Germanwings Co-pilot Copycat Suicide and Mass Murder?

On November 29, 2013, 16 months before the Germanwings crash, Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470 went down in a remote area of Namibia while operating a scheduled passenger service from Maputo, Mozambique, to Luanda, Angola. The E-190 jet, manufactured by Brazil’s Embraer SA, was just one year old. Weather in the area, other than heavy rain, was not dangerous. Results of the investigation ruled out any mechanical problem or problem with the airworthiness of the aircraft as cause of the major accident.

According to a summary by Aviation Safety Network of the preliminary investigation results, the crash of Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470 that killed all 33 people on board was quite possibly intentional. Investigators believe it may have been pilot suicide. Like the Germanwings crash in the French Alps on March 24, 2015, one of the two crew members left the cockpit to use the toilet and was locked out by the other upon returning. On Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470f  the co-pilot left the cabin and the captain locked him out, a reversal of the situation on the Germanwings flight. It isn’t officially known whether the captain of Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470 had shown signs of mental issues; unverified rumors suggest he may have had marital problems, and that a son had died.

Regarding Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470, João Abreu, head of the Institute of Civil Aviation of Mozambique, said:

• The aircraft dove toward the ground at 6,000 feet a minute. 
• Data from the cockpit voice recorder indicates that minutes before the crash, the co-pilot left the cockpit for the bathroom and returned to find the door shut. 
• The flight data recorder, or black box, indicates that the captain manually changed on the autopilot the flight altitude from 38,000 feet to below ground level. 
• He also retarded the engine throttles to idle and manually selected the maximum operating speed -- a contradictory action that makes little sense. 
• The voice recorder shows that someone, likely the first officer, pounded on the cockpit door before the crash. 
• There was no mayday call from the experienced captain.

All the actions of the captain are eerily similar to those of the first officer, Andreas Lubitz, of the Germanwings flight on March 24, 2015, as are the results. Lubitz also manually changed n the autopilot the altitude from 38,000: he set it to 100 feet, an altitude well below the highest terrain in the area, and he accelerated as the plane descended toward the French Alps.

On December 21, 2013 Mozambique's Civil Aviation Authority reported in a press conference that:

• The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder revealed that the captain was alone on the flight deck,
• Banging on the flight deck door could be heard on the cockpit voice recorder.  
• The autoflight systems (autothrottle and autopilot) were engaged: There were sounds and clicks consistent with a person knowledgeable of the aircraft systems commanding the engines to idle thrust and selecting the autoflight systems into a descent at 6000 feet per minute.
• Numerous warnings and alerts were not responded to.

The above description is eerily similar to the Germanwings flight on March 24, 2015, as are the following details about Mozambique Airlines Flight TM470 on November 29, 2013.

Namibia's Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigations (DAAI) released an interim report reporting that the aircraft was enroute at FL380 shortly after the mandatory reporting point EXEDU, when the aircraft began a rapid descent. The Investigation re-iterated the preliminary report of 2013 that:

1. The autopilot's target altitude was selected down in three different steps (first FL380 to 4,288 feet, then 1,888 feet and final 592 feet) to below ground elevation,
2. The autothrust system's target airspeed was adjusted several times to remain close to Mmo/Vmo,
3. There were overspeed warnings several times during the descent,
4. The cabin air conditioning system number 2 was manually deactivated,
5. The speed brakes were manually deployed (and remained in that position until end of flight data recordings),
6. The vertical speed reached a maximum rate of descent of 10,560 feet per minute

And the report stated: "During all this actions there was audible low and high chimes as well as repeated banging an indication for call to enter the cockpit." During the last 2500 feet AGL the EGPWS issued several caution and warnings including "Terrain, Pull Up!".

According to radar data, the aircraft was lost from radar when it descended through 6600 feet MSL, by that time it had travelled 87.4km/47.2nm in 6 minutes 43 seconds since the aircraft left FL380.

The Investigation reported that there had been no distress call by the crew nor had there been a signal from the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) after impact with the ground at 3,390 feet MSL.

The captain (49, ATPL, 9,053 hour total, 2,520 hours on type) was pilot flying at the time the aircraft left FL380, the first officer (24, CPL, 1,183 hours total, no hours on type provided except 101 hours on type in the last 90 days) had left the cockpit prior to the aircraft leaving FL380.

The data were successfully downloaded off both flight data and cockpit voice recorder.

On January 8, 2014, the Aviation Herald received the preliminary report from Namibia's Investigator in Charge under the condition to not publish the two-page report signed on December 18, 2013. The preliminary report states the aircraft carried 28 passengers and 6 crew and was enroute at FL380 in contact with Gaborone Area Air Traffic Control. Radar data show that after passing the mandatory reporting point EXEDU (position S18.9333 E22.4666, 55.7nm south of crash site) in Gaborone FIR the aircraft "commenced a sudden descent" from FL380. Radar and voice contact was lost.

The report states (begin of quote):

    1. the aircraft was operating at normal conditions and no mechanical faults were detected.

    2. Minutes before the crash the F/O (first officer) left the cockpit for the lavatory and only the captain remained on the Flight Deck.

    3. The altitude was manually selected three times from 38000 feet to the final 592 feet (below ground elevation).

    4. Auto throttle was manually reengaged and throttle level automatically retarded and set to idle.

    5. The Airspeed was manually selected several times until the end of the recording, which remained close to Vmo (maximum operating speed limit).

    6. The speed brake handle parameter indicates it was commanded to open the spoiler panels and remained in this position until the end of the recording. This was manually commanded as the parameter monitors the handle position.

    7. During all these actions there was audible low and high chimes as well as repeated banging an indication for call to enter the cockpit.

    Conclusion:

    All action observed from the recorders requires knowledge of the aircraft's automatic flight systems as the entire descent was performed with the autopilot engaged. This displays a clear intent. The reason for all these actions is unknown and the investigation is still ongoing.

    End of quote.

Information from the second black box found in the wreckage of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps confirms the co-pilot acted deliberately and even accelerated as the doomed plane descended, investigators said on April 3, 2015.A first reading shows that the pilot in the cockpit used the automatic pilot to descend the plane towards an altitude of 100 feet (30 metres), then, several times during the descent, the pilot changed the automatic pilot settings to increase the aircraft's speed.The owner of Germanwings, Luftansia, said the co-pilot had told the airline in 2009 about his depression after interrupting his flight training. Doctors had recently found no sign that he intended to hurt himself or others, but he was receiving treatment from neurologists and psychiatrists who had signed him off sick from work a number of times, including on the day of the crash. Police found torn-up sick notes during a search of his apartment after the crash. [Source]

The Germanwings airbus that crashed in the French Alps on March 24, 2015 was within close proximity of two other crashed, one in 1953 and the other in 1966. On September 1, 1953, Air France Flight 178 operating the Paris-Nice portion of a passenger flight to Saigon crashed into Mount Cemet, France, with the loss of all 42 lives on board. On January 24, 1966, Air India Flight 101 crashed at almost the same location as the Air India 1953 crash, with the loss of 117 crew and passengers.