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Plane Crash in the French Alps


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Sadly another plane crash has just happened. A Germanwings airplane flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf this morning crashed at the foothills of the French Alps. No distress call was sent out and due to the speed at which the plane fell, no survivors are expected. 144 passengers and 6 crewman were on that plane, as well as 2 babies, although it's not clear if those 2 babies were included as part of the 144 passengers. The cause of the crash has yet to be determined.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/europe/france-plane-crash/index.html

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Oh my. A couple of weeks ago, the helicopter crash in Argentina with French Olympic stars; now, this one in the French Alps. Can't wait for the 3rd one -- if only it were a plane carrying the ISIS leadership.

Sadly the leaders of such organizations never travel that far. And when they do travel, it's usually by land.

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I am very worried about the high amount of severe plane crashes since last year - and after the shoot-down of MH17, this is yet another plane crash that is particularly devastating for me. For most of the flights in my lifetime, I flew from and to Düsseldorf Airport (it's the one that is nearest to my home town), and many times, I also flew above that region in the French Alps, especially on my flights to Palma de Mallorca. In May, I will fly again to Mallorca and will probably have to cross that area of the Alps yet again, and with the same airplane type, the A320. So you can probably imagine that this accident now feels particularly bad, not only because it was a German plane and because so many Germans lost their lives. My thoughts are with the relatives and friends of the victims - and it feels terrible to see them there, mourning and shocked, right at the very airport I associated so much with happy departures and happy returns to and from the holidays.

Apart from that, I'm puzzled how this accident could happen. I am quite an aviation buff and have read a lot about flight accidents, but to me it has never occurred that on a sunny day with perfect flying weather, a plane goes in a relatively stable and (if one can call it that way) controlled dive for several minutes and then crashes, without the flightcrew ever making an emergency call. Just a few days ago, the German magazine Spiegel reported that a couple of months ago, a Lufthansa Airbus A320 (the same model that crashed today) on its way from Spain to Germany went into a comparable descent due to a computer error and that the crew was only able to regain control of the plane by shutting the flight computer down. It was also reported that afterwards, Airbus issued a software update in order to counter that problem - and the Germanwings plane that crashed today had allegedly already received that software update. This is only speculative of course and it would be bitter if the software update hadn't solved the problem at all and that was the cause of today's accident. But the parallels and the timing are quite haunting.

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Terrible. I can't even remember when a German airline last had a crash. But whenever I board a flight, I really feel uncomfortable until landing, so today hasn't helped getting over this.

Well I'm using this airline this summer so imagine how freaked out I am right now.

I am very worried about the high amount of severe plane crashes since last year - and after the shoot-down of MH17, this is yet another plane crash that is particularly devastating for me. For most of the flights in my lifetime, I flew from and to Düsseldorf Airport (it's the one that is nearest to my home town), and many times, I also flew above that region in the French Alps, especially on my flights to Palma de Mallorca. In May, I will fly again to Mallorca and will probably have to cross that area of the Alps yet again, and with the same airplane type, the A320. So you can probably imagine that this accident now feels particularly bad, not only because it was a German plane and because so many Germans lost their lives. My thoughts are with the relatives and friends of the victims - and it feels terrible to see them there, mourning and shocked, right at the very airport I associated so much with happy departures and happy returns to and from the holidays.

Apart from that, I'm puzzled how this accident could happen. I am quite an aviation buff and have read a lot about flight accidents, but to me it has never occurred that on a sunny day with perfect flying weather, a plane goes in a relatively stable and (if one can call it that way) controlled dive for several minutes and then crashes, without the flightcrew ever making an emergency call. Just a few days ago, the German magazine Spiegel reported that a couple of months ago, a Lufthansa Airbus A320 (the same model that crashed today) on its way from Spain to Germany went into a comparable descent due to a computer error and that the crew was only able to regain control of the plane by shutting the flight computer down. It was also reported that afterwards, Airbus issued a software update in order to counter that problem - and the Germanwings plane that crashed today had allegedly already received that software update. This is only speculative of course and it would be bitter if the software update hadn't solved the problem at all and that was the cause of today's accident. But the parallels and the timing are quite haunting.

