Face of captain who fought to save suicide crash plane
THIS is the first picture of the heroic captain who battled to prevent his plane from being flown into a mountain by his suicidal co- pilot.
Patrick Sondenheimer, who fought to save the jet in its final moments, is shown beside a candle in a memorial to the crew.
The shrine is believed to have been set up at Germanwings HQ in Cologne before it was learned that co- pilot Andreas Lubitz killed everyone on board including four flight attendants and 144 passengers.
Father- of- two Captain Sondenheimer, 36, left the cockpit to use the toilet, giving depressive Lubitz the opportunity to lock him out.
Using an axe, he tried in vain to get back in and could be heard on flight recorders shouting “Open the door” as he grew increasingly frantic.
Lubitz, whose plan was to bring the Airbus A- 320 down near to where he enjoyed childhood holidays with his parents, flicked a five- minute override switch disabling the code that would have let the skipper get back in.
Social networking sites and newspapers have called for Captain Sondenheimer to be awarded Ger many’s highest award for civilian bravery, the Order of Merit. His mother said at her home near Dusseldorf: “The light has gone out of our lives. I’m too upset to say any more.”
The father of a daughter aged six and a son aged three, Sondenheimer switched from long- haul to short- haul flights, like the last leg from Barcelona on March 24, only to spend more time with his family.
Brave, loyal and dedicated – the people he left behind have been swift to portray him as the man whose name should be remembered when talking of the disaster… not that of Lubitz.