There is no shortage of theories surfacing to explain Andreas Guenter Lubitz’s suspected intention to crash Germanwings Flight 9525 at full speed into the French Alps.
Some say it could have been an eye problem, while others report he had a mental illness and that he wasn’t fit for work the day he flew the ill-fated flight. There are even suggestions he told his ex-girlfriend he wanted to be ‘remembered’ by the world one day.
What everyone wants to know is, how could an individual be motivated to harm himself and 149 others?
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According to an expert in Violence Research and Prevention, it is likely that this question will “never be answered”.
Dr Samara McPhedran is a Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University’s Violence Research and Prevention program who co-wrote a piece into a recent suicide-homicide in rural New South Wales.
Along with her colleagues, Dr McPhedran is conducting Australia’s first comprehensive research into suicide-homicide.
Dr McPhedran is not suggesting Flight 9525 was a suicide-homicide, but speculation about the co-pilot’s motivations and background is dominating debate about what happened.
She told The New Daily that while there is a research into ‘intentional’ acts of self-harm and subsequent harm to others, it is still inconclusive in the case of the Germanwings flight. Even the pilot’s psychological screening tests are being questioned.
“Understandably, everyone is thinking ‘how can this happen?’ and people want answers, but unfortunately sometimes the answers are not there,” Dr McPhedran said.
A couple leave a candle out the front of Andreas Gunter Lubitz’s parents house in Germany. Photo: Getty
“Unfortunately, in those cases where we don’t have answers, it is common, I regret to say, that the media will fill the blanks with speculation.
“In terms of very high-profile incidents like this one – we just do not know enough about these types of incidents, it may never be answered.
“It is not so much that researchers aren’t trying to find answers, they are. It is just these events are so rare, fortunately, that it is very difficult to scientifically study it and look for patterns.”
This airline tragedy follows a tumultuous 2014 for air safety where MH17 and MH370 dominated global headlines. For MH370, leading theories suggest the plane disappeared due to ‘pilot suicide’, although the plane is still missing.
The Aviation Safety Network lists that nine pilot suicides have occurred since 1976, with the most well-known being the crashing of an Egypt Air flight from New York to Cairo in 1999.
Since the Germanwings incident, airlines have begun changing the rules so two crew members have to be in the cockpit at all times. This is reportedly already required for American airlines.
In America after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a law was passed for mandatory re-enforcement of all cockpit door so hijackers could not get in – this measure is also coming under scrutiny following Flight 9525.
The reality is, interest will continue to swirl in the coming days and weeks as we learn more about the tragic flight, but we may never get any concrete answers as to just how it could have been the co-pilot’s “intention” to crash the plane.
Anyone who is in need of support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467