Daytime speed limit to be slashed to 100 kph to cut pollution: NOS

DutchNews, November 12, 2019 

Photo: Wikimedia Commons 

The cabinet is planning to cut the maximum speed limit to 100 kph nationwide between 6am and 7pm, in an effort to cut nitrogen-based pollution, sources have told broadcaster NOS.

 Higher speed limits of 120 kph and 130 kph would be allowed at night – on roads which currently have the higher speed limit, ministers are set to announce Wednesday. 

Ministers hope that cutting the speed limit will compensate for the extra pollution generated by the construction industry – particularly of new homes. A large number of building projects have been put on hold after the Council of State ruled current measures to reduce nitrous oxide and ammonia pollution are insufficient. 

Prime minister Mark Rutte has declined to confirm the speed limit cut, but says he aims to present the package of measures on Wednesday morning. 

Also on the table is a plan to add enzymes to cattle feed so they produce less ammonia in their manure, NOS said.

Ministers outline the government’s plans. Photo: Phil Nijhuis / HH

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“Afraid of Love” + “What’s Wrong Today”, Laguna Hills, California, US(2), Dec 9, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

• Stagnation of the current US Politics: Compassioned (US) leaders will arise in the future
• Shortage of fresh/drinking water: Invention to make salt from salt water magnetic and remove it with water desalination process in high volumes
• Pollution on Earth: 1 - Stop killing the environment! / 2 - The rise of temperature on Earth is “temporary” and is part of the "regular" Watercycle.
• Replacement of current fossil energy source: Use of magnetics based (small/big) engines to produces electricity / free energy
• Plastic pollution in the oceans: Invention to remove the plastics gradually from the oceans

Dutch inventors roll out river plastic clean-up barge
Ocean Cleanup move to the Pacific, ‘a milestone’ says Dutch inventor

Photo: The Ocean Cleanup

Germany finds truckers cheating to hide emissions

Yahoo – AFP, April 2, 2019

Emissions cheating in trucks is rampant and getting harder to detect (AFP Photo/
Christoph Schmidt)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - German authorities have identified hundreds of trucks "manipulated" to save their operators money by shutting off exhaust treatment systems, saying many more cheating vehicles could be at large on Europe's roads.

Of around 13,000 trucks whose "AdBlue" filter system was checked on German roads last year, 300 were "defective", a government answer to a parliamentary question from the Greens party seen Tuesday by AFP showed.

Of 132 such defects spotted since August last year, 84 could be traced back to deliberate manipulation rather than a technical fault, the government added -- a distinction not drawn in statistics collected before then.

Electronic devices available for around 100 euros ($112) allow users to deactivate the exhaust treatment system, allowing some trucking firms to make massive savings, daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported after revealing the scheme.

But with their catalytic converters switched off, the trucks spew far more harmful pollutants.

"The fact that we are finding more manipulated systems than faulty ones is an alarm signal," Greens MP Stephan Kuehn said.

With time, "the parts needed for the cheating are becoming smaller and smaller and more sophisticated, and therefore more difficult to find" during spot checks, the government added.

The SZ reported that operators can save up to one-third of the costs of running a truck supposedly meeting the Euro 5 or 6 emissions standard by installing one of the boxes or modifying software -- an even harder-to-detect option.

Devices or software changes can enable cheating in a number of ways.

Some fool the engine control software into thinking the catalytic converter is still working, preventing a warning to the driver or an automatic reduction in performance.

Others produce fake readings for the outside temperature, triggering a system that deactivates exhaust treatment at below -11 Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit).

Clusters of similar rule-breaking have been identified elsewhere in Europe, especially in Spain.

Without exhaust treatment, trucks emit far more nitrogen oxides (NOx), which studies have shown is linked to various respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

Since Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to cheating emissions tests on 11 million vehicles worldwide, alarm has spread in Germany about levels of the gas in city air.

Federal, state and local governments are battling to prevent drivers of older diesel vehicles being banned from city centres as courts order a growing number of exclusion zones.

Five years on, Uber settles Dutch UberPop case for €2.3m

DutchNews, March 8, 2019

Taxi agency Uber has reached a €2.025m out of court settlement with the Dutch public prosecution office for operating its illegal UberPop service in the Netherlands in 2014 and 2015. 

The UberPop option allows private individuals to operate as taxis, but this is illegal under Dutch law. 

