Alps Crash Co-Pilot 'Planned Place In History'

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 28 Maret 2015 | 20.18

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A former girlfriend of the co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane is reported to have told how he suffered nightmares and once ominously woke up screaming: "We're going down!"

According to the Bild newspaper, the ex-lover of Andreas Lubitz, identified only as Mary W, said he had told her last year: "One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it."

She added: "I never knew what he meant, but now it makes sense."

The 26-year-old stewardess said Lubitz had been tormented by nightmares and his behaviour scared her.

"At night, he woke up and screamed: 'We're going down!', because he had nightmares. He knew how to hide from other people what was really going on inside," she told the paper.

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Gallery: The Victims Of The Germanwings Crash

American Emily Selke, a recent graduate, was on the plane with her mother Yvonne. Raymond Selke has described his wife and daughter as 'amazing people'. Pic: Facebook

Iranian sports journalist Hussein Javadi was on his way to Austria to cover a football match. A friend said he was 'a kind, loving, caring man'. Pic: Maysam Bizær/Hossein Javadi

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Argentinian Sebastian Greco was on board with his girlfriend. Pic: Facebook

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Argentinian Gabriela Maumus, 28, was the daughter of a firefighter. Pic: Facebook

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Spanish victim Carles Milla Masanas, 37. The businessman was on his way to a food industry fayre. Pic: Facebook

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Her claims follow revelations by German prosecutors that Lubitz had hidden a sick note declaring him unfit to work on the day of the disaster before boarding the Barcelona to Dusseldorf flight and piloting it into a mountainside in the French Alps.

All 150 people on board the Airbus A320 were killed in the crash.

The prosecutors' office said: "Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors.

"The fact there are sick notes saying he was unable to work, among other things, that were found torn up, which were recent and even from the day of the crime, support the assumption based on the preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues."

Germanwings confirmed the sick note was not submitted to the company.

The prosecutors also said the search found no suicide note or confession, "nor was there any evidence of a political or religious background to what happened".

Lubitz lived with his parents, a banker and a church organist, in his small home town of Montabaur in the Rhineland and kept an apartment in Dusseldorf.

A national memorial ceremony and service for victims is to be held at Cologne Cathedral on April 17, regional authorities said on Saturday.

German media has reported Lubitz received treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago during his training to become a pilot.

Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, said it was aware he had broken off his training in 2009, but said there was nothing in his background to suggest he was a risk.

The company, which also owns Austrian Airlines and Swiss Air, said he passed all the relevant examinations necessary to become a pilot and was deemed "100% airworthy".

Some 75 German people were on board the aircraft. At least 50 Spanish citizens were also on the flight, along with three Britons.

On Friday, a memorial service was held in Dusseldorf for the German victims of the crash and hundreds of other mourners attended a mass in Barcelona for three generations of one family who died.

Lufthansa said family briefings are planned for later today at its family assistance centre in the French city of Marseille.

The airline also announced it would pay up to 50,000 euros (£36,000) in immediate financial assistance per passenger.

Police and rescue workers are still hunting for the aircraft's second black box on the fifth day of recovery operations at the scene of the crash.

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Written By Unknown on Jumat, 27 Maret 2015 | 20.18

The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed in the Alps intentionally sent the jet into its doomed descent.

Here are the details of the Airbus A320's final moments that emerged at a news conference given by Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin.

:: Mr Robin said it seems the co-pilot, who was a German national and who had never been flagged as a terrorist, appeared to want to "destroy the plane".

:: Prior to the cabin being locked, there was "normal" conversation between the pilot and co-pilot for the first 20 minutes of the flight, which had taken off from Barcelona in Spain bound for Dusseldorf in Germany.

:: The co-pilot's responses, although initially courteous, became "curt" when the pilot started the mid-flight briefing on the planned landing of the plane.

:: The pilot is heard asking the co-pilot to take over and the sound of a chair being pushed back and a door being closed is heard.

