(Via CNN)—Apparent airplane debris found off the coast of Reunion island, a French department in the western Indian Ocean, is being examined to see if it is connected to the 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a member of the French Air Force in Reunion said Wednesday.

The debris was found off the coast of St. Andre, a community on the island, according to Adjutant Christian Retournat. “It is way too soon to say whether or not it is MH370. We just found the debris this morning,” Retournat said.

He said the debris — what appears to be a wing flap — has been taken to the island, located about 380 nautical miles off the coast of Madagascar. (more…)

When a person walks around continually looking for grievance it should come as no surprise when they find one, or eleventy.

The ridiculous, and profoundly sketchy, story of the liberal Northwestern University Muslim chaplain, Tahera Ahmad, discriminated against by United Airlines because a flight attendant opened her can of diet Coke is one such invisible grievance that only the perpetually aggrieved could find.
https://www.facebook.com/tahera.ahmad.5/posts/10152815402232001
Mrs. Ahmad takes to social media with her continual discoveries. (more…)

Computer forensic analysis of Andreas Lubitz online activity shows he was looking up “Suicide” and “Cockpit door security” prior to murdering 149 people on flight 9525. The Flight Data Recorder was also found buried in the mountain – investigators hopeful data can be recovered.

BERLIN (AP) – Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz spent time online researching suicide methods and cockpit door security in the week before crashing Flight 9525, prosecutors said Thursday – the first evidence that the fatal descent may have been a premeditated act.

As the browsing history on a tablet computer found at Lubitz’s apartment added a disturbing new piece to the puzzle of the March 24 crash, French investigators said they had recovered the Airbus A320’s flight data recorder – another step toward completing the picture. (more…)

Two European media outlets, Bild and Paris Match, have combined their legal and financial resources around their possession of a micro SD (data memory card) recovered from the Flight 9525 crash site.

According to reporters who have watched the content.  The data card contains a short video showing the “chaos within the cabin” moments before the flight crashed. The video appears to have been taken from a cell phone belonging to a passenger who was on board the plane.

Bild/Paris Match are not saying how they came into possession of the fingernail sized data card. However, it is generally assumed someone picked it up from the crash site.

After Bild and Paris Match released a description of the video the initial crash investigative authority denied its authenticity. However, today the French authorities are walking back their doubtful statements and instead requesting the European media turn it over to them.

(Via The Telegraph) French police tell Paris Match and Bild to “hand over” what the two media claim is a “genuine” mobile phone video taken inside the Germanwings plane

[…] French authorities initially firmly denied the existence of the clip, which allegedly relays in a “few seconds” scenes of chaos and passengers screaming “My God” in several languages. But they are now calling on anyone in possession of such a film to “hand it over to investigators”. (more…)

Germany’s Bild News is reporting a cell phone “SIM card” (Micro SD, Memory card) has been recovered from the wreckage of Germanwings flight 9525. According to reporting by the German media outlet there is video on the SIM card showing what was taking place in the cabin prior to, and up to the moment of, the crash.

Bild is reporting the video appears to be taken from the rear of the passenger compartment, possibly by a cell phone, and shows absolute panic as the passengers on board were aware of the crisis. Passengers are reported to be crying out to God in numerous languages and shouting throughout the video.

There are three distinct sounds which accompany the video – appearing to be attempts by the pilot and others to break down the cockpit door. Massive panic and confusion is visible amid the passengers, then the sound of metal scraping – then the video stops.