The company has also agreed to hand over the €309,409 it earned from UberPop and the person responsible for the service in the Netherlands has accepted a 90 hour community service sentence, the public prosecution department said. 

‘A taxi licence is intended to ensure the safety of the customer,’ the department said in a statement. ‘A licence also imposes requirements on the vehicles, such as an on-board computer in the car, that makes it possible to check drivers’ driving and rest times.’ 

In addition, the department said, providing taxi services without a licence creates unfair competition. 

Uber launched UberPop in the Netherlands in July 2014 but finally suspended the service in November 2015 after several court cases and fines. The ban was finally upheld by the company court in 2017. 

Uber now only operates in the Netherlands with licenced drivers. ‘Today is an important day for us,’ the company said in an emailed statement. ‘This settlement allows us to formally close this chapter, shows we have learned from our mistakes and have changed as an organisation.’ 

Deaths 

Uber has also recently been under fire in Amsterdam after four fatal road accidents in six weeks involving Uber drivers. 

The company later announced that people under 21 would be banned from working for it, and that all of its drivers would have a minimum of one year’s driving experience. 

In addition, young Uber drivers now have to follow an obligatory driving course with road safety body VVN before they can start.

Cyclists face €95 fine for using their phone while cycling

DutchNews, January 31, 2019

Cyclists caught using their mobile phone without a hands-free kit face a fine of €95 from July 1, the Parool said on Thursday, quoting sources in The Hague. 

The ban on using a mobile phone while cycling is due to be discussed at Friday’s cabinet meeting and ministers are expected to vote in favour of the fine, the paper said. 

The size of the fine is in line with other penalties for cyclists, which include €100 for cycling while drunk and €95 for cycling through a red light. Motorists face a €240 fine for using their phone while driving. 

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen published draft legislation in September making it an offence ‘to hold a mobile electronic devices while driving all vehicles [so including bikes]’. 

The words ‘mobile electronic device’ rather than mobile phone were deliberately chosen to take developments in the future into account. 

Nearly half of cyclists are said to use their phones while cycling, and phones are said to have played a role in 20% of bike accidents involving the under-25s, the transport ministry said last year.

What’sApp? Dutch to ban cyclists from holding their mobile phones

DutchNews, September 25, 2018 

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The Netherlands is to ban all but the hands-free use of mobile phones on bikes from next year, the AD said on Tuesday. 

Transport minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen published draft legislation on Tuesday which will make it an offence ‘to hold a mobile electronic devices while driving all vehicles [so including bikes],’ the paper quoted the minister as saying. 

The paper says the words ‘mobile electronic device’ rather than mobile phone have been deliberately chosen to take developments in the future into account. 

Drivers are already banned from using their mobile phones without a hands-free connection in cars and lorries, with a maximum fine of €230. 

‘This decision sets a clear and consistent standard,’ the minister said. ‘If you are in charge of a vehicle in traffic, no matter what sort of mode of transport, you should not be holding mobile electronic equipment,’ Van Nieuwenhuizen said. 

The aim is to introduce the new legislation, which was first mooted in December, on July 1, 2019. 

One in three 12 to 21-year-olds cycle and use their phones at the same time and phones are said to have played a role in 20% of bike accidents involving the under-25s, the transport ministry said last year.

Decoy bikes with GPS trackers lead to sharp drop in bike theft, expert say

DutchNews, December 14, 2017

Photo: Depositphotos.com

The use of decoy bikes fitted with police GPS tracking systems has reduced bike theft by up to 50% in the places where they are being used, economist Ben Vollaard told Thursday’s Telegraaf. 

The paper says Vollaard’s research at Tilburg University shows that ‘professional criminals’ are more likely to disappear when the special bikes are being used. 

Vollaard looked at 14 places where the decoy bikes were placed, including Dordrecht and Gorinchem. In total, the decoy bikes were used 1,612 times last year and 1,220 arrests were made as a result, the paper said. 

Police currently have a pool of 300 bikes at their disposal, of which around 70 are electric bikes. All are new bikes from popular brands such as Gazelle or Batavus. 

By the beginning of October this year, police had received 61,063 reports of stolen bikes, down more than 13,000 on the 2016 total. 

