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3000' a minute descend
select-fire
Member Posts: 69,527 ✭✭✭✭
I couldn't imagine what those passengers were going thru for approx. the 10 minutes till they crashed. Looking out the windows and seeing the ground approaching and watching their Pilot trying to gain access to the cabin.
PARIS (Reuters) - The autopilot on the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday was switched to descend to 100 feet, its lowest possible setting, before it began its fatal plunge, according to data from a specialist aviation tracking service.
French prosecutors say 28-year-old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked himself in the cockpit and adjusted the altitude setting on the Airbus A320, sending it plunging from its cruise altitude of 38,000 feet at a rate of 3,000 feet a minute.
Online web tracking service FlightRadar24 said its analysis of satellite tracking data had found that someone had changed the altitude to the minimum setting possible of 100 feet: well below the crash site lying at about 6,000 feet.
"Between 09:30:52 and 09:30:55 you can see that the autopilot was manually changed from 38,000 feet to 100 feet and 9 seconds later the aircraft started to descend, probably with the 'open descent' autopilot setting," Fredrik Lindahl, chief executive of the Swedish tracking service said by email.
He said FlightRadar24 had shared its data with French crash investigators at their request. The French BEA crash investigation agency was not available for comment
PARIS (Reuters) - The autopilot on the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday was switched to descend to 100 feet, its lowest possible setting, before it began its fatal plunge, according to data from a specialist aviation tracking service.
French prosecutors say 28-year-old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked himself in the cockpit and adjusted the altitude setting on the Airbus A320, sending it plunging from its cruise altitude of 38,000 feet at a rate of 3,000 feet a minute.
Online web tracking service FlightRadar24 said its analysis of satellite tracking data had found that someone had changed the altitude to the minimum setting possible of 100 feet: well below the crash site lying at about 6,000 feet.
"Between 09:30:52 and 09:30:55 you can see that the autopilot was manually changed from 38,000 feet to 100 feet and 9 seconds later the aircraft started to descend, probably with the 'open descent' autopilot setting," Fredrik Lindahl, chief executive of the Swedish tracking service said by email.
He said FlightRadar24 had shared its data with French crash investigators at their request. The French BEA crash investigation agency was not available for comment
Comments
Boeing's have a similar system, but the pilot can always override the computer. A good reason to look for a made-in-the-USA sticker on your airplane.
Neal
The Airbus is a fly-by-wire aircraft. The computer makes most decisions, based upon its programming. The pilot at the controls set descent to the maximum; he couldn't override the computer & deliberately dive, even if unforeseeable events occurred that made that the "right" choice.
Boeing's have a similar system, but the pilot can always override the computer. A good reason to look for a made-in-the-USA sticker on your airplane.
Neal
The computer is smart enough to avoid a dive, but can't figure out it is about to smash into a mountain???? Or can the collision avoidance be turned off?
3000'/min is by no means slow. It's a drop rate of about 25 mph and should have been quite apparent to the passengers.
BS! It took 10 minutes to hit the ground if that's not slow I don't know what is but of course you are the expert on every damn thing in the world.