--- description: A similar 1999 crash remains shrouded in mystery title: Germanwings Plane Crash Suicide Theory: Why We May Never Know for Sure image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a613f37b1347a3d/6987855b3c16394bef452710/crash.jpeg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Aviation](/tag/aviation/) ## Aviation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why We May Never Be Certain the Germanwings Crash Was Deliberate  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 26, 2015 3:42 PM CUT  A member of the search and rescue personnel standing on a rock at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320, in the French Alps on March 24, 2015. A member of the search and rescue personnel standing on a rock at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320, in the French Alps on March 24, 2015.Denis Bois—AFP/Getty Images  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 26, 2015 3:42 PM CUT As investigators continue to search for clues about the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, a new theory has emerged: a French prosecutor [said](http://time.com/3759538/germanwings-crash-plan-pilot/ "undefined") on Thursday that the flight’s co-pilot brought the plane down on purpose. Black box recordings suggest that when the pilot left the cockpit, the co-pilot locked the door and deliberately flew the plane into the mountain, not responding to the pilot’s pounding on the door or, in fact, saying a single word during the descent. The shocking revelation may remind observers of another crash, when on Oct. 31, 1999, [Egyptair Flight 990](http://time.com/vault/issue/1999-11-15/page/58/ "undefined") went down on its way from New York City to Cairo. When the black box from that flight was retrieved, this, as per TIME’s [recounting](http://time.com/vault/issue/1999-11-29/page/32 "undefined"), was what was heard: --- > “” --- In that case, despite the recording and other evidence that the pilot did not try to avert the crash, the suicide-by-crash theory still, over 15 years later, remains unproven. The National Transportation Safety Board took the hypothesis seriously from the beginning but, TIME reported, those on the Egyptian side of the investigation denied that it was a possibility. Responding to those who interpreted the pilot’s actions as a murderous, terroristic act, many in Egypt and its allies saw a cultural presumption in the idea that a prayer in Arabic — which could also be an expression of surprise or concern — could indicate a link to terrorism. And to those who saw it as an act of personal desperation, many Egyptians said that was also an insult, given the extreme shame associated with suicide in their culture. The pilot’s family rushed to [provide evidence](http://time.com/vault/issue/1999-11-29/page/35 "undefined") that the pilot, Gamil El Batouty, was a happy man with no reason to crash a plane on purpose, and officials [questioned](http://time.com/vault/issue/1999-11-29/page/27/ "undefined") whether his recorded prayer would be interpreted in such a sinister fashion if the speaker had been Christian. For months, even as the NTSB stuck by the suicide theory, Egypt [continued](http://time.com/vault/issue/2000-06-26/page/26/ "undefined") to press the case for alternate possibilities. Egyptair Flight 990 and Germanwings Flight 9525 are not exactly the same situation, but they do share a few key elements. In both cases, black box recordings suggest that the person flying the plane caused and/or failed to stop the descent, and in both cases the actual wreckage will be hard to retrieve, meaning that a full review of the plane’s mechanical systems may prove impossible. But in both cases, at least so far, there is also a lack of the kind of evidence that often speaks for suicides after the fact: no note, no explicit evidence of anguish. The lesson of the Egyptair crash, then, is that the chance is high that Germanwings investigators will never be able to say for sure what happened. The only person who could answer their questions with confidence can no longer do so. _Read next:_ [_Why the Black Box Recordings Deepen Germanwings Crash Mystery_](http://time.com/3758362/germanwings-crash-investigation/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") ### Witness Scenes From the Plane Crash in the French Alps  Flowers are left in front of the monument in homage to the victims of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 in Le Vernet, southeastern France, March 27, 2015. Alberto Estevez—EPA  German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy pay respect to victims in front of the mountain where a Germanwings jetliner crashed in Le Vernet, France, March 25, 2015. Christophe Ena—AP  A search and rescue worker at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps, above the town of Seyne-les-Alpes, southeastern France, March 25, 2015. Guillaume Horcajuelo—EPA  Helicopters of the French gendarmerie and emergency services fly over Seyne-les-Alpes as they resume works to recover the bodies and the remains of the Airbus A320 that crashed the previous day in the Alps, March 25, 2015. Alberto Estevez—EPA  French military personnel walk up the mountainside near Seyne, France on March 25, 2015. Peter Macdiarmid—Getty Images  Gendarmerie and French mountain rescue teams arrive near the site of the Germanwings plane crash near the French Alps on March 24, 2015 Patrick Aventurier—Getty Images  French emergency services workers and members of the French gendarmerie gather in Seyne, south-eastern France, on March 24, 2015, near the site where a Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps. Boris Horvat—AFP/Getty Images  An aerial photo shows what appears to be wreckage from the crash of a Germanwings plane in the French Alps, between Barcelona and Digne, March 24, 2015. Duclet Stephane—ZUMAPRESS.com  Relatives of passengers of the Germanwings plane crashed in French Alps are seen at the Terminal 2 of the Barcelona El Prat airport on March 24, 2015 in Barcelona. David Ramos—Getty Images  A worker from a Swissport, a Service Company who is handling for Germanwings airlines, works inside an office in the Barcelona airport, March 24, 2015. Emilio Morenatti—AP  People stand in front of candles and flowers placed in front of the Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium in Haltern, Germany, March 24, 2015. Imago/Zumapress [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3759733/germanwings-egyptair-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3759733/germanwings-egyptair-history/"},"headline":"Why We May Never Be Certain the Germanwings Crash Was Deliberate","datePublished":"2015-03-26T15:42:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:51.662Z","description":"A similar 1999 crash remains shrouded in mystery","url":"https://time.com/3759733/germanwings-egyptair-history/","keywords":["Aviation","Suicide","Transportation","Disaster","Crash"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a613f37b1347a3d/6987855b3c16394bef452710/crash.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9a613f37b1347a3d/6987855b3c16394bef452710/crash.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Germanwings Search","caption":"FRANCE-GERMANY-SPAIN-AVIATION-ACCIDENT","creditText":"Denis Bois—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aviation/","name":"Aviation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3759733/germanwings-egyptair-history/","name":"Why We May Never Be Certain the Germanwings Crash Was Deliberate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Year in Space: The Mission","description":"On March 28, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly begins a historic year in Space. 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