The "Germanwings Crash" in the Media Library

On March 24, 2015, a Germanwings plane crashed in the Alps – it was the biggest disaster in the history of German aviation.

Ten years after the crash, the four-part ARD Crime series “The Germanwings Crash – Chronology of a Crime” (from 28 January on ARD Media Library) the events in the cockpit, accompanies the bereaved and analyses the results of the investigation.

All 150 people on board the 4U9525 en route from Barcelona to Düsseldorf died in the crash.

According to the investigation, the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane. The crash continues to preoccupy not only the families of the 150 victims, but also the courts.

The question remains to this day: Why could a pilot intentionally crash an aircraft entrusted to him? Where did the system fail? And what needs to change to prevent something like this from happening again?

“The Germanwings Crash – Chronology of a Crime” is a series by Justine Rosenkranz. These are the episodes:

1. The Shock

Annika Sondenheimer, the captain's wife, is a speaker in the NRW state parliament when the news is released at around 11:30 a.m. that a plane on its way from Barcelona to Düsseldorf has crashed. She quickly realizes that it is the plane her husband was piloting.

At about the same time, air accident investigators from Germany set off for the French Alps to find out the cause of the crash. And policemen flew helicopters to the difficult-to-access crash site. At an altitude of 1800 meters, they saw a field of debris.

2. The Trail

No one can explain why an Airbus A 320 crashes like that. A feverish search is underway for the voice recorder and the black box. Investigations have begun in Düsseldorf - including against the two pilots who were in the cockpit.

A technical defect is quickly ruled out. And then, just two days after the crash, it becomes clear: the co-pilot deliberately crashed the plane and locked the captain out of the cockpit beforehand.

3. The pain

In Haltern am See, an entire town mourns the students and the two teachers who died in the crash. More than two months pass before the remains of the more than 60 German victims are transported.

The investigation reveals that the co-pilot was mentally ill and that perhaps this should have been known.

4. The Guilt

What exactly happened in the plane and in the cockpit in the last ten minutes before the crash? The aircraft accident investigators have reconstructed this and are certain: the co-pilot wanted to kill himself and the people who were sitting with him in the plane.

But who knew about the 27-year-old's mental problems? Who could or should have prevented him from sitting in the cockpit?

Sierks Media / © Photo: WDR, Studio Fritz Gnad, Stable Diffusion, Westdeutscher Rundfunk