About 30 minutes into the flight, the aircraft began a rapid 10 minute decent over the French Alps, ultimately crashing into the mountains. Authorities recovered the cockpit audio recorder and what they heard was both tragic and shocking. Once the plane reached cruising altitude, the Pilot excused himself to go to the restroom, leaving the Co-Pilot in control of the aircraft... standard procedure. However when the Pilot attempted to reenter the cockpit with his authorization code, he discovered it had been overridden from the inside.
It can be heard on the audio recordings that as the Pilot frantically tries to get into the cockpit, Lubitz is conscious , calm, and in complete control. Passengers can be heard screaming as the plane descends into the mountain.
Now authorities are digging into the past of Lubitz in an effort to understand what could have motivated him to commit this mass murder of men, women, and children. Also, European airlines are looking into changing operating procedures in an effort to stop this type of tragedy in the future.
Thoughts?