A group of German teenagers killed in the Germanwings air crash almost missed the doomed flight after one of the students forgot her identification document, according to officials in the Catalan town where they had been on an exchange visit.
The group, which included 16 students and two teachers, had spent a week in the town of Llinars del Vallès. As the host families dropped them off at the train station on Tuesday morning, 35 miles from Barcelona’s El Prat airport, one of the German teenagers realised she had left her identification card at her host family’s home, town officials told the Guardian. In order to make sure she didn’t hold the group back and cause them to miss the flight, the father of her host family rushed her home to retrieve the necessary identification and then drove her directly to the airport, sources said. “It’s heartbreaking for the family,” said the town official.

The co-pilot of the Germanwings jet that crashed in the French Alps deliberately forced the plane into the descent that led to the disaster, the prosecutor said. He pressed a button that accelerated the Airbus A320’s descent when alone in the cockpit. “It was a voluntary action,” Robin said.
The co-pilot – named by the prosecutor as Andreas Lubitz, 28, a German citizen – was alone because the pilot had gone to the toilet. When he returned, the co-pilot refused to open the door. “The intention was to destroy this plane,” he said.
Lubitz was breathing normally at the point of impact, the prosecutor reveals. He said nothing during the final descent, which lasted about 10 minutes. “Absolute silence inside the cockpit. Nothing, no word during the last 10 minutes.”
There was no indication that Lubitz’s actions amounted to terrorism, Robin said. But he stopped short of declaring it suicide, saying only that was a “legitimate” question to ask.
Cries could be heard just before the impact, the prosecutor said. “The death would have been sudden, immediate.”
Air traffic controllers attempted to contact the plane in the last few minutes before the crash but received no reply from the cockpit.

Jo Bold wrote:

Soi Dog wrote: NOTE: Bad news for Luftansa either way...because it is absolutely against all flying protocol to leave just one person in the cockpit alone for any reason. If pilot or co-pilot must leave for a bathroom break or any reason, the head flight attendant is supposed to enter the cockpit until they return. This is going to cost them some serious money in lawsuits.

Wrong
This is Europe not the US and we are not talking about an intercontinental flight.
There are different laws.

The co-pilot of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps has been named by French authorities as German national Andreas Lubitz.

The information released by authorities investigating the crash about the pilots has been sparse.

However, what we do know about Lubitz is that the 28-year-old was from Montabaur, a town in the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, according to a local flight club.

According to the Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, whose briefing contradicts reports from a French aviation official in Le Monde earlier, the pilot banged on the door as the co-pilot accelerated the descent of the plane "intentionally".

"The intention was to destroy this plane," he continued. Mr Robin said passengers could be heard screaming just before the plane crashed into the alps.

Lubitz was alive "until the plane's final impact" with a mountain, according to French prosecutors.

Soi Dog wrote:

Jo Bold wrote:

Soi Dog wrote: NOTE: Bad news for Luftansa either way...because it is absolutely against all flying protocol to leave just one person in the cockpit alone for any reason. If pilot or co-pilot must leave for a bathroom break or any reason, the head flight attendant is supposed to enter the cockpit until they return. This is going to cost them some serious money in lawsuits.

Wrong
This is Europe not the US and we are not talking about an intercontinental flight.
There are different laws.

There won't be different laws after this incident. I guarantee Europe will adopt a similar US policy as a result of this one crash. Shame on them for not seeing this possibility beforehand. Here come the lawsuits. I hope each family of the deceased gets 100 million euros.

Protocols and standard procedures around what happens when a pilot leaves the cockpit mid-flight vary according to country and airline.

A flight attendant taking the seat of an absent pilot to ensure there are always two people in the cockpit, and/or blocking access to the open door with a trolley, are often seen on US flights, but not necessarily on others, Hansford said. For instance it is not a requirement on Australian flights.