:: The co-pilot was left on his own in charge of the plane, and it is then that he uses the flight monitoring system to start the descent of the plane.

:: The co-pilot did not say a word once the pilot left the cockpit. "It was absolute silence in the cockpit," said Mr Robin.

:: All that could be heard is the co-pilot's breathing. Mr Robin said the co-pilot was breathing normally. "It wasn't the breath of somebody who was struggling. He didn't say a single word. Total silence."

:: Several cries from the pilot can be heard, asking to get in.

:: He identifies himself through the intercom system, but there is no answer. He knocks on the door and asks for it to be opened, but again there is no answer.

:: Pounding could be heard on the door during the final minutes as alarms sounded. Finally the sound of an impact is heard.

:: The 144 passengers only realised at the last moment what was happening. Screams were only heard in the last moments of the recording, before impact. Mr Robin said: "We only hear screams at the very end. Death was instant. It hit the mountain at 700km (430mph) an hour."

:: Several calls from the control tower to the plane went unanswered, as did communications from other aircraft in the area.

:: The plane could have glided before the moment of impact. There was no distress signal, no Mayday and no answer despite numerous calls to the plane.

:: The co-pilot, who has been named as 28-year-old Andreas Lubitz, had a few hundred hours flying time on the aircraft.

:: There is no indication the crash is a terrorist act, Mr Robin said: "But obviously we will see how we will proceed."

:: Pressed on the co-pilot's religion, Mr Robin said: "I don't think this is where this lies. I don't think we will get any answers there."

:: The bodies of the victims are being retrieved by helicopter and put on stretchers and taken to a nearby unit where post-mortems are being carried out and DNA testing undertaken. The process could take more than a week.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

HIV Epidemic Sparks Health Emergency In Indiana

By Sky News US Team

Indiana's governor has authorised the short-term use of a needle-exchange programme to combat an HIV epidemic in a rural county.

Republican Governor Mike Pence has issued an executive order declaring a public health emergency in Scott County, which has seen 79 new infections since December.

All cases are tied to intravenous drug abuse, mostly involving people using a liquid form of the prescription painkiller Opana.

Mr Pence said he personally opposes needle-exchange programmes, but approved it as an emergency measure to combat the biggest outbreak of HIV infections in state history.

"This is all hands on deck. This is a very serious situation," the governor said.

Under the order, which lasts 30 days, the Scott County can set up a needle-exchange programme with the state health department limited to suppressing the outbreak. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.

Mr Pence said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the programme and he was willing to support it.

Such programmes provide intravenous drug users with sterile needles in an effort to prevent infections from the sharing of contaminated needles. Some opponents of such programmes say needle exchanges encourage drug use.

Scott County, an economically depressed area in southern Indiana near the Kentucky border, typically sees only about five HIV cases each year, health officials said.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Andreas Lubitz: Profile Of Killer Co-Pilot

The co-pilot who deliberately crashed a plane in the French Alps with the loss of 150 lives had a history of depression, it has been reported.

According to reports in German newspaper Der Spiegel, police searching Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf have found evidence that he was mentally ill, although the nature of the evidence has not been disclosed.

And German prosecutors have said there are indications the co-pilot concealed his illness from his employer, hiding a sick note for the day of the crash.

The head of Lufthansa, the budget airline's parent company, has already admitted Lubitz had taken the lengthy break from training.

While chief executive Carsten Spohr did not give a reason for this interruption, German media reported he was suffering from "burnout or depression".

:: Click here for live updates of the Alps plane crash investigation

According to Lufthansa, Germanwings pilots undergo medical tests once a year.

However, they are only required to undergo psychological tests once, before they are accepted as pilots.

Lubitz also underwent a regular security check on 27 January and nothing untoward was found, the local government in Dusseldorf said.

Previous security checks in 2008 and 2010 also revealed no problems.

