A leading aviation expert has revealed passengers on the tragic Germanwings flight could have been saved if crew members had smashed one of the plane’s windows.
Former Italian air force pilot and air traffic controller Pino Gai has said depressurising the cabin through a broken window would have unlocked the cockpit where suicidal co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had barricaded himself in.
But Mr Gai, a respected defence consultant in his homeland, said it could only have been done safely at 20,000 feet.
He said: “In the case of an air pressure failure in the aircraft cabin, the cockpit armoured door will automatically unlock.
“It happens to speed up going from the cockpit to the passenger cabin in the case of an emergency.
“It is also necessary, in case of violent depressurisation, to avoid the armoured cockpit door tearing off its hinges and flying like a bullet.”
The 63-year-old said Germanwings pilot Patrick Sondheimer who battled in vain to smash in the cockpit door with a crash axe could have cracked a window by using the aircraft’s heavy drinks trolley.
He said: “The plastic material used for aircraft cabin windows is built to resist impact of up to 400kg but it could be done.
“It would have had to have been done at 20,000 feet as at that altitude the pressure outside would not have caused critical damage.”
The expert added: “The few minutes the pilot had to think about this were moments of intense confusion, disbelief and panic.
“We have thought long and hard about this situation the pilot didn’t have that luxury.”
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