GermanWings a320

[martin]

I wonder what ammunition they use.

From the experts:

.44 Special Glaser Safety Slugs.

Shoot safely!

 

[Will]

Glaser safety slugs are controversial. They are super light (and thus high-speed) frangible rounds, meaning they break apart into little pieces when they his something that gives resistance. They're basically the smallest grade of bird shot, packed into a copper housing.

They are called "safety" because they won't penetrate walls inside a home. Even sheetrock will make the bullet break up into these little pellets, and the sheetrock won't be penetrated. Supposedly, this lets you use them indoors without the risk that the bullets will travel into an adjacent room and hit unintended targets. One can see how this would make sense inside an aircraft.

They are controversial, because they are utterly destructive when they hit living flesh. They hit with the same total kinetic energy of a conventional bullet, and since they penetrate flesh and clothing (but not walls), all of the energy goes into the target. It's not the type of hit that's usually survivable.

[Hardy Heinlin]

When the crew carries guns, wouldn't it be safer if the passengers too carried guns? This way, when one pilot goes nuts, the passengers could defend themselves better?


!-!

[United744]

When the crew carries guns, wouldn't it be safer if the passengers too carried guns? This way, when one pilot goes nuts, the passengers could defend themselves better

Yes... but if you're going to have one gun, I want two, so I can keep one holstered and one in my hand so I can start shooting if I see you reaching for yours, or turbulence causes me to drop my first one on the floor (or ceiling, depending).

In fact, I propose we remove the pilots from the aircraft entirely and fly them remotely. You can also put 8 economy seats where the flight deck would have been.

[Hardy Heinlin]

Let's limit the number of guns to 3 per passenger.

Not because of safety. Because of the gross weight.


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[United744]

Let's limit the number of guns to 3 per passenger.

Not because of safety. Because of the gross weight.

Here's a better idea: ban the carriage of passengers (they're just dangerous cargo at this point), and convert all aircraft to freighters. Then the pilots can have as many guns as they like.

 :mrgreen:

[Will]

Ban pilots and passengers! Let ATC fly empty airplanes around for fun by remote control.

Seriously, the insistence on total safety is absurd. We've reached "peak safety" now, where anything we do to try and make the system as a whole safer, is actually just trading one risk for another.

[Jeroen D]

We are likely to get these sort of announcements from the cockpit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jtf4Zma8kMU

[Debowing]

Even though this incident is very sad one must appreciate that given the volume of air traffic, this type of eventuality is possible although very very unlikely.

What the air transport industry has to do now, is to enable a crew member to be able to gain access to the cockpit.

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Let's see whether the just found FDR still works and if so, whether it may corroborate the current theories.


Hoppie

[United744]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32173632

I guess that confirms what we already thought.

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

News ...
https://avherald.com/h?article=483a5651/0164&opt=0

[Hardy Heinlin]

The father stated that his son never suffered from a depression. His son went through a depressive episode in 2008/2009 but overcame it completely.

Isn't there a disagreement between these two sentences?

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Oh the discussion has just started ... "controversy" and "conspiration theory" all over the place ...

[Will]

That was a very long read. I think the summary of his argument is that one pilot stepped out of the cockpit and the door malfunctioned, so as to lock him out. Then, the autoflight system erroneously commanded a descent to 100 ft.

But in his theory, why didn't the pilot in the cockpit just disarm the autopilot and return to normal flight?

[Hardy Heinlin]

6) The human in the cockpit seemed to be incapacitated within seconds of the other pilot leaving the cockpit as was indicated by his accelerated breathing. The accelerated rate of breathing at 26 breaths per minute was assessed from the transcript by doctors, psychologists and human factors experts involved by the AVH.

[Will]

Really? 26 breaths per minute is perfectly normal for someone who is exerting themselves or experiencing anxiety or excitement. I went back and read the sections of the document associated with the words "breaths" and "incapacitated" and I couldn't find any explanation of how 26 breaths per minute is supposed to imply incapacitation. (Granted, I haven't read the whole thing.)

But 26 breaths per minute is absolutely within the range of normal for a healthy human being who is exercising, or experiencing stress, anxiety, or excitement. Sure, it's not the average resting rate, but it certainly doesn't imply incapacitation.

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

He implies "absolutely zero activity, no change, no response, just steady."

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Simon's experiments with the A320 avionics seem plausible to me, although there is no indication what exactly needs to happen externally to the control panel (no knob manipulation) to make the altitude jump all the way down to the minimum set point. I suppose a loose wire or short or something. The very brief glitches also suggest this. But no further information here.

The malfunctioning single digit key of the flight deck entry keyboard looks also plausible to me. If this key is not the single-key doorbell ring digit, there is a good chance it is only tried very irregularly.

The unlikely third issue is the remaining pilot incapacitation. The timing and effect is hard to believe.


Hoppie

[Hardy Heinlin]

In the Avherald's comments section there are some interesting questions contra Simon's theory that haven't been answered, as far as I can see. I'm not an Airbus expert. Maybe someone can help me.

• When the FCU altitude jumps down to 100 ft, is that enough to start the descend mode? Or does it require the pilot to push the knob like on the 744 MCP? If the pilot needs to push the knob, why should the FCU engage the descend mode on its own? Can an incapacitated pilot push the knob?

• Was the increase of the selected speed to 340 kt coincidentally an FCU failure as well? If not, can an incapacitated pilot change the selection?

• The sidestick was pushed before the crash. Can an incapacitated pilot do this?

• The captain was the "Pilot Monitoring" (PM); a PM leaving the cockpit would say: "Your COM". -- The F/O was the "Pilot Flying" (PF); a PF leaving the cockpit would say: "Your controls". Why did the CVR record the words "your COM"?

• Why should the pilot outside the cockpit, trying to open the door, shout his own name?


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