NEWS UPDATE: Germanwings Crash Poses New Aviation Mystery

THE crash of one of the world’s safest passenger aircraft operated by a responsible and heavily regulated airline, had experts scratching their heads yesterday in search for an explanation.
Germanwings Flight 9525 was 46 minutes into its journey from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it reached cruising altitude and then suddenly began descending.
For eight long minutes the A320 descended at a rate of about 4000 feet a minute, before briefly levelling off at 6800 feet, then crashing at speed into the French Alps.
Debris and human remains were found strewn over a two kilometre area near Digne les Bains.
Aviation experts said it was unusual for an aircraft to crash at cruising altitude and even more baffling that no mayday or distress call was made by the flight crew.
AvLaw International chairman Ron Bartsch, a former head of safety and regulatory compliance at Qantas, said the fact no call was made suggested the crew was either unable to issue an alert due to equipment failure; they were incapacitated; or they were fighting for control of the aircraft. He said the latter was the least likely.
“It wasn’t an Air France Flight 447 situation. If they went into an aerodynamic stall the rate of descent would have been a lot faster and less constant,” said Mr Bartsch.
“It looks like there was some form of automation, and possibly they lost consciousness before the pre-assigned altitude level of 6800 feet.”
If there had been a rapid decompression of the aircraft, pilots would have had about 15-seconds to don an oxygen mask, Mr Bartsch said.
“A very well-trained flight crew would have been able to don oxygen masks in that time,” he said.
“It is a possibility but the levelling off at 6800-feet is also curious. That’s a very strange altitude to pre-assign for an aircraft flying near the French Alps.”
Captain John Cox from the US-based Safety Operating Systems, said it was unusual for a plane to descend from cruise altitude into the ground.
“It appears the descent was commanded, and that the aeroplane had electricity. Beyond that is speculation.”
-News Corp Australia Network