Lubitz had grown up dreaming of becoming a pilot, gaining his glider's licence after training with LSC Westerwald flying club in his hometown of Montabaur.

Club member Peter Ruecker recalled Mr Lubitz as "rather quiet but friendly" when he first joined the club as a teenager.

He added: "He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well."

Lubitz had been employed as a flight attendant before training to be a pilot at the Lufthansa flight school in Bremen.

He also underwent training in Phoenix, Arizona.

Lubitz joined Germanwings in 2013 and had clocked up 630 flying hours before the disaster.

Lufthansa said he passed all the relevant examinations necessary to become a pilot and was deemed "100% airworthy".

Mr Lubitz had also been included by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on its database to show he had met or exceeded its pilot certification standards, which aim to "reduce pilot errors that lead to fatal crashes".

In Montabaur where Lubitz lived with his parents, neighbours reacted with disbelief when they heard of his involvement.

One man, who did not want to be named, said that he had known the pilot since childhood.

He told Sky News: "I cannot imagine that he has done it with intention.

"This does not fit in this picture I have of him. It is a very upright family, very helpful and I cannot understand what has happened.

"I knew the children when they were small boys."

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said Lubitz, who also had a flat in Dusseldorf, had never been flagged as a terrorist.

And when pressed over Mr Lubitz's religion, he said: "I don't think this is where this lies. I don't think we will get any answers there."

Although rare, there have been previous instances of suspected pilot suicide.

The most infamous likely - but still disputed - cases of pilot suicide was the 1997 Silk Air crash in Indonesia, in which 104 people died.

A US-led investigation concluded it had been caused deliberately, probably by the captain who had serious personal problems.

A Mozambique Airlines plane crash that killed 33 people in Namibia in 2013 is also believed to have been a case of pilot suicide.

20.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Co-Pilot 'Hid Sick Note On Day Of Alps Crash'

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Prosecutors investigating the Germanwings crash have said there were indications the co-pilot hid his illness from his employers.

In a news conference on Friday, the prosecutors said that Andreas Lubitz had a sick note for the day the Airbus A320 crashed into a mountainside during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf but never told the airline.

The torn-up note was found during searches of the 27-year-old's flat in Dusseldorf and the home he shared with his parents in the town of Montabaur.

The prosecutors added that documents showed he was receiving medical treatment, but that no suicide note or claim of responsibility for the crash was found.

They said: "Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors.

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Gallery: The Victims Of The Germanwings Crash

American Emily Selke, a recent graduate, was on the plane with her mother Yvonne. Raymond Selke has described his wife and daughter as 'amazing people'. Pic: Facebook

Iranian sports journalist Hussein Javadi was on his way to Austria to cover a football match. A friend said he was 'a kind, loving, caring man'. Pic: Maysam Bizær/Hossein Javadi

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Argentinian Sebastian Greco was on board with his girlfriend. Pic: Facebook

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Argentinian Gabriela Maumus, 28, was the daughter of a firefighter. Pic: Facebook

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Spanish victim Carles Milla Masanas, 37. The businessman was on his way to a food industry fayre. Pic: Facebook

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No evidence of a political or religious motivation behind the crash was found.

Lubitz has been accused of deliberately flying the aircraft into a mountainside shortly after preventing the captain from re-entering the cockpit.

All 150 on board the aircraft died in the crash.

German media has reported that Lubitz received treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago during his training to become a pilot.

On Friday, Germanwings said it was setting up a family assistance centre in Marseille for relatives of those killed in the crash.

Spokesman Thomas Winkelmann said in a statement that "in these dark hours our full attention belongs to the emotional support of the relatives and friends of the victims of Flight 9525."

Some relatives took part in a memorial service on Thursday near the crash site in the French Alps.

German President Joachim Gauck also attended a memorial service in Haltern for 16 students and two teachers from the local high school who were killed.