I suppose this is one of the consequences with airline's becoming more and more dependent on computerized software.

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This crash has also taken me aback and given me pause for thought: I love flying like anyone and genuinely believe that it's been a dream as old as humanity itself. We have always wanted to traverse the oceans, the mountains and the continents, and the advent of the jet airliner has made it happen. Apart from the occasional incident (the Dawson's Field hijackings, as well as the hijacking of a Lufthansa flight to Mogadishu come to mind) in the 1970s and 1980s, air travel has had a stunningly good safety record.

However, it is my personal view that the September 11 attacks have heightened anxieties about another emotion as old as time: loss of control when faced with hostile elements - whether human, natural or scientific. Let's face it: Many of us are not exactly at peace when boarding an aircraft, a tendency that has only been heightened by the use of aircraft as weapons by terrorists, as well as the simultaneous advent of a genuinely 24/7/365 "breaking news" mentality in the major news networks and their cable competitors. For instance, only today, German TV audiences were treated to recapitulations of previous German air disasters, irresponsible speculation about the cause of the crash (one so-called expert on a news channel even ventured into the area of a potential terrorist attack without being able to cite any type of evidence for his theory) and the inevitable, ethically questionable images of grieving relatives and friends arriving at the airport (usually, with the presenter solemnly invoking the need to be sensitive to the feelings of said relatives).

Instead of playing the role of a responsible arbiter of information and facts separating these from sensationalism and tabloid-style emotional stories, the media are happily joining the bandwagon: Guess what the primary story on all news channels is? The tragic story of the school class returning from a language exchange in Barcelona - I don't want to sound crass or uncaring. I also feel compassion and grief for my countrymen and countrywomen, as well as my country. But every one of those passengers had a story, a life tragically and prematurely snatched away high above the French Alps. All too often it seems to me that today's news is about "good TV", rather than giving the facts straight to the audience. Of course, people get frightened (I know I was on a recent Germanwings flight, and that was before today's catastrophe) by stories of planes disappearing off the radar, being shot down by warring parties or the technology driving them failing. It's natural and ok to be afraid. We don't have the answers to everything, and instead of fighting that impulse, maybe we should accept that we cannot control everything. Then again, that wouldn't be good TV, eh?

And the uncomfortable truth tonight is this: We just don't know. All we know is that a plane which had seen almost a quarter century in service went down in a rapid descent over the French Alps and crashed.

The authorities have only started investigating, and whilst I completely understand that a discussion about the causes of the accident is in the domain of "legitimate public interest", speculation and innuendo don't make good substitutes for hard facts. Instead of speculating and fomenting all kinds of theories (see also the sad public debate re: MH 370 and MH17 and the nutty conspiracy theories spawned by, among other things, media speculation), maybe the media should learn to just stick to what it knows. And right now, it knows absolutely nothing. There are forensic investigators on the crash site, who are extremely well-trained for precisely these situations. Let's trust them and their ability to discern, analyse and understand the facts.

When did humanity lose that virtue called "patience" anyway? My thoughts are with the families and friends who lost their loved ones on that flight today.

PS: I'm writing this in a stream of consciousness sort of way, so if any of this doesn't make sense, my apologies. Equally, I don't mean to offend anyone here. It's just the first thoughts about the topic off the top of my head tonight.

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This is very sad, the Helicopter Crash and now this, like Stefan, I feel uncomfortable boarding a plane until landing, I usually try and escape travelling by air (Using train or something) I've tried to overcome it but this makes me even more uncomfortable. RIP :(

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I wish to know what could had caused the accident. Either was bad weather, a very irresponsable pilot or bad conditions of the airplane. But i'm particulary worried that these kind of accidents have become more notorious since the infamous Malaysia airplane accident last year.

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Bad weather can be ruled out already now - the plane flew in very good weather conditions, according to all reports.

We will have to wait and see for the results from the examination of the black boxes which apparently have both been found now. I read somewhere that the black boxes will be examined tomorrow (Wednesday).

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I wish to know what could had caused the accident. Either was bad weather, a very irresponsable pilot or bad conditions of the airplane. But i'm particulary worried that these kind of accidents have become more notorious since the infamous Malaysia airplane accident last year.

