Crash Experts Face Mystery of Eight-Minute Drop Without a Mayday
Germanwings Crash Investigation Hampered by Terrain
This article is for subscribers only.
Investigators probing the crash of a Germanwings jetliner in the foothills of the French Alps will seek to determine why the aircraft made a rapid descent spanning eight minutes without a single mayday call.
It was French air traffic controllers, not the A320’s two pilots, who declared an emergency after the plane spent just 60 seconds cruising at 38,000 feet before plunging, seemingly still under control, to 5,000 feet. The Airbus Group NV model, bound for Dusseldorf from Barcelona, was carrying 150 people.