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Gallery: What We Know About Germanwings Pilot Andreas Lubitz

Andreas Lubitz grew up in Montabaur, a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany

Lubitz started flying from an early age at the LSC Westerwald flying club in his hometown. It was here where he obtained his gliding licence as a teenager

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Police and rescue workers are still hunting for the aircraft's second black box on the fourth day of recovery operations at the scene of the crash.

The second black box contains technical flight data.

Officials are also searching the wreckage for body parts and DNA to try and identify the 150 people killed in the crash.

Some 75 German people were on board the aircraft, which was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. At least 50 Spanish citizens were also on the flight, along with three Britons.

:: Watch a special report on the plane crash at 2.30pm, 4.30pm and 6.30pm on Friday on Sky News. Or you can watch it on catch up or any of the Sky News apps.

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Written By Unknown on Kamis, 26 Maret 2015 | 20.18

Saudi Arabia Launches Strikes On Yemen Rebels

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By Sherine Tadros, Middle East Correspondent, in Cairo

At least 18 people have been killed in Yemen as a result of Saudi-led airstrikes against Iran-backed Shia rebels, known as the Houthis, according to Houthi media quoting health officials.

Warplanes launched attacks on Sana'a airport and its al Dulaimi military airbase shortly after the Saudi ambassador in Washington announced the action.

They have reportedly committed 100 fighter jets and 150,000 troops to the operation, called Decisive Storm.

They have also hit Houthi bases and installations in the south of the country as well as a residential area in Sana'a.

The military intervention came after Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi asked the Arab League, meeting this weekend in the Egyptian resort Sharm el Sheikh, to act quickly to stop the Houthi advance in the south of the country where he had taken refuge.

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Gallery: Yemen: Aftermath Of Airstrikes By Saudi Arabia And Gulf Allies

People search for survivors under the rubble of houses destroyed by an air strike near Sana'a Airport in Yemen. Continue through for more images

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Airports across the country have been closed and Saudi says it is in full control of the airspace over Yemen.

Egypt and Sudan have confirmed they took part in the airstrikes and Arab media reported Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are part of a broad, Saudi-led coalition.

Turkey has also expressed its support for the coalition.

In the aftermath of the strikes, four Egyptian warships have entered the Suez Canal en route to the Gulf of Aden "to secure" the waters that control southern access to the canal.

In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said: "We support the Saudi Arabian military intervention in Yemen following President Hadi's request for support."

The White House said it too backed the operation and that Barack Obama had authorised US "logistical and intelligence support".

National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said: "While US forces are not taking direct military action in Yemen in support of this effort, we are establishing a Joint Planning Cell with Saudi Arabia to co-ordinate US military and intelligence support."

Yemen's slide toward civil war has made the country a crucial front in mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia's rivalry with Shia Iran, which Riyadh accuses of stirring up sectarian strife with its support for the Houthi rebels.

A senior leader of Yemen's Houthi movement said the Saudi air strikes amounted to an aggression against his country and warned they would set off a "wide war" in the region.

Mohammed al Bukhaiti said: "The Yemeni people are a free people and they will confront the aggressors.

"I will remind you that the Saudi government and the Gulf governments will regret this aggression."

Iran also condemned Saudi action an "invasion" and a "dangerous step" that would only worsen the crisis.

The Syrian regime followed suit with similar warnings regarding continued Arab intervention in Yemen.

Fighting has spread across the Arabian peninsula country since last September when the Houthis seized Sana'a and advanced into Sunni Muslim areas.

Mr Hadi, who supported Washington's campaign of deadly drone strikes on a powerful al Qaeda branch based in Yemen, had been holed up in Aden with his loyalist forces since he fled Sana'a in February.

He has reportedly fled to Oman, according to Sky News Arabia.

In Washington, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham voiced concern that the Saudi attack could mark the start of a broader Sunni-Shia regional war.

