Looking at Andreas Lubitz
You have probably already heard the news of the Germanwings pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who is now being looked at for intentionally slamming the plane he piloted and that carried 150 passengers into the mountain.
Why would a man do this?
A capable man who held a respectable job?
It’s mind-boggling.
Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit, experts speculate, and put the plane into a direct descent into the mountain.
When I look at Lubitz in photo (no longer available), I see a man who shows great neutrality in his face. This means he is not one to be emotional or act out emotionally. He was likely neutral in most of his interactions with people and in life.
This attribute can actually contribute to a superior pilot because a person like this isn’t driven by fear, or reacts to fear in the ways most people do, so he will react well under pressure. He and people who are emotionally neutral simply have a different emotional make-up. It can be good or it can be bad. It can have different manifestations.
Someone who is emotionally neutral may experience life on a very even-keel, or they could experience a void–a lack of feeling emotions all together–where they are checked out and removed–apathetic. There can be various reasons for this. Both would lead to different personalities. I’d need more information to see how it could affect Lubitz.
I also see a gullibility in his face, and perhaps a lack in his sense of self.
When I saw that, it stopped me dead in my tracks. What that could mean caused my heart to stop.
Someone who is gullible could fall under the manipulation of someone sinister, right?
It can’t be ruled out. I am not saying this did or did not happen, but it has to be considered.
Was there some undercurrent in Lubitz life that people are unaware of? I would certainly want to investigate it.
Predators prey on people’s weaknesses. Psychopaths are notorious for spotting people’s weaknesses instantaneously.
Have we ever thought about testing pilots, in today’s age, for gullibility? I mean we could have an outstanding and technically skilled pilot, but what if in other areas of his life he was unsure and susceptible to outside influence? This is a vulnerability. I don’t think the prevalence would be high, but it could have some statistically significant where we might not want to ignore it.
I am not saying that is what happened here, but it is a possibility.
What other things can you think of that would have caused this man to drive a plane into a mountain and kill everyone including himself?
We have to assume he underwent regular mental health check-ups that would spot obvious signs of mental illness. I wonder when his last mental health check was?
Feel free to discuss this below. This blog is about understanding human behavior and deception, which appears to be very applicable to this sad story.