‘Open the damn door!’ Germanwings captain’s desperate plea to Lubitz revealed
The captain of the doomed Germanwings plane shouted at his co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, “Open the damn door!” as he desperately tried to return to the cockpit. The harrowing plea has been revealed by the black box recording of the flight’s last minutes.
"For God's sake, open the door," the captain, Patrick Sondheimer, shouted at a silent Lubitz, who appears to have locked the captain out of the cockpit before the plane crashed in the French Alps. A transcript from the cockpit recorder was published in the German newspaper Bild on Sunday.
The passengers’ screams could also be heard in the moments before the crash. All 150 people aboard were killed.
READ MORE: Germanwings co-pilot appears to have crashed plane deliberately – prosecutor
Sondenheimer was also heard trying to smash the door with what sounds like an ax, and yelling at his co-pilot, "Open the damn door!"
URGENT: No suicide note, claim of responsibility from Andreas Lubitz found - German prosecutos http://t.co/zU6hn03xzUpic.twitter.com/YEsRFX9OaW
— RT (@RT_com) March 27, 2015
The transcript also reveals that the captain decided to leave the cockpit as he had not had time to go to the toilet in Barcelona.
Lubitz reportedly suffered from vision problems caused by a detached retina, wrote Bild. However, the investigation is unsure if his vision problems were caused by physical or psychological factors.
He "was treated by several neurologists and psychiatrists" and a number of pills were found in his apartment, a senior investigator told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Police also found personal notes showing that he suffered from "severe subjective overstress symptoms.”
READ MORE: Germanwings co-pilot planned to 'make everyone remember' him, ex-girlfriend says
Lubitz’s ex-girlfriend has claimed in an interview with Bild that the co-pilot had been planning to do something to "make everyone remember him.”
Maria W., a 26-year-old cabin crew employee whose full name has not been released to the press, described Lubitz as "tormented" and secretive. She recalled that when she heard about the crash, she remembered how Lubitz had said he would do something one day "that would change the system" so "everyone will then know my name and remember me."
"I did not know what he meant by that at the time, but now it's clear," Maria said, adding that Lubitz, 27, sometimes woke up at night screaming, "We're going down!" in terror.
An enormous amount of gratitude to Patrick Sondenheimer for trying to stop the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525. You will always be a hero.
— Twisted Toonerberg (@TwistedTooner) March 29, 2015
READ MORE: Germanwings co-pilot 'hid illness,' medical leave note from employers – prosecutors
On Friday, prosecutors in Düsseldorf said that police discovered in Lubitz's home a torn sick note covering the date of the crashed Germanwings flight. They believe he could have been concealing his medical condition from the airline.
READ MORE: Germanwings’ Andreas Lubitz underwent psychiatric treatment – reports
Bild also reported Friday that Lubitz had spent 18 months undergoing psychiatric treatment. Lubitz allegedly sought psychiatric help for "a bout of serious depression" in 2009 and was still getting assistance from doctors. The newspaper also claimed it had gained access to Lubitz’s profile, indicating the pilot had “psychological problems” and required a "special, exemplary regular medical examination."
a pity that the news outlets focus on the co-pilot. The person who should be remembered is actually Captain Patrick Sondenheimer.
— Andreas Templin (@andreastemplin) March 27, 2015
Düsseldorf University Hospital said in a statement Friday that Lubitz had been undergoing diagnosis there since last month, DPA news agency reported. “Reports telling that Andreas L. [Lubitz] received treatment against depression at our clinic are inaccurate,” a hospital spokeswoman said, adding: “It was diagnostic tests.”
Some of Lubitz’s colleagues have described his behaviour as ”normal,” and said he didn’t seem to be suicidal.
"I got to know him...as a very nice, fun and polite young man," Klaus Radke, head of the local flight club in the town of Montabaur in western Germany, said. He added that Lubitz came across as "a completely normal guy."
A photo posted by georgev27 (@_georgev27) on Mar 27, 2015 at 3:54am PDT
Lubitz “was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet,” Radke said. “He was just another boy like so many others here."
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere has said that Lubitz had no known association with terrorist groups, adding: "We checked everything." Sounds on the recovered voice recorder suggest that Lubitz was alive and breathing until the moment of impact.
READ MORE: 'A boy like so many others': Shocked reactions from those who knew Germanwings co-pilot
The unprecedented tragedy has shocked the aviation world. Several airlines have already responded by changing their rules to require a second crew member to be in the cockpit at all times, a rule that is already in effect in the US, but not in Europe.
