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BBC reports the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the Alps intentionally locked the pilot out of the cabin and initiated the flight's descent into the ground:
The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps, named as Andreas Lubitz, appeared to want to "destroy the plane", officials said.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.
He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.
Mr Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it.
Air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail, he said.
The story seems SN-worthy because it is an object lesson in the consequences for our lives when we put complex machines and systems into the hands of others. In this case it was a trained pilot who killed a plane full of people who were powerless to stop him. Another example could be engineers who sabotage a dam and wipe out entire communities downstream. We mostly don't think about stuff like this because there is an invisible web of trust, sometimes called a "social contract," that leads people to get on a plane, or go to work, or take their kids to school without giving it a second thought. But when that social contract unravels, all bets are off...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday March 26 2015, @04:33PM
He said air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail. Passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash,
For anyone reading this who thinks they have a shitty job, take a moment to think about the guy whose job it is to listen to those screams over and over again as part of the crash investigation.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ikanreed on Thursday March 26 2015, @04:42PM
That's not the worst one. Apparently the FBI agents who have to do evidence preparation for child porn trials have to see some absolutely horrifying shit and they have to rotate out the team after a few months and offer counseling.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2015, @11:02PM
Like sociopaths that are attracted to power can be readily found in C-level management, I wonder what sort of people end up doing that job for the FBI. There is no other place they could do it legally and they get paid quite well as a bonus.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by dbe on Thursday March 26 2015, @05:17PM
In the same vein, the drone pilots that have to circle and spy people at the other end of the world for weeks to months on end before a kill order comes describe the fact that after a while they "know" the people under, their family, habits and that destroying and killing everything at the switch of a finger leaves deep psychological scars.
-dbe
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Thursday March 26 2015, @05:58PM
How sad. /sarcasm
Those who pull the trigger are as guilty as those who give the order. I hope the drone pilots spend a lifetime of misery -- it is only a portion of the misery they have inflicted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 27 2015, @12:53PM
I wasn't a drone pilot, but I have spoken to them. By and large the biggest issue they run into is compartmentalization. When you're in a combat zone flying an actual manned aircraft, fighter, bomber, whatever, you are kept separate from your life back home for months on end, allowing you to focus on the mission at hand. Then you get a period of adjustment when you return home to reintegrate with society without worrying about having to fly another mission for quite some time. Drone pilots go home to their families every day and try to live their normal lives. They can kill someone one day and then go to their kid's little league game the next. People can't change mindsets at the flip of a switch.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 27 2015, @12:51AM
As an "empathetically challenged" individual, I find the prospect mind-bogglingly boring over anything else. Sensitivity to physiological and psychological stimuli varies greatly among different people. Still a shitty job through.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 27 2015, @04:35PM
Did the plane have enough electronics that someone could have hacked it to lock the door, cut-off/lower oxygen in the cockpit and then adjust that knob's settings?
I'm not really thinking it is what happened, more just wondering if it is even possible.