‘I know that everyone says no-one bothers to report a stolen bike but these are the only figures we have to base policy on,’ said Mogjan Yavari of Centrum Fietsendiefstal, which unites police, insurers and manufacturers.

Volkswagen given fine for misleading Dutch consumers over diesel scandal

DutchNews, November 28, 2017

Pollution from car engine. Photo: Depositphotos.com

Car maker Volkswagen has received the highest possible fine for misleading consumers from the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets. 

On Tuesday the body announced a penalty of €450,000 for ‘unfair commercial practices’ as Volkswagen advertised certain cars as eco-friendly ‘while the results of emission tests had been manipulated by illegal software.’ 

Dutch consumer organisation the Consumentenbond believes this fine may have cleared the way for people to bring personal claims for damages, according to the NOS broadcaster. It wants to discuss compensation with the German manufacturer. 

In autumn 2015, Volkswagen admitted that it had sold 11 million cars worldwide with secret ‘defeat device’ software that ensured it would pass emissions tests in a laboratory, while the cars emitted higher levels of pollution on the road. 

Cateautje Hijmans van den Bergh, an ACM board member, said in a press release: ‘We have established that Volkswagen has misled Dutch consumers about the emission of harmful pollutants. Therefore, ACM has imposed a fine [to] send a clear signal. Consumers are entitled to [receive] reliable information.’ 

Volkswagen has set aside almost $15 billion to compensate American customers but yet discussed any payment in Europe, although customers with the cars involved do have an extra two-year guarantee, reports broadcaster NOS. 

Volkswagen told DutchNews.nl in a statement: ‘Volkswagen disagrees with the decision taken today… and intends to appeal against it. Volkswagen does not believe it infringed Dutch consumer protection laws. 

‘All Dutch customers who acquired a Volkswagen, SEAT, Audi or SKODA vehicle with an EA189 diesel engine have been treated fairly. All vehicles have kept type approval and so remain roadworthy, and there has been no violation of emissions regulations or laws. Our customers remain our number one priority and we are working hard to earn back their trust.’

Dutch police eagle on standby at Nato summit to take down drones

DutchNews, May 23, 2017

A police eagle in uniform. Photo: Eric Brinkhorst via HH

There will be an extra Dutch visitor at Thursday’s Nato summit in Brussels – an eagle trained to take down drones, news agency ANP reported. 

Dutch police have been involved training eagles to catch drones since early last year and decided to go ahead with the project last September, after a successful trial. 

Now one bird, an American sea eagle, will be on standby in Brussels in case drones are flown in unauthorised airspace, ANP said. 

In total, 29 government leaders and heads of state, including US president Donald Trump, will attend the meeting amid a massive security operation. 

A police eagle was also on duty in Rotterdam last week when Feyenoord celebrated winning the Eredivisie.

Eight ‘taxi drivers’ arrested for scamming tourists at Schiphol

DutchNews, April 14, 2017

Eight men have been arrested for scamming tourists arriving at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport by charging them extortionate fees for short taxi journeys, the public prosecution department said on Friday. 

Several of the eight men picked up had official taxi licences but the others were operating illegally, the department said. 

The taxis picked up foreign tourists at Schiphol who wanted to go to Amsterdam. At the end of their journey they attempted to charge their passengers ridiculously high fees and put considerable pressure on them if they refused to do so. 

One Swedish tourist was charged €595 for a trip to the centre of the capital. As he only had €300 in cash, the driver forced him to withdraw the rest from an ATM. In another case, a tourist from Japan was held hostage in the cab because he refused to pay a bill of €300. 

The eight men come from Amsterdam and Zwanenburg and are aged between 23 and 31. Four of them have been remanded in custody. 

Police also found a gun and two tasers at the home of one of the suspects. 

Haarlemermeer town council introduced a ban on taxi touts in February. Drivers caught breaking the law can be fined up to €1,500. 

Last year, a taxi driver tried to charge a group of Chinese tourists €485 to take them from Schiphol airport to their hotel in the west of the city. 

When the group tried to leave the taxi after refusing to pay, the driver drove off with them inside. In the end one of them managed to break a window and the taxi stopped.

Legal eagles recruited to take down drones after successful police trial

DutchNews, September 12, 2016

Photo: politie.nl 

The Netherlands has become the first country to recruit police eagles to take out drones in mid-flight following a successful trial. 