Who know how irresponsible that pilot was. He certainly wasn't unqualified, he had something like over 6,000 hours of flying under his belt.

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:mellow: Let's not appoint blame just yet...

But it has been a terrible year for aviation in general.

Cheaper ticket prices, smaller aircraft with long range legs now dominate the regional short hop routes. Flying is still alot safer than walking down a street in Furgesson, Mis, at night.

A230 is a remarkably safe aircraft and (unless deliberate) usually tragic human error is to blame. Like the B737, at least one takes off and lands every second tick of the clock. Unless they can finally unlock true "anti gravity" technology, we will have to settle for the status quo of VnE for now. :(

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The investigators were able to retrieve an audio file from the cockpit voice recorder and have started to examine it today. So far, they can only exclude an explosion on board and they say that everything seemed normal at the start of the tape, so the examination is still at an early stage.

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Meanwhile, the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in which particularly many victims of the crash lived, will observe a minute of silence tomorrow at 10:53 a.m., the moment when the plane vanished from the radar screens yesterday. Also my company will probably take part in that minute of silence. This is extraordinary, the last minute of silence of that proportion in Germany were the ones after 9/11.

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I just found out that someone I knew personally is among the victims of the crash. She shared a flat with a friend of mine when we all studied in Muenster, Germany. She became a teacher and apparently got a job at a school in Haltern am See in Western Germany. She and a colleague of hers accompanied a group of pupils from Haltern to Spain, for a visit at a partner school and its pupils. Yesterday, they were on their way back from that visit when their plane went down above the French Alps. I'm shocked and disturbed that I've known someone personally whose life ended so tragically and so early. She was a nice woman and as far as I know, a devoted teacher. So sad, and so senseless!

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I just found out that someone I knew personally is among the victims of the crash. She shared a flat with a friend of mine when we all studied in Muenster, Germany. She became a teacher and apparently got a job at a school in Haltern am See in Western Germany. She and a colleague of hers accompanied a group of pupils from Haltern to Spain, for a visit at a partner school and its pupils. Yesterday, they were on their way back from that visit when their plane went down above the French Alps. I'm shocked and disturbed that I've known someone personally whose life ended so tragically and so early. She was a nice woman and as far as I know, a devoted teacher. So sad, and so senseless!

A horrific and senseless tragedy made all the more painful and poignant when you actually knew one of the victims!

I wonder what the cause of the crash will be given that the pilots did not issue any Mayday signals or indicate that they were in any trouble? I just hope there was no terrorist connection!

What a truly terrible year this has proved to be for aviation disasters!!! :(

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Well, latest is pilot could NOT return to the cockpit.

This evening, I finally just finished an excellent article on why that Air France plane from Brazil crashed into the south Atlantic over 2 years ago. It's called THE HUMAN FACTOR and was in Vanity Fair's October 2014 issue. Very technical but the writer tells in such superb language that the article is both so informative and gripping.

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I just found out that someone I knew personally is among the victims of the crash. She shared a flat with a friend of mine when we all studied in Muenster, Germany. She became a teacher and apparently got a job at a school in Haltern am See in Western Germany. She and a colleague of hers accompanied a group of pupils from Haltern to Spain, for a visit at a partner school and its pupils. Yesterday, they were on their way back from that visit when their plane went down above the French Alps. I'm shocked and disturbed that I've known someone personally whose life ended so tragically and so early. She was a nice woman and as far as I know, a devoted teacher. So sad, and so senseless!

That makes it even more terrible when you know someone even. :-(

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Have they mentioned anywhere on the media about investigating the backgrounds of both the pilots??? I remember when the MH370 flight was first missing that was one of the very first things they did. They even took equipment out of one of the pilot's home to be researched into what he might have been up to. I'm finding none of that here.

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I just found out that someone I knew personally is among the victims of the crash. She shared a flat with a friend of mine when we all studied in Muenster, Germany. She became a teacher and apparently got a job at a school in Haltern am See in Western Germany.

My 2nd brother had a classmate from grade school that was in that Korean Air Lines jet shot down by a Soviet fighter in the 80s.

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