Germanwings crash: Rapid drop in pressure is favoured theory so far

All pilots are trained to deal with such events

Search and rescue personnel at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps (Getty Images)

“We’ll take all the time we need to understand and explain,” said Rémi Jouty, as the world’s media sought answers about what led to the crash of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525. The director of the French BEA – the Bureau of Inquiries and Analysis – gave little away about initial findings.

In the absence of solid information, the thinking of aviation safety experts and pilots has coalesced around a theory of rapid decompression that incapacitated the flight crew – perhaps because a window had blown out or the seal on a cargo hatch had failed.

The next question that demands an answer is why, when the descent began, the pilots apparently took no other action – in particular failing to make a 180-degree turn away from the Alps and towards the low-lying terrain around Marseille-Provence airport.