Police began training the birds of prey in January, despite concerns from some animal welfare experts that the exercise could damage their claws. A spokesman told NRC there had been no injuries so far but protective gear could be introduced.

‘A common or garden drone has no impact on the claws of a bird of prey, but very large drones with powerful motors could cause lacerations,’ he said. ‘We are currently looking at protective measures such as a sort of clawed shoe for the birds’ feet.’ 

‘A lot of drones have perished [during the exercise],’ he added. 

The move is in response to concerns about the growing risk of drones being flown in unauthorised airspace, such as close to an airport, or interfering with other aircraft such as rescue helicopters. 

The birds which were trained in the trial are owned by a private company, but police will now recruit their own flying squad for active service.

‘Police have purchased four month-old American sea eagle chicks. From next summer they will go out hunting drones,’ the spokesman said.

Related Article:

Eagles v drones: Dutch police to take on rogue aircraft with flying squad

#NEWSGRAPHIC Eagle vs drone: Dutch police reveal new elite flying squad @AFP https://t.co/g9ZaYt2xdm pic.twitter.com/b2l3vDnyhV

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 13, 2016

Dutch police are training eagles to take out drones

DutchNews, February 1, 2016

Dutch police are involved in training birds of prey to take out drones flown by criminals and terrorists. 

The police, counter-terrorism agency NCTB and the ministries of justice and defence are working on a range of measures to combat drones, broadcaster Nos said. 

Video footage released by the police at the weekend shows a bird of prey grabbing a drone in its talons and bringing it to the ground. The project is still in test phase but a spokesman said there was a ‘very real possibility’ that birds of prey could be used.

‘The bird sees the drone as prey and takes it to a safe place, a place where there are no other birds or people,’ project spokesman Marc Wiebes said. ‘That is what we are making use of in this project.’ 

Attack

‘Everyone can get hold of a drone, and that includes people who want to misuse them,’ police spokesman Michel Baeten told Nos. ‘It is a multifunctional piece of equipment and that means you can launch an attack with them as well.’ 

As well as birds of prey, officials are also looking into the use of high-tech detention systems and equipment which can remotely take over control of a drone. Another potential measure could be a drone which is programmed to fire at or capture an enemy drone. 

A decision on whether or not to use eagles to take out drones will be made in a couple of months.

German Finance Minister Schäuble sees 'greed' in VW scandal

German Finance Minister Schäuble has said VW's scandal is about "greed" but does not fear for the German market. His comments come ahead of VW's executive meeting to examine the findings from an internal investigation.

Deutsche Welle, 30 Sep 2015

The logo of German carmaker Volkswagen is seen at a VW dealership in
Hamburg, Germany

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble weighed in on the emissions-rigging scandal rocking German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) on Wednesday.

"It is greed for fame, for recognition. One looks at it in amazement and always sees how it ends up," Schäuble said in an interview with the news provider "RedaktionsNetzwerk." He said competition is "incredibly rough, if you want to be successful on the global market."

VW's scandal is a massive embarrassment for Germany, as well. For years, the country lobbied against stricter regulations for automakers and held up VW as an example of outstanding German engineering. "In the end, VW will no longer be what it has been. A lot will change from a structural perspective," said Schäuble.

Many fear that the scandal will have a negative effect on the German economy as well since VW employs more than 600,000 people worldwide and is a major part of the country's exports. Schäuble rejected these claims saying: "We will emerge from the crisis stronger. We learn from crises."

Internal Investigation

The executive committee of VW is set to meet on Wednesday evening to review the initial results of its internal emissions-rigging investigation, according to Reuters news agency. They will gather at the company headquarters in the northern German city of Wolfsburg along with a representative of the US law firm Jones Day, who will most-likely lead the external investigation.

According to Reuter's anonymous source, an engineer interviewed for the internal probe allegedly warned of illegal practices back in 2011, but no action was taken.

The leadership of the company has also changed hands with Matthias Müller taking the company reins last Friday. German prosecutors are investigating ex-CEO Martin Winterkorn for fraud.

The company admitted to cheating on diesel emissions tests in the US and manipulating tests in Europe, as well. The crisis has wiped out more than one third of the company's market value.

rs/kms (AP, dpa, Reuters)

Uber Jakarta Hits Speedbump as Police Detain Five Drivers

Jakarta Globe, Bayu Marhaenjati, Jun 19, 2015

Jakarta Police have detained five drivers connected to the ride-hailing app Uber.
(AFP Photo/Tengku Bahar)

Jakarta. The Jakarta Police have arrested five drivers using the California-based car-hailing app Uber to transport passengers after receiving reports from the city’s transportation agency and the Organization of Land Transport Operators, or Organda.

