Carsten Spohr, the chief executive of Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, said on Thursday that Mr. Lubitz had passed the company’s health checks with “flying colors.”
“He was 100 percent flightworthy without any limitations,” Mr. Spohr said.
But he said there had been an instance six years ago when Mr. Lubitz took a break from his training for several months. He said that if the reason was medical, German rules on privacy prevented the sharing of such information....
Some international airlines responded to the crash by introducing new rules requiring that two crew members always be present in the cockpit...
“I ask myself, when a person is so bent on committing a criminal act, whether that is preventable if for example a stewardess or steward is in the cockpit,” [Thomas Winkelmann, the head of Germanwings, said yesterday].
March 27, 2015
"The German investigators said they had not found a suicide note or 'any indication of a political or religious' nature among the documents secured in Mr. Lubitz’s apartment."
"'However, documents were secured containing medical information that indicates an illness and corresponding treatment by doctors,' prosecutors said in a statement...."
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38 comments:
There is growing speculation that a Muslim convert. Any mental health information would support, not refute, that.
It's not yet evidence but evidence will probably be suppressed as long as possible. So far we have this.
That's "he was..."
“I ask myself, when a person is so bent on committing a criminal act, whether that is preventable if for example a stewardess or steward is in the cockpit,”
Maybe the East German Olympics folks could dig up the old formulas for how to produce this kind of stewardess.
"Of a religious nature" must be a reference to the Luther unpleasantness.
Flying a plane into a mountain.
A metaphor for our times…and especially for the leaders so many nations have today.
Maybe something was lost in translation, but clearly there were some limitations, here. Inexcusable limitations when so many lives are at stake.
So medical privacy regulations may have a downside?
"We may never know why Mr. Lubitz flew the plane into the mountain. Allahu Akbar"
I'm now thinking that the pilot is at fault for failing to immediately inform the passengers of their peril so they could all bow their heads together in reverent prayer so God would intervene and make the mountains disappear.
There is growing speculation that a Muslim convert.
That speculation has been there since the beginning, but I don't think there has been any proof yet.
Suicidal people don't generally take out 150 innocents, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Now if he was psychotic, maybe. But their mental health checks would have to be awfully pathetic.
The newer reports coming out suggest that this guy had been treated for major depression. And on the day of the flight, he had a doctor's note excusing him from flying (guess why), but he decided to fly anyway.
He didn't tell his airline employer about any of this. And with the privacy regulations in place there, they couldn't force him to.
Mental illness should be an automatic disqualification for flying.
Instapundit used the metaphor Obama's in the cockpit now and he's locked the door.
The hyperventilating is getting out of control. I understand the intense pressure to speculate, but the different between speculation and wild, irresponsible guessing is that speculation must be tethered to facts; it can intuit information that we don't have, but it cannot contradict what we know and it can't get too far ahead of what we know. Slate is now insisting that it's "murder." That's an inflammatory and unhelpful line; there's zero evidence that Lubitz had any such intention, and all the evidence points toward (although does not confirm) suicide. That would make his liability manslaughter, not murder.
"Instapundit used the metaphor Obama's in the cockpit now and he's locked the door."
A clever but flawed analogy. Our door may be locked, but we have two co-pilots who have working keys.
But if they open the door there will be shouting and unpleasantness and embarrassment and paperwork. And the passengers will get all frightened and upset... It's really best not to bother. Things will probably work out fine. They always do, right?
And, you know, those big mountains right ahead ARE kind of pretty...
Interesting that most descriptions of this pilot do not focus on suicide but on homicide. He is not a "suicide pilot," yet it appears his primary intent was to kill himself. He just didn't care who he took with him.
Yet those who blow themselves up in crowded places are routinely called suicide bombers when their primary intent is to kill as many others as possible.
The intent of both is to kill themselves and everyone else unfortunate enough to be near. The motivation (derangement or political/religious) should not change what we call them. Mass murderers, not something
modified by "suicide"
"Slate is now insisting that it's "murder." That's an inflammatory and unhelpful line; there's zero evidence that Lubitz had any such intention, and all the evidence points toward (although does not confirm) suicide. That would make his liability manslaughter, not murder."
You have got to be kidding. I agree with you about speculation, but if he did this intentionally it is mass murder.
>>“He was 100 percent flightworthy without any limitations,” Mr. Spohr said.
Funny, but I would have thought he would have lost a few percentage points for flying his airplane into a mountain.
I guess "flightworthy" doesn't mean what I think it means.
>>manslaughter, not murder.
Murder includes reckless disregard for human life.
It would hard to find a better example of reckless disregard.
Wait, there's an ax in the cabin - not the cockpit but the CABIN of an A320.
I can't bring a keychain multi tool on the plane but there's an ax already there? Who writes up these rules?
