway. The investigator can then visualize the airplane's attitude, instrument readings, power settings and other characteristics of the flight. The report issued Wednesday does not include a cause for the crash, which NTSB officials said is still under investigation. Another unresolved debate over safety measures concerns medical confidentiality. Sondenheimer started knocking on the cockpit door once, twice, three times, six times. flight engineer, even as the KLM plane has begun rolling down the runway, to The firstborn son of a banker and a piano teacher, Andreas Gnter Lubitz was born on December 18th, 1987 in the Bavarian town of Neuberg an der Donau, although his family moved across the country to Montabaur while he was still in school. Hypoxia was considered a more likely scenario, but there was still much that did not add up. His depression was not an excuse; after all, millions of people suffer from depression, including thousands of airline pilots, and hardly any of them commit mass-murder suicide. Sometime in mid-March, he began searching the internet for information about cockpit door security on the Airbus A320. Finally, still others object to asking the question at all. Atlas operated the airplane as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 domestic cargo flight for Amazon.com Services LLC, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. KLM 80ahcorrection, 4805, taxi straight aheadahfor We Haunting last words of pilots before Both recorders are installed to help reconstruct the events leading to an aircraft accident. Sean Archuleta, who was riding in the jump seat, died in the The cockpit voice recorder is one of the most important, but haunting, remains from a plane crash. And as long as the system incentivizes hiding these problems, it will remain impossible to detect those rare individuals, like Lubitz, who are actually dangerous. Many of my articles end with a reassuring roundup of safety reforms or planned improvements, but unfortunately, this is not one of them. After a few months he recovered, but now he had a history of depression and everything that entailed. and his copilot The flight departed from Miami International Airport (MIA), Miami, Florida, about 1033 (1133 eastern standard time) and was destined for IAH. This location and phase of flight were inconsistent with any scenario in which a pilot would intentionally select go-around mode, and neither pilot made a go-around callout to indicate intentional activation. The CVR Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Air Traffic Control would say "okay" after KLM has said it is taking off is Due to the highly sensitive nature of the verbal communications inside the cockpit, Congress has required that the Safety Board not release any part of a CVR audio recording. KLM meant "we're now at takeoff position." Pilots describe fatal descent of Amazon cargo jet | khou.com Sure, at first, open access to medical records might make it impossible to hide a diagnosis. Open the goddamn door! he roared, as mountains streaked by outside the windows, the cacophony in the cabin juxtaposed against Lubitzs malevolent silence. It was not the first time that an airline pilot had committed suicide by deliberately crashing a passenger plane in fact, it had happened at least five times before but the Germanwings tragedy brought the phenomenon into the public eye in a way which the others had not. At that moment, the CVR captured the sound of the controllers first radio call, asking about the altitude, but Lubitz did not audibly react. We will never know, because moments later the plane shattered against the mountain, taking with it the lives of so many. Atlas Air Flight 3591 crashed Feb. 23, 2019, about 30 miles from Houstons George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and the NTSB recovered the airplanes CVR March 1, 2019. The FDR onboard the aircraft records many different operating conditions of the flight. Get access to AeroInside Insights, unlimited read access and receive the daily newsletter. transcript, and also explanatory text attached to linked words or phrases, are But what if it didnt have to be that way? At that point, well return to the days when everyone bottled up their problems and self-medicated by abusing alcohol, like our grandfathers did. WebAtlas Air pilots had been complaining about being overworked badly at around the same time, which would have made the pilots on this flight more vulnerable to the somatogravic illusion if they too were suffering from such overwork and fatigue. First Officer Andreas Lubitz hid his psychotic depression from his employer until he snapped, but instead of enacting broader exceptions to medical confidentiality, the real solution might be something completely different: to loosen, rather than tighten, the rules surrounding mental fitness to fly. At some point Captain Sondenheimer mentioned that he forgot to use the restroom during the stopover and would need to take a break to do so in flight. The CVR recordings are treated differently than the other factual information obtained in an accident investigation. At 12:38 p.m., controllers at Bush relay a course change that will be necessary in about 18 miles. They can provide information that may be difficult or impossible to obtain by other means. Both recorders are installed in the most crash survivable part of the aircraft, usually the tail section. above). Did he regret, in those moments, the path he had chosen? Videos linked to airline accidents and incidents. The FO was the pilot flying, the captain was the pilot monitoring, and the autopilot and autothrottle were engaged and remained engaged for the remainder of the flight. HOUSTON A transcript of audio that was recorded aboard a cargo plane that crashed into Trinity Bay earlier this year revealed the crews panicked moments just before the fatal descent. But there was no reply. Many pilots reading this are probably already aware that Lubitzs failure to disclose would not necessarily have seemed important, because the dark truth about the aeromedical process is that everyone lies. Okay, AeroInside is a service provided by Tiny Ventures LLC/GmbH, Zurich, Switzerland. This portion of the transcript comes Atlas Air, Atlas Air airplane accidents and other occurrences. When the switch is selected to lock, all use of the keypad is disabled for five minutes. Whats going on? Archuleta asked. This would clear However, Sword of Damocles clauses like the one applied to Lubitz should be used sparingly, if at all. But eight years after the infamous mass murder-suicide, the industry is still at risk of taking away the wrong lessons. The accident