Shafruhan Sinungan, the chairman of the Jakarta chapter of Organda, said his organization had ordered eight cars via the mobile app with the intention of luring its drivers, but only five showed up and were handed over to the police.

Shafruhan underlined that the car service was operating illegally because its parent company, Uber Technologies, had yet to obtain an official permit to run a transportation business in Indonesia.

He also accused Uber of running an unfair business by not paying any taxes, which is why the company is able to offer lower fares compared to regular taxis.

The company’s UberX service in Jakarta charges riders a base fare of Rp 3,000 (22 US cents) per ride and an additional Rp 2,000 for every kilometer, or Rp 300 per minute of waiting time. Uber Black, which offer riders premium cars, starts at Rp 7,000 and charges an additional Rp 2,850 per kilometer or Rp 500 per minute.

In comparison, taxis charges passengers at a base fare of Rp 7,000 per ride and an additional Rp 4,000 per kilometer.

Shafruhan said that the San Fransisco-based company violated a 2009 law on transportation and also the city’s 2014 bylaw on public transportation.

“Today’s action is a follow-up from our coordination with the police on June 8,” Shafruhan said.

Benjamin Bukit, head of the city’s transportation agency, said his office and Organda plan to launch their own investigation of Uber, which includes the task of finding the company’s main office in the capital.

Uber’s Jakarta operations currently run from a rented office space at the Pacific Place mall in the Sudirman Central Business District, South Jakarta.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Suharyanto, head of the police’s detectives and general crimes unit, confirmed the arrest of the five drivers and said that officers would look into the allegations pressed by Organda.

The arrests mark the latest in a series of legal and regulatory speedbumps for Uber Technologies, which is already facing multiple lawsuits around the globe for bypassing industry regulations.

Shortly after its launch in Jakarta last year, Uber was branded illegal by Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.

Drunk co-pilot picked up at Schiphol, poised to fly out

DutchNews.nl, May 11, 2015

Schiphol airport police picked up a drunken co-pilot who was about to fly out on Sunday morning. 

The pilot was poised to join the flight when he was stopped by police who were tipped off that he had been drinking. 

A breathalyser test showed he had a blood alcohol level of 0.375, which a police spokesman told local broadcaster AT5 was a ‘considerable’ amount. Air crew are not supposed to drink for 10 hours before a flight. 

Police have refused to say which airline the man worked for or what the destination of the plane was. He was banned from flying for 15 hours and fined €6,000.

‘What he was doing was extremely dangerous because he was really about to fly,’ the spokesman said.

MH17 investigators launch appeal for witnesses, release BUK footage

DutchNews.nl, March 30, 2015

Dutch investigators looking into the MH17plane disaster on July 17, 2014 on Monday launched an appeal for help in tracing witnesses to a possible BUK missile attack on the plane. 

The appeal includes video footage showing a BUK missile system being moved through eastern Ukraine on a low loader Volvo truck on July 17 and 18 and parts of secretly recorded phone conversations, the public prosecution department, which is coordinating the investigation, said.

‘We are looking for witnesses who have seen BUK crew members or have more information about the identity of those involved in ordering and launching the BUK,’ the statement said. People who are concerned about their safety will be offered ‘various protective measures.’ 

Tapped phone conversations indicate pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine had set up BUK anti-aircraft missiles prior to the MH17 plane crash and that the rebels withdrew in the wake of the crash, first to rebel-held parts of Ukraine and then to Russia, the department said. 

The phone conversations, recorded by the Ukrainian secret service SBU, have been released in order to encourage witnesses to come forward. 

Total mess

‘Yesterday was a total mess. I have nothing to say about it,’ one separatist was recorded as saying the day after MH17 was shot down, killing all 298 people on board. 

Two of the conversations mention the weapons system by name and discuss where it is to be placed. 

The appeal for witnesses does not mean the department has concluded a missile attack is the only likely cause of the crash and is just one of number of scenarios being looked at, the department statement said.