Slate is now insisting that it's "murder." That's an inflammatory and unhelpful line; there's zero evidence that Lubitz had any such intention, and all the evidence points toward (although does not confirm) suicide.
That's splitting some hairs, though. He effectively murdered 150 people, whatever his motivation. He doesn't get a pass because his primary goal was to kill himself. He could have accomplished that easily with a rope or a bullet to the head.
Some people who use chemicals to kill themselves even post signs warning others. Suicide/homicide combos are different and it's not 'inflammatory' to point that out.
When one deliberately kills 150 people outside of wartime or self-defense, then murder seems pretty apt.
Original Mike said...
"You have got to be kidding. I agree with you about speculation, but if he did this intentionally it is mass murder."
As BarrySanders20 said immediately before your comment, "his primary intent was to kill himself. He just didn't care who he took with him." There is a legally-significant diference between acting intentionally and acting knowingly; murder means acting intentionally and this man acted knowingly. I don't know the law in Germany, but in Pennsylvania, for example, "criminal homicide constitutes murder of the first degree when it is committed by an intentional killing." 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 2502(a) (emphasis added); cf. § 2501 ("A person is guilty of criminal homicide if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of another human being").
"criminal homicide constitutes murder of the first degree when it is committed by an intentional killing."
I am not a lawyer and I doubt the people at Slate are either, but he killed those people intentionally. His actions were probably premeditated. From what we know, it seems highly unlikely that this was a spur of the moment decision, more likely he waited coldly for his opportunity and immediately went for it. This is not somebody who tried to kill themselves in a car crash and accidentally hit someone else. The death of everyone on the plane was baked into the cake.
That speculation has been there since the beginning, but I don't think there has been any proof yet.
Actually, there is zero evidence that he is a Muslim covert. Speculating that he might be a Muslim convert (because the implication is that a non-Muslim wouldn't do such a thing) is rank bigotry.
But of course there are no bigots on Althouse.
Instapundit used the metaphor Obama's in the cockpit now and he's locked the door.
Which once again illustrates what a horrible person Instapundit is.
Man, the law can be obtuse. He intentionally flew a plane with 149 people on it into a mountain. Why give him cover with mealy mouth excuses?
This case might just turn out to be the first airliner crash that CNN ignores, if and when it turns out that the Germanwings copilot was gay.
if and when it turns out that the Germanwings copilot was gay.
Yeah, let's recklessly throw in some homophobia with the anti-Muslim bigotry.
That speculation has been there since the beginning, but I don't think there has been any proof yet.
Actually, there is zero evidence that he is a Muslim covert.
proof = evidence. Nice to be called a bigot when we are agreeing.
@Simon
What? Are you serious? Even if you doubt that Lubitz had the specific intent to kill the passengers, which is an unreasonable doubt if he intentionally ran the plane into the ground, have you never heard of depraved-heart murder?
Unless this was a terrible accident, Lubitz is a mass murderer.
murder means acting intentionally and this man acted knowingly.
How is it that he was not acting intentionally.
You really aren't the legal expert you believe yourself to be.
Calling this murder is perfectly morally and legally correct.
"[Being the target of bullying] should be an automatic disqualification for flying."
"[A recent failed romantic relationship] should be an automatic disqualification for flying."
"[Having the capacity for impulsive acts] should be an automatic disqualification for flying."
It might be interesting and educational to learn more about the excuse note. Why no medication, no hospitalization, or better yet, institutionalization? Mr. Lubitz had obviously been diagnosed, and probably evaluated for 15 whole minutes.
Nah, just dismantle privacy regulations. Some animals are just more equal.
The United States has never allowed a passenger airliner to operate with only one person in the cockpit.
We also require a minimum of 1500 flight hours for all pilots in scheduled airline service, even commuter airliners.
Think about this incident the next time someone suggests that we can automate an airliner to such an extent that only one, or no pilot is required.
What about a nuclear bomb from Iran set off in Tel Aviv. Is that also murder or Obama's signature achievement to establish justice for Muslims?
"Speculating that he might be a Muslim convert (because the implication is that a non-Muslim wouldn't do such a thing) is rank bigotry."
Bullshit. The implication is not that a non-Muslim wouldn't do such a thing. Muslim terrorists have used planes to commit acts of terror. That is a fact. It is one motive that investigators must consider.
"his primary intent was to kill himself. He just didn't care who he took with him."
Well, now you are speculating.
His actions indicate his intent was to kill himself and a plane full of people. We know this because it's what he did.
He didn't smash his car into a mountainside, did he?
Freder Frederson said:
"Which once again illustrates what a horrible person Instapundit is."
Which illustrates that Freder Frederson doesn't quite understand what the word "horrible" means.
C'mon folks, lay off the convert speculation. You need evidence for that. That goes double for anyone who complained about NBC doctoring tapes, Dan Rather and his fake memos, anyone who criticized the false reports of "Hands up, don't shoot."
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