SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2015, @05:37PM
Yes, and yes. Do you personally know who is at the controls? It only takes one to slaughter hundreds. And, what logistical nightmare? I'm sure some 3-letter agency already has that info, all they need to do is take action and deport the sick fuc*s. Only the limp wristed flower lovers and terrorists would complain about it. This isn't Kansas anymore Dorothy, get used to it or do something about it.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by wantkitteh on Thursday March 26 2015, @06:32PM
Flightradar24 [flightradar24.com] is listing 10853 planes in the air right now. Deliberately crashed commercial planes in the last 30 years can be counted on one hand - 3 [businessinsider.com] to be exact. Spending any further significant amount of time beyond the screenings already in place would do nothing but waste money and inconvenience passengers when pilots get grounded by the inevitable false positives. After all, since when were TLA's any good at actually catching terrorists without causing infinitely more collateral damage than good in the process?
"All they need to do" - that says right there that you know nothing of which you speak. Go post your bullshit with your own kind where it belongs. [dailymail.co.uk]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 26 2015, @06:49PM
Duhh ahh, OK Dorothy. Ignore what's happening and who wins?