Tag: Alps

Schumi’s wife sells off his belongings

Michael Schumacher’s wife Corinna Betsch seems to be accepting the fact that her husband likely never will be the same.

The legendary Formula One driver remains paralyzed and unable to speak after a devastating ski accident in December 2013.

Now, Betsch has sold Schumacher’s private jet and Norwegian vacation home. Betsch has taken over the family’s finances, according to German magazine Bunte, adding “when it became clear that the old Schumi perhaps never would return, Corinna had to accept her new life. She had to act.”

Betsch has been running Schumacher’s multimillion-dollar business, also. The jet sold for $39 million, per the Mirror. Betsch also reportedly is considering selling the family’s chalet in the French Alps, where Schumacher’s accident occurred.

Bunte recently reported: “She took over the job, and the power, of her husband as an act of succession. Corinna underwent a remarkable transformation – from his wife to the clan chief, a lady who trained as a sales clerk to the manager of a multi-millions company.”

She is now in charge of the Schumacher ‘imperium’ which continues to generate millions even while he remains dormant. She manages the finances, the bank accounts, business advisers, lawyers and personnel.

According to Bunte her new role grates on her father-in-law Rolf , who now lives in a house built into the grounds of the Gland mansion with his partner Barbara Stahl so he can be close to his son.

Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm has revealed that the German driver is ‘making progress’ as he continues on the long road to recovery following injuries sustained during a skiing accident in 2013.

The former Ferrari driver suffered severe injuries in the accident that had rendered him in a medical-induced coma for over six months. He has since made progress, but is still immobile and unable to speak.

Kehm insists that despite the severity of his injuries the seven-time World Champion is getting better, which will come as a boost to his family and the entire racing community.

“We are pleased to continue to say that he is making progress, and I say that always, given the severity of his head injuries,” Kehm said, as quoted by the Mirror.

Earlier doctors treating Formula 1 ace were forced to deny the seven-times world champion had died.

A spokesperson for the Grenoble hospital where the racing driver is being treated put out a statement saying: “The hospital denies that Michael Schumacher has died.”

The man arrested on suspicion of involvement in the theft and leaking of a medical file on Schumacher was found hanged in his cell when rumours about the champion’s passing away started circulating.

The man, whose identity was not disclosed, worked as an executive at a Swiss helicopter air rescue company, Rega, which organised the German sportsman’s transport from a French hospital to Switzerland in June, the Zurich prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

He was found hanged when officers came to bring him breakfast before a scheduled hearing before a judge.

Zurich police told AFP they had spotted no signs the man was mentally unstable or suicidal.

The former champion driver, a longtime Swiss resident, was brought by ambulance amid secrecy to a unit of the CHUV hospital in Lausanne.

But word soon got out that some of his medical records had been stolen and that the thief was attempting to sell them to different media.

French prosecutors tracked the IP address of the computer used in the theft of the medical records to Zurich-based Rega, the main operator of air ambulances in Switzerland.

The Zurich prosecutor’s office refused to reveal the man’s age, nationality or other identifying details. But spokeswoman Corinne Bouvard told AFP that he had been suspected of acting alone. In a statement the prosecution authority stressed that the man should be presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Source: NESN/The Mirror

Co-pilot had no death wish say friends

The co-pilot named in the Germanwings plane crash was Andreas Guenter Lubitz.

The 28-year-old was from Montabaur, a town in the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, according to a local flight club.

Acquaintances said he was in his late 20s and showed no signs of depression when they saw him last autumn.

“He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well,” said a member of a glider club, Peter Ruecker, who watched him learn to fly.

“He gave off a good feeling.”

Lubitz had obtained his glider pilot’s license as a teenager and was accepted as a Lufthansa pilot trainee after finishing a tough German college preparatory school, Ruecker said.

His Facebook page lists his interests, including German electronica band Schiller, French superstar DJ David Guetta, his local Burger King, 10-pin bowling, aviation humour and a technical website about the A320 model of aircraft he flew into a mountainside.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said the co-pilot “never said a word” in the 10 minutes before the crash, which killed 150 people.

He said he never answered a question or opened the door before the plane hit the ground and the plane’s descent was “voluntary”.

The Federal Aviation Administration praised Lubitz’s skills and included him in the prestigious FAA Airmen Certification Database.

The database contains the names certified pilots who have “met or exceeded the high educational, licensing and medical standards established by the FAA”.

Aviation Business Gazette announced the award in September 2013, writing: “Pilot certification standards have evolved over time in an attempt to reduce pilot errors that lead to fatal crashes.

He had undertaken 630 hours of flight time in an A320, according to Germany’s Bild.

Mr Brice said earlier that co-pilot Lubitz directed the plane into the ground but the passengers only realised what was happening “in the last moments”.

“He took this action, for reasons we still don’t know why,” he said.

“We can only deduce he destroyed the plane. He voluntarily allowed the plane to lose altitude.

“I think the victims only realised at the last moment because on the recording you only hear the screams on the last moments.”

Source: The Mirror

French president declares contents of second black box missing

French President François Hollande said the contents of a second black box found on Wednesday were missing as investigators managed to extract audio recordings from the first flight recorder recovered from Germanwings flight 4U9525.

French investigators say they have succeeded in extracting “usable data”, including sound and voices, from the first black box recovered from the Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps.

After revelations emerged that one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit as Germanwings flight 4U9525 crashed and killed 150 on board, speculation has swirled as to what exactly happened in the moments before the disaster.

A senior military official involved in the investigation has told the New York Times that the audio from the “black box” flight recorder reveals that one of the pilots left his seat and then exited the cockpit.

He can then be heard knocking lightly on the door in an attempt to get back in. Soon after, he can reportedly be heard trying to break the door down.

No conversation is heard. Minutes later the plane hit a mountain in the French Alps, killing all 150 on board.

It remains unknown which pilot was in the cockpit and which was locked out.

The information remains unconfirmed by authorities.

The co-pilot had been on the job since September 2013 and had 630 hours of flying experience. He “was First Officer at Germanwings since September 2013,” a Lufthansa spokeswoman told AFP.

By comparison the plane’s pilot had more than ten years experience and 6,000 hours of experience flying the Airbus A320 model.

Neither of the pilots have been named.

French aviation safety expert Christophe Naudin told The Local that it remains unclear whether someone else may have gained entry to the cockpit.

“We don’t know whether the pilot left and was locked out or someone else entered the cockpit and locked him out,” he said.

“What’s troubling is that apparently we don’t hear voices anymore once the door is locked.”

Once the cockpit door is locked it is impossible to gain access, even with the code, explained Naudin.

Reinforced cockpit doors were installed on all planes at the behest of the US in the aftermath of 9/11.

“This case could show that having reinforced doors does not necessarily increase security and safety on airplanes,” Naudin said.

The is the biggest mystery is what happened with pilot inside. No distress signal was sent from the plane and the crew failed to respond to ground control’s desperate attempts to make contact.

Authorities have said the plane was still flying at the moment of the crash, meaning it did not explode mid-air.

Aviation experts have suggested several theories.

“If the pilots did not stop the airplane from flying into the mountains, it is because they were unconscious or dead, or they had decided to die, or they were forced to die,” one expert told the AFP news agency.

Authorities hope to find the second black box to reveal more.

Unlikely. The head of France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses (BEA) crash investigation agency, Remi Jouty, told reporters he still had “not the slightest explanation” for the tragedy at this stage.

“It is inexplicable. The plane was in perfect condition and the two pilots were experienced,” Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said in Frankfurt.

Weather did not appear to be a factor in the crash, with conditions calm at the time, and Germanwings had an unblemished safety record.