Israel Matzav

Gee, do you think this is relevant? Germanwings co-pilot reported to be a 'recent convert to Islam'

Questions about the religious background of Andreas Lubitz, the Germanwings pilot who investigators said deliberately crashed a plane in the French Alps this week, killing all on board, have sparked outrage and debate about whether such information is relevant to the investigation. When a reporter asked French Prosecutor Brice Robin of Marseille, during a news conference Thursday, whether he knew Lubitz’s religion, Robin said he did not know and added, “I don’t think that’s where the answer to this lies.”

The question suggested that Lubitz’s religious background was relevant to the investigation behind the pilot’s alleged deliberate downing of Germanwings Flight 9525 on Tuesday. Robin said the crash did not show any signs of terrorism. Some were appalled by the reporter’s inquiry.

“This line of questioning makes no sense to me whatsoever,” said Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, an associate professor of political science with a courtesy appointment in religious studies at Northwestern University in Illinois. “I find it disturbing and depressing that at a time like this some people feel compelled to search desperately for explanations that presume religious causation.”

In 1999, the pilot of a Boeing 767 intentionally plunged the fully loaded plane into the Atlantic Ocean 30 minutes after takeoff from New York City on a nonstop flight to Cairo. An investigation found the pilot, Gamal al-Batouti, had said several times in Arabic, “I rely on God,” as the plane's autopilot function was disconnected and Egypt Air 999 plunged. The phrase is often associated with the moments before death.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded that no mechanical event could have caused the plane to dive. But Egyptian officials never accepted the conclusion that al-Batouti had intentionally crashed, and conspiracy theories spread.

Investigators are now telling the London Telegraph that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was taken on a suicide mission.

The team investigating the Boeing 777’s disappearance believe no malfunction or fire was capable of causing the aircraft’s unusual flight or the disabling of its communications system before it veered wildly off course on a seven-hour silent flight into the sea. An analysis of the flight’s routing, signalling and communications shows that it was flown “in a rational way”.

An official source told The Telegraph that investigators believe “this has been a deliberate act by someone on board who had to have had the detailed knowledge to do what was done ... Nothing is emerging that points to motive.”

Asked about the possibility of a plane malfunction or an on-board fire, the source said: “It just does not hinge together... [The investigators] have gone through processes you do to get the plane where it flew to for eight hours. They point to it being flown in a rational way.” 

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The flight remains shrouded in mystery and misinformation. Malaysia Airlines revealed for the first time yesterday that Fariq Abdul Hamid, the 27-year-old co-pilot, was on his first flight aboard a Boeing 777 as a fully-approved pilot. Fariq joined the airline seven years ago and had flown 2,763 hours but was only on his sixth flight in the cockpit of a 777 – and his first without a check pilot overseeing him.

But analysts said the co-pilot’s inexperience in a 777 cockpit would probably not have posed a risk.

Somewhat surprisingly, Malaysia Airlines said last night its “prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues” – even though the passenger manifest shows 227 passengers and 12 crew. The airline has not yet explained the discrepancy.

Would not have posed a risk, but would have made it much more likely that it took him a while to figure out what was going on. And most of the passengers probably never knew what happened.  Unless someone had a transponder (unlikely), most passengers on a flight like that would just go to sleep. The crew probably served dinner without realizing what their captain had done. From the families' perspective, they might take some solace in the fact that the passengers probably died peacefully - many of them in their sleep.

The captain - distraught over a divorce and over his political idol being jailed, and devout in his Muslim religion (that which must never be mentioned) - took them all down with him.

It was said that Lubitz had a Muslim girlfriend. It is unclear if she was still dating Lubitz at the time of the crash. It is unclear if he met the woman through his Muslims friends.

One said that Lubitz had broken off the relationship after he pledged to commit Jihad for Allah.

We do know that Lubitz trained at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen, Germany.

Bremen is home to the Mosque Masjidu-l-Furqan Mosque:

This Mosque was raided by the police in December 2014

BERLIN, Dec 5 (KUNA) — German authorities have closed a mosque in the northern city of Bremen, after it was accused of encouraging youth to join the extremist Islamic State group (known as ISIL), which is carrying out violent killings across Syria and Iraq.

In unprecedented circumstances, more than 100 German police personnel carried out a search of Masjidu-l-Furqan and its accompanying cultural office, which had both been under police radar since 2007.

The decision comes amid the fight against ISIL ideology, Bremen Interior Secretary Ulrich Maurer said, accusing the mosque’s management of promoting ISIL values and encouraging young Muslims in the city to travel to Syria and Iraq, and join the ranks of the group, along with Al-Nusra Front – another extremist group in Syria.

The centre have so far succeeded in inspiring a total eight men, seven women and 11 juveniles to travel to Syria and join ISIL, according to the official.

Lubitz did his time in Bremen when the Mosque was under surveillance.

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Lubitz converted to Islam during his break.

Reason that pushed Lubitz over the edge? The raid on the Mosque in Breman  this past December?

The Police say they found a significant discovery in his home - not a suicide note:

Police investigating the Germanwings crash said they had made a 'significant discovery' at the home of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who deliberately ploughed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps. Officers refused to reveal details of the potential breakthrough but said it was not a suicide note. Speaking outside the flat on the outskirts of Dusseldorf, police said they had 'found something' that would now be taken for tests, adding it may be a 'clue' as to what happened to the doomed jet. Daily Mail Read More>>>

Is the significant discovery something Islamic? Something on his computer? A Koran? A Muslim prayer rug?

The A320 is designed with safeguards to allow emergency entry if a pilot inside is unresponsive, but the override code known to the crew does not go into effect — and indeed goes into a lockdown — if the person inside the cockpit specifically denies entry, according to an Airbus training video and a pilot who has six years of experience with the jets.

Airlines in Europe are not required to have two people in the cockpit at all times, unlike the standard U.S. operating procedure after the 9/11 attacks changed to require a flight attendant to take the spot of a briefly departing pilot.

Labels: airport security, Egypt, France, Germanwings 9525 crash, Germany, Islam, Malaysia, Muslim men, Spain, suicide bombers

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:35 AM