It's not used in the qrh, which is what we are discussing. If you want to sidetrack this over into ops spec terminology, be my guest, but it has nothing to do with this cfit incident. The qrh's I have known only use 'nearest suitable airport'. The phrase 'nearest suitable alternate' would be too presumptuous and restrict you from landing at your original destination. And if you are a real working pilot as well, you should know already that these checklists and manuals are written without presumption and with enough leeway for you to be either a hero or a zero. I just searched my E190 QRH in the ipad for your nearest suitable alternate phrase and it came back with no results. Sorry.

Congratulations KevinAu and ytzpilot for turning an otherwise sensitive, sympathetic and emotionally-informative thread into a 'handbags at dawn' farce. Do us all a favour - pm your location details to each other and go and have your cat-fight somewhere else eh?  At least you two muppets still have the capacity to talk in this World - which is a damn sight more than the unfortunates on the flight that was being sensibly discussed are now capable of.... 

 

None of us know the reality of the cause of this tragedy and will have to wait, like the rest of the World (and the bereaved relatives) for the results of the official inquiry. Informed speculation has its place in all discussion but, quite frankly, you two are behaving like a couple of schoolchildren. Grow up and show some respect for the gravity of this topic.

The most serious air disaster in France since the Concorde in 2000

Congratulations KevinAu and ytzpilot for turning an otherwise sensitive, sympathetic and emotionally-informative thread into a 'handbags at dawn' farce. Do us all a favour - pm your location details to each other and go and have your cat-fight somewhere else eh? At least you two muppets still have the capacity to talk in this World - which is a damn sight more than the unfortunates on the flight that was being sensibly discussed are now capable of....

 

None of us know the reality of the cause of this tragedy and will have to wait, like the rest of the World (and the bereaved relatives) for the results of the official inquiry. Informed speculation has its place in all discussion but, quite frankly, you two are behaving like a couple of schoolchildren. Grow up and show some respect for the gravity of this topic.

Instead of calling people 'muppets' why don't you heed some of your own advice. My only point was that there was probably no incapacitation going on, since this could easily happen as a simple cfit event. I didn't think it would be cause for ytzpilot to attack me like that. I will stand up for myself. If pilots do stupid stuff that kills people, it should be called out as is, instead of being rationalized away with some kind of incapacitation excuse. As pilots, we need to remind ourselves that the things we do and the mistakes we make and inattention can have consequences that cannot be undone.

A highly unprecedented incident here in Europe. Many media outlets shall we say have expressed their shock if anger that this should not happen to a sophisticated airliner flying for airlines of highly developed nations. We must however remember that this reinforces that safety must be paramount no matter who manufactured the aircraft or who operated it, we cannot relax no matter how good we think we are. Complacency can and will kill because in the air nature is after all at it's most unforgiving. I am devastated by what has happened, parts of these aircraft are designed, built and manufactured here in the UK and as an engineer in the industry it is such a hard thing to take, I cannot even begin to imagine what the families of those lost are going through.

 

There is now a need to learn what happened for the families and then we can learn from this so that whatever happened cannot happen again. My prayers and condolences go out to the families of all those onboard.

Speculation only clouds the scenario. It's ostensibly similar to Helios 522 and that flight had no such wild circumstances; assuming no funny business with the black boxes the weather's holding and crews are on site so we'll know soon enough exactly what occurred.  

That's what I was thinking too.R.I.P to all

From the viewers' comments on avherald.com (Wednesday, Mar 25th 2015 07:25Z; not my words):

 

"(...) Would it be in the interest of Germanwings, employer of 500+ crews to admit to the public, yes there could have been a problem with the last series of adjustments ? Would you beliebe(sic!) the Pilots would break their silence and risk their jobs ?

Also, when did you hear the last time that crews of a company as big as LH/4U would refuse to fly the day after ??

United/AA ? Air France ? Malaysia ?"

The CVR which was recovered yesterday is apparently severely damaged. So it may be quite some time before they can make sense of that. If at all. The other black box has yet to be found.

The crash site is said to be about 1 1/2 hectares so that would indicate the the a/c hit the ground intact. As Fr.Bill mentioned earlier there isn't much left :(

Let's hope that they find the other black box and that they can get information from both of them. It is not clear whether or not the crew contacted ATC as there are conflicting reports. The driftdown and depressurisation procedures for crossing the Alps are well known and mandatory. Perhaps the crew had a problem and thought let's try and sort it out first thinking that they were futher away than they were.

With only 15 seconds plus of available conciousness at 38,000ft they may not have reacted quickly enough if there was a depressurisation and perhaps made a mistake.

We also lost a flight simmer on the flight. Cabin Crew member Mr  Maik Korolczuk. He was a member of IVAO and Skywards Virtual. RIP

Edited March 25, 201511 yr by n4gix
Restored crew member's name.

Speculations over speculations!!! The time will come for analysis and facts will be published by the authorities and investigators.

 

BTW  professional/responsible pilots would/should not speculate over such tragic accidents like this one in public.

 

Please show some respect. May they RIP.

We also lost a flight simmer on the flight. Cabin Crew member Mr  Maik Korolczuk. He was a member of IVAO and Skywards Virtual. RIP

 

Sad news but is it smart to post that name here ?

Sad news but is it smart to post that name here ?

With all due respect I have been around long enough to make that judgment. His name was released in most aviation forums and Skywards VA. I posted his name with absolute care and attention as not to offend his good name.

In case any offense is taken, and in case I have crossed the line, I have removed the name from my post. I suggest you do the same as you have quoted his name in your post.

With all due respect I have been around long enough to make that judgment. His name was released in most aviation forums and Skywards VA. I posted his name with absolute care and attention as not to offend his good name.

 

I didnt want to offend you as it was just a question. i am crew memeber of a daughter company of Lufthansa, normally the company hanldes the release of names of crew memebers with maximum care. So i was wondering that this name has been published.

 

Sad news anyway :(

I didnt want to offend you as it was just a question. i am crew memeber of a daughter company of Lufthansa, normally the company hanldes the release of names of crew memebers with maximum care. So i was wondering that this name has been published.

 

Sad news anyway :(

I also was astounded on how quick names were released to be honest. Even our local news had published names. You would like to think that the relatives were informed first. Must be the digital age we live in.

I also was astounded on how quick names were released to be honest. Even our local news had published names. You would like to think that the relatives were informed first. Must be the digital age we live in.

 

Oh ok. Hope that the relatives are ok with the names published. Hope that the folks i know from my flight school class are ok didnt hear anything from them for now.

Currently it seems, that the voice recorded indicates, that the pilots were partly or completely incapacitated during the descent.

 

Still early rumours, but the is what the Finnish version of BBC is currently reporting.