Germanwings A320 crash in France

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flightlover
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

Post by flightlover »

And those Americans where doing business with a German company Flying on a EU flight.
Remember the case where Sabena curator's where seeking compensation from a Swiss company?
A Belgian court awarded the compensation, the Swiss disputed the Belgian entitlement to award that compensation.

Fact is that, no mater which nationality you have, the terms and conditions of the contract you sign apply for as far those terms do not breach any laws. I bet that, in the terms and conditions of a German airline, a German court is designated to rule in case of legal or financial disputes.

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sn26567
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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Germany plans random drug and alcohol tests for pilots after Germanwings crash

Germany will implement random drug and alcohol tests for pilots if planned legislation is passed, the country’s transport minister says. The proposal comes after a Germanwings pilot deliberately crashed a plane in March.

Germany's Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt was quoted as saying Sunday that lawmakers are planning legislation to allowing for random drug and alcohol testing of pilots.

"Experts across the world are seeing the positive effects of strengthening health and safety in the aviation industry," Dobrindt told Germany's "Bild am Sonntag" newspaper. "I think it's sensible that pilots are checked on a random basis for the consumption of alcohol, drugs and medicines," Dobrindt added.

The planned legislation follows recommendations made by a taskforce established by the Transport Ministry after Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked himself inside his plane's cockpit and deliberately crashed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board earlier this year.

Prosecutors later said they found torn-up sick notes from doctors in Lubitz's home. Authorities also assert the 27-year-old had suffered severe depression and may have been fearful of losing his job. They say he had researched ways to commit suicide and concealed his illness from his employer.

Investigations into Germanwings flight 4U9525 found Lubitz should not have been allowed to fly on the grounds he was mentally unstable.

Full article from Deutsche Welle: http://www.dw.com/en/germany-plans-rand ... a-18944102
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sn26567
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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The French investigation agency BEA today released its final report on the crash. See the full report (in French) here: https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/germanw ... rash-alps/

The French investigators called for medical confidentiality to be relaxed for pilots.

The report said confidentiality had to be balanced with the risk an individual might pose to public safety and that "clearer rules" were needed.

It was also critical of pilots being able to make self-declarations about their health, which allowed them to hide any illnesses.

The head of the investigation, Arnaud Desjardin, said co-pilot Andre Lubitz had in December 2014 begun to show symptoms that "could be compatible with a psychotic episode" but this information was not passed on to Germanwings.

The report also calls for more stringent medical checks for pilots - it recommends regular analysis to check for "psychological or psychiatric problems".

More from BBC (with many graphs): http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35797065
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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The BEA investigation results also reported in great detail by The Aviation Herald

http://avherald.com/h?article=483a5651/0157&opt=0
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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The German pilot who deliberately flew his airliner into a mountainside last year had struggled with learning to fly and had failed a key test of his skills during training in the U.S., according FBI interviews with his flight instructors.

Andreas Lubitz was promoted anyway. But his training difficulties were one more "red flag" that should have caused Lufthansa and the airline's Arizona flight school to take a closer look and discover his history of depression.

Read this surprising story from AP: http://bigstory.ap.org/5489b3a017f14ddfb54a50644a0aa93e
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

Post by Passenger »

Reuters, 09th Jan 2017: "...German prosecutors have decided that nobody other than pilot Andreas Lubitz could be held accountable for the crash, a spokesman for the public prosecutor's office said on Monday..."

Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-franc ... SKBN14T12K
Frankfurter Allgemeine:
http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft ... 11394.html

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sn26567
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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The father of the suicidal copilot held a press conference this week in order to preserve the memory and the honour of his son. According to him, the copilot was not depressive at the time and different factors suggest that he did not voluntarily crash the aircraft.

The Aviation Herald make a (very) long analysis of this press conference. But the French BEA refuses to change its conclusions.

http://avherald.com/h?article=483a5651/0158&opt=0
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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German airlines scrap post-Germanwings two-person cockpit rule

German airlines will scrap by June 1 a rule that two people must be in the cockpit of a plane at all times, introduced after the Germanwings crash of March 2015, the BDL airline association said on Friday.

After the crash, Europe's aviation safety authority EASA imposed a rule that two crew members should be in the cockpit at all times, meaning that if one of the pilots needed to step out, a member of the cabin crew should step in.

EASA relaxed the requirement last year, saying it was up to airlines to carry out their own risk assessment.

BDL highlighted figures showing there was a greater risk of airliners being hijacked than deliberately crashed, with more than 1,000 cases to date, compared with four suicides.

Germany's biggest airline Lufthansa confirmed it would lift the two-person cockpit rule across all of its subsidiaries, including Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings by June 1.

A spokesman for UK-listed tour operator Thomas Cook Group, which owns German airline Condor, said the new policy would apply to all four airlines within its group, including those in the UK, Belgium and Scandinavia, by May 15.

Similarly, the rule also applies to all airlines within the TUI Group, which owns German airline Tuifly and the Thomson holiday brand, a spokesman confirmed.

However, other carriers including Ryanair and EasyJet, the first airline to introduce the two-person cockpit rule after the crash, said they would keep it in place.

British Airways said it would not comment on its policy for reasons of security.

Source: Reuters
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Re: Germanwings A320 crash in France

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Press release European Commission - 25th July 2018:

This week, the European Union adopted new safety rules to sharpen the mental fitness rules for pilots and cabin crew. The new rules follow the lessons learned from the Germanwings flight 9525 accident in 2015 and introduce the following requirements:
- Give all pilots access to a support programme in case of psychological problems;
- Oblige airlines to perform a psychological assessment of pilots before commencing flying;
- Introduce systematic testing for psychoactive substances of flight and cabin crew upon employment and unannounced testing after rehabilitation and return to work;
- Make random alcohol testing of pilots and cabin crew mandatory for all European and foreign airlines in the European Union.

Next steps
The Regulation on mental fitness of air crew foresees a transition period of two years, during which industry and Member States can prepare the implementation and establish the necessary infrastructure to comply with the Regulation.
Acceptable Means of Compliance and Guidance Material (AMC/GM) will be issued by European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to support the implementation and interpretation of the new rules.

(end of press release)


Source, more info and relevant links:
https://ec.europa.eu/transport/modes/ai ... aircrew_en

New EU Regulation 2018/1042:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content ... 32018R1042


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