Marking a decade since the horrific crash of Germanwings flight. Photo: Eurowings Ten years ago today, a disaster occurred that changed aviation safety forever.
Eurowings, Lufthansa Group’s low-cost airline, marks today (Monday) a decade since the tragic crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, which claimed the lives of 150 passengers and crew members.
On March 24, 2015, an Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings, en route from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, crashed in the French Alps, near the village of Digne-les-Bains.
The crash investigation revealed that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately caused the disaster—locking the captain out of the cockpit, initiating a fatal descent, and ignoring emergency calls from air traffic control and the captain, who desperately tried to re-enter the cockpit.
The black box recordings later confirmed that Lubitz, who suffered from mental health issues, had planned his actions in advance, despite having been advised not to fly.
Following the tragedy, the aviation industry implemented major safety protocol changes, including a recommendation by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) requiring that at least two crew members be present in the cockpit at all times.
Germanwings ceased operations about a year after the incident, merging into Eurowings.
Today, Eurowings commemorated the decade since the tragedy with a social media post, stating:
"10 years. Forever in our memory."
(Source: Eurowings' LinkedIn account)