French eye cockpit entry, psychological screening rules

[Surya Gayatri]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150331/eu--france-plane_crash-aabb3ff68f.html

PARIS (AP) — French aviation investigators are examining "systemic weaknesses" like cockpit entry rules and psychological screening procedures that could have led to the Germanwings plane crash — issues that could eventually change worldwide aviation practices.

The announcement Tuesday by the French aviation agency BEA signaled the latest re-think about airline procedures in the wake of the Germanwings crash, which jolted an aviation industry already reeling after one passenger plane disappeared into an ocean and another was shot out of the sky over war-torn eastern Ukraine.

Authorities say Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who in the past had been treated for suicidal tendencies, locked his captain out of the cockpit before deliberately crashing the Airbus 320 into a mountain in the French Alps. All 150 people aboard Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf were killed that day.


(AP) Forensic scientists of the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie...

At the crash site in the French Alps, investigators said they hope to have found DNA samples for everyone killed on the flight in the next 24 hours. Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, speaking in the town of Le Vernet, said the search was still on for the plane's second black box — its data recorder.

________________

Also, I see where Lufthansa has " cancelled plans to celebrate its 60th anniversary on April 15 "out of respect for the victims of the crash."

Well, that's going to confort the grieving families and friends no end.