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Written By Unknown on Rabu, 25 Maret 2015 | 20.18

Mother And Son Among Germanwings Victims

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A mother and son from Australia were among the 150 victims of the Germanwings air crash in the French Alps.

The family of Carol and Greig Friday, who had been on holiday together, said they are "crippled with sadness" at their loss.

They said 68-year-old Carol was a loving mother-of-two and Greig, 28, was an exceptional brother. A statement issued on behalf of the family said: "Our family is in deep disbelief and crippled with sadness and would like to ask for privacy.

"They were both extraordinary and exceptional people who were loved by many, who they loved in return. They will forever be with us in our hearts, memories and dreams."

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said at least three Britons were on board the downed Airbus A320, which had been travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

One of the British victims is father of two Martyn Matthews, 50, from Wolverhampton who had been on business in Barcelona and was on his way to a meeting in Germany.

He leaves behind his wife Sharon and children Jade, 20, and Nathan, 23.

Marina Bandres, who came from Jaca in the Spanish Pyrenees and lived in Manchester, was travelling on the plane with her baby.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that there are further British people involved," said Mr Hammond. "The level of information on the flight manifest does not allow us to rule out that possibility until we have completed some further checks."

Passengers on flight 4U 9525 also included 16 pupils and two teachers from a school in Haltern am See in western Germany that had been returning from a week-long exchange at a school near Barcelona.

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Gallery: Alps Plane Crash: The Victims

Marina Bandres, who came from Jaca in the Spanish Pyrenees and lived in Manchester, was travelling on the plane with her baby

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Eyal Baum, 39, was an Israeli citizen living in Barcelona with his wife. He was among 150 people killed when a Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps

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Opera singer Oleg Bryjak. He was travelling with his wife Maria Radner and their baby. Pic: Liceu Barcelona Opera House

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Opera singer Maria Radner and her husband had been in Spain for a performance. Pic: Liceu Barcelona Opera House

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At a news conference the school's headteacher Ulrich Wesse said: "We sent them on a journey on what we thought would be a happy occasion, on an exchange with the school who we have exchanged with for several years.

"When we first got the call we were still hopeful, thinking that perhaps they had missed the flight there were two different flights leaving Barcelona.

"At school at the moment is the husband of one of the young colleagues who has died. They have been married for less than half a year, and I'm speechless faced with this tragedy.

"I have not quite internalised yet the gravity of what has happened and a lot of the students here will still be deeply in shock and will not quite have processed yet what happened to their friends."

Other passengers from Germany included two opera singers. Contralto Maria Radner was returning home with her husband and baby after performing in Wagner's 'Siegfried' according to Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.

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Gallery: Europe Mourns Alps Crash Victims

Germanwings employees gather outside the company headquarters to observe a minute of silence in Cologne Bonn airport

Germanwings employees place light candles

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Bass baritone Oleg Bryjak had appeared in the same opera, according to the opera house in Dusseldorf.

An Israeli citizen resident in Spain has also been confirmed among the dead. Eyal Baum,39, lived in Barcelona with his wife, according to his sister, Liat Baum.

"He was amazing, with a winning smile. Whoever met him fell in love with him from the first moment," a tearful Baum told Israel's Army Radio. "The thought of what he went through in those moments is very difficult."

A total of 67 Germans were among the victims, and Spanish authorities are still trying to determine how many of their citizens were on board.

There were also passengers on board from the Netherlands, Turkey, Denmark and Kazakhstan.

The Mexican government said there were indications that one Mexican national was also among the victims and two Japanese citizens were also believed to have been on the plane.

Two Colombians on the flight have been named as Maria del Pilar Tejada and Luis Eduardo Medrano.

Japan's Foreign Ministry has confirmed two Japanese men were on board. Satoshi Nagata, in his 60s, and Junichi Sato, 42. Both were both living in Dusseldorf.

Search teams have confirmed there are no survivors from the flight which went into an eight-minute descent before it crashed into a mountainside near Digne.

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