From the report via google translate: Paris – were from the last moments on board German Wings flight 4U9525 there is a video that BILD and the French magazine “Paris Match” view. (more…)

I knew immediately Lufthansa Airlines was sketchy as soon as I saw the CEO, Carsten Spohr, on television being interviewed about the U.S. FAA regulation for two people in the cockpit at all times.  Mr. Spohr said he was unaware of the rule and it sounded like a “carrier specific” guideline. One would think the CEO of an international airline, who is discussing his own co-pilot intentionally crashing a plane – and killing 149 people, might be a little more up to speed on that aspect. I digress…

Unbelievable. The authorities are now stating Andreas Lubitz, the mass murderer who flew 149 people into the French Alps, was previously diagnosed with “Suicidal Tendencies”. He was also currently having psychological treatments for depression; and the transcript of the flight plan being discussed that morning shows him saying “hopefully we make it” and “we’ll see” when discussing landing path requirements into Dusseldorf….. Yet the authorities are scratching their heads trying to identify a motive.

Go Figure.

Note to self – avoid Euro airlines unless flying with Captain Obvious.

(Via CBS) German prosecutors said Monday that Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who deliberately flew his Airbus A320 into French mountainside last week, was treated years ago for suicidal tendencies.

The prosecutors in Duesseldorf said Lubitz received psychotherapy “with a note about suicidal tendencies” for several years before becoming a pilot. (more…)

(Via New York Post) German murder-suicide pilot Andreas Lubitz was an insecure control freak to the schoolteacher fiancée who broke his heart, even trying to tell her what to wear and who to talk to, according to a report.

The girlfriend, identified for the first time as Kathrin Goldbach, 26, by Britain’s Daily Mail, still lived with Lubitz, 27, in their Dusseldorf apartment, but was looking to move out into a “bachelorette flat” because of his erratic behavior, the newspaper’s Web site reported Saturday.

“He tried to order her what to wear, what men she could speak to, even the length of her skirts,” one friend said.

Lubitz’s mental state was worsened by his breakup with Goldbach, just a day before he crashed his Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps, killing himself and 149 others. (more…)

*Bumped and updated*

(Via UK Mirror) …”Police investigating the Germanwings air disaster co-pilot Andreas Lubitz have made a “significant discovery” at his home, according to reports.

While the officers confirmed that the discovery was not a suicide note, they would not reveal any further details as this next stage of their investigation deepens.

Markus Niesczery of Düsseldorf Police said: “We wanted to search to see if we could find something that would explain what happened.

“We have found something which will now be taken for tests.

“We cannot say what it is at the moment but it may be very significant clue to what has happened.”

Speaking to the Daily Mail, he added: “We hope it may give some explanations.” (read more)

I find it interesting that his social media was scrubbed before his name was released to the press.  He was 28 years old; this obviously implies active concern for content. (Facebook via google cache here) Why would authorities find it important to remove his social media profile ?

(more…)

Weird.  The French authorities are saying they can hear sounds, alarms and voices in the voice recording they have recovered from the crash site.  However, they are not revealing what the voices were heard to be saying…..

UPDATE: Woaaah… this is interesting:

Breaking News: One Pilot Was Locked Out of Cockpit Before Crash in Francehttp://t.co/d5ckjtxuTB

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 25, 2015

PARIS — As officials struggled Wednesday to explain why a jet with 150 people on board crashed in relatively clear skies, an investigator said evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.

A senior military official involved in the investigation described “very smooth, very cool” conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. Then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter. (more…)

Follow-up to last night’s madness in New Orleans – It appears the machete wielding nutter (who I think could still be an Allahu Ackbar candidate), Richard White, was planning on something larger than just chopping up people in the airport….

(Via Fox) The machete-wielding man who attacked two Transportation Security Agency workers at a New Orleans airport was carrying a bag holding six Molotov cocktails, officials said.

Officials said they don’t know what suspect Richard White intended to do with the homemade bombs or what triggered the incident.

“As you know this was unexpected incident involving a clearly troubled and disturbed individual,” said New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu at a Saturday afternoon press conference.

White, 62, chased the two Transportation Security Agency workers at New Orleans International Airport with a machete and wasp spray late Friday. He was shot multiple times by an officer, police said.

Officials said they noticed White had been carrying a bag when they checked surveillance video after the incident. (more…)