During the flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona immediately prior to the fatal crash on March 24, Germanwings first officer Andreas Lubitz repeatedly reset the A320’s altitude to 100 feet while alone in the cockpit, according to a preliminary report (PDF) released Wednesday by the French BEA safety board. Lubitz didn’t activate a descent, but the changes in selected altitude were recorded by the flight data recorder. Lubitz was alone in the cockpit for about four and a half minutes. The flight landed safely in Barcelona, but on the next flight, Lubitz locked out the captain after he left the cockpit and initiated a fatal descent that killed all 150 on board.
The safety investigation is continuing, BEA said, based on a detailed analysis of information about the flight crew as well as data from the flight recorders and radio communications. Investigators said they also will study “systemic failings” that may have contributed to the crash, including “the current balance between medical confidentiality and flight safety” and “the compromises that were made between the requirements of [cockpit] security … and the requirements of flight safety” in regard to cockpit-door locking systems and the procedures relating to cockpit access. The report also cites six prior airline crashes since 1982 that were determined to have been caused by the deliberate actions of one of the flight crew.