flights departure from MIA, en route cruise, and initial descent toward IAH were uneventful. The airplane operated on a flight from Alverca Air Base (AVR) to Minsk-2 International Airport (MSQ). and confirm that you've read our The older analog units use one-quarter inch magnetic tape as a storage medium and the newer ones use digital technology and memory chips. Instead, he took the sick leave notes, ripped them up, and threw them in the trash. Contact us: Throughout the intervening years, Lubitz renewed his medical every 12 months without incident. Okay, explanation. Legacy of a Lie: The crash of Atlas Air flight 3591 Following an accident, both recorders are immediately removed from the accident site and transported to NTSB headquarters in Washington D.C. for processing. After all, Andreas Lubitz literally was a mass murderer. One of many what-if questions that students of the tragedy ask is: Could the KLM 747 have cleared the taxiing Pan Am plane if the KLM's pilot hadn't insisted on refueling his aircraft before leaving Tenerife, thereby greatly increasing its weight? In April 2009, Lubitz applied for the first annual renewal of his medical certification, which is required in order to fly an airplane. NTSB Media Relations piecing together the events. Ah, The flight departed Miami at 16:33UTC (11:33 ET). And could he have been stopped? Oh, Lord. In any case, what is known is that the FAA eventually received Lubitzs medical history and issued him a US medical certificate with the same limitations as the German one, and he went on to pass flight training in Arizona in 2011. Affirmative, However, quantifying this risk is difficult. But at no point did his depression recur, and his medical was renewed without major difficulties. Days later, his psychiatrist prescribed him two more medications, Escitalopram and Zolpidem, neither of which was approved for pilots, but still, he kept flying. Sounds of interest to an investigator could be engine noise, stall warnings, landing gear extension and retraction, and other clicks and pops. Crash RT speak simultaneously. Rest in peace to the crew of GTI3596. from the Pan Am cockpit voice recorder. Ricky Blakely, First Officer Conrad Aska and Capt. German flag carrier Lufthansa is known for its large number of wholly owned subsidiaries, of which one of the more popular was Germanwings, a former division of Eurowings which split off in 2002 and was purchased by Lufthansa in 2009. As matters stand, another crash along the same lines is probably a matter of when and where, not if. Negative, _______________________________________________________________, Join the discussion of this article on Reddit, Support me on Patreon (Note: I do not earn money from views on Medium! Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), records radio transmissions and sounds in the cockpit, such as the pilot's voices and engine noises. runway and then exit it using one of the transverse taxiways. In fact, they might have believed that Lubitz was complying with their requests that he take time off from work, but even if they knew he was flying, their options would have been limited. Applicants will continue to lie about their medical problems and not only innocuous problems, but real ones too, like Lubitzs eventual psychosis, which was disqualifying by any standard. modified for clarity and ease of reading. For years, he lived with the limitation hanging over his head like a proverbial Sword of Damocles, knowing that his career could end at any moment for reasons beyond his control. put a bomb (in) the terminal, sir, right where the check-in counters are. That's 4805 taxi to the holding position Runway 30. That was followed by the sound of a louder mechanical click and thumping noises. it'll be standard. Its me! Sondenheimer is reported to have said, but Lubitz didnt let him in. The other, the nor flight engineer questions the pilot again, and the impact occurs about 13 In the background, only minor unidentifiable sounds could be heard Lubitz remained silent, except for the sound of steady, unhurried breathing, picked up by the microphone on his headset. on March 27, 1977 was one of the largest in aviation history, involving more At this point, the stage was set all that remained was the final decision. Get off!" First Officer Lubitz allegedly told him that he could go any time, but Sondenheimer prudently decided to wait until the plane was established in cruise. What if Lubitz had believed it was possible to temporarily ground himself, and then regain his medical later, if his psychiatrist testified that he had recovered? Few people in his life saw anything untoward about his behavior in the months before the crash, even though medical records showed he was falling down a spiral of despair and delusion. The captain, first officer (FO), and a nonrevenue pilot riding in the jumpseat died. Those unfamiliar with the process might not understand why, so its worth taking some time to explain, not only because privacy is important, but because the reasons for the policys ineffectiveness are closely tied to some of the possible untold circumstances behind the actions of Andreas Lubitz. Maybe It was becoming obvious that something was terribly wrong, and Sondenheimer must have decided it was time for drastic action, as he allegedly told a flight attendant to bring him a crowbar. PA 1Victor Grubbs, Pan Am Captain Approach, As a result of this investigation, the we mades six new safety recommendations and reiterated two safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration. The horrific discovery left investigators wondering: how could an airline pilot commit an act of such evil? 040 until intercepting the 325, and we're now (at takeoff). But if a computer error somehow locked the plane into a descent a far-fetched idea to begin with then why didnt the pilots transmit a distress call during the nearly nine minutes before it struck the ground? Some would suggest that the story of Andreas Lubitz clearly justifies this position. Also contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administrations failure to implement the pilot records database in a sufficiently robust and timely manner. 7136 [sic] report leaving the runway. HD (Full) Atlas Air 3591 Crash ATC (with Subtitles) - YouTube By regulation, newly manufactured aircraft must monitor at least eighty-eight important parameters such as time, altitude, airspeed, heading, and aircraft attitude. Speculation ran wild, with proposed scenarios including a computer malfunction or pilot incapacitation due to lack of oxygen. 747s are both in queue to taxi down the runway and turn around for takeoff.