Related Article:

Matthew message (Channelled by Suzanne Ward, Aug 3, 2014) - (MH17)

Germanwings crash co-pilot hid illness from airline

Yahoo – AFP, Celine Jankowiak with Deborah Cole in Berlin, 27 March 2015

French gendarmes and investigators sift through the scattered debris on March 26, 

2015 at the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French Alps above

the southeastern town of Seyne (AFP Photo/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)

The black box voice recorder indicates that Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked his captain out of the cockpit on Tuesday and deliberately flew Flight 4U 9525 into a mountainside, French officials say, in what appears to have been a case of suicide and mass murder.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that "everything is pointing towards an act that we can't describe: criminal, crazy, suicidal".

German prosecutors revealed that searches of Lubitz's homes netted "medical documents that suggest an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment", including "torn-up and current sick leave notes, among them one covering the day of the crash".

A police officer pictured outside the apartment 

of Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the crashed

 Germanwings plane, in Duesseldorf, western

 Germany, on March 26, 2015 (AFP Photo/

Federico Gambarini)

They did not specify the illness.

But Bild daily earlier reported that Lubitz sought psychiatric help for "a bout of serious depression" in 2009 and was still getting assistance from doctors, quoting documents from Germany's air transport regulator.

The paper also cited security sources as saying that Lubitz and his girlfriend were having a "serious crisis in their relationship" that left him distraught.

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that Lubitz had suspended his pilot training, which began in 2008, "for a certain period", before restarting and qualifying for the Airbus A320 in 2013.

According to Bild, those setbacks were linked to "depression and anxiety attacks".

Lubitz lived with his parents in his small home town of Montabaur in the Rhineland and kept an apartment in Duesseldorf, the city where his doomed plane was bound.

Duesseldorf prosecutors said the evidence found in the two homes "backs up the suspicion" that Lubitz "hid his illness from his employer and his colleagues".

They said they had not found a suicide note, confession or anything pointing to a "political or religious" motive but added it would take "several days" to evaluate the rest of what was collected.

Reiner Kemmler, a psychologist who specialises in training pilots, noted that people "know that depression can compromise their airworthiness and they can hide it".

"If someone dissimulates, ie they don't want other people to notice, it's very, very difficult," Kemmler told Deutschlandfunk public radio.

Desperate captain used 'axe'

Lubitz locked himself into the cockpit when the captain went out to use the toilet, then refused his colleague's increasingly desperate attempts to get him to reopen the door, French prosecutor Brice Robin said.

According to Bild, the captain even tried using an axe to break through the armoured door as the plane was sent into its fatal descent by Lubitz.

This could not be immediately confirmed, but a spokesman for Germanwings told Bild that an axe was standard emergency equipment on board the aircraft.

A policeman stands next to a police car in

 front of a house in Duesseldorf, western 

Germany, on March 26, 2015, during the

 investigation into the Germanwings 

plane crash over the French Alps 

(AFP Photo/David Young)

The tragedy has already prompted a shake-up of safety rules, with several airlines announcing a new policy requiring there always be two people in the cockpit.

German aviation industry body BDL and the transport ministry agreed to the rule for Lufthansa, its subsidiary Germanwings and other companies, while the European Aviation Security Agency threw its weight behind the policy.

Meanwhile, the UN world aviation body stressed that all pilots must have regular mental and physical check-ups.

'Unimaginable'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the findings that Lubitz appeared intent on crashing the plane added an "absolutely unimaginable dimension" to the tragedy, in which most victims were German and Spanish nationals.

In the northwestern town of Haltern, which lost 16 students and two teachers who were returning from a school exchange, the revelations prompted shock and rage.

The principal of the stricken school, Ulrich Wessel, said "what makes all of us so angry (is) that a suicide can lead to the deaths of 149 other people".

German President Joachim Gauck, a Protestant pastor, attended a memorial service in Haltern Friday and also extended special condolences to the families of the victims in Spain and other countries.

Meanwhile in Montabaur, Mayor Edmund Schaaf urged reporters encamped in the community to show restraint with Lubitz's parents, a banker and a church organist, who live in a handsome home on a leafy, normally quiet street.

"Regardless of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true, we sympathise with his family and ask the media to be considerate," he said.

A French gendarmerie helicopter winches up an investigator on March 26, 2015 near
scattered debris on the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 in the French
Alps above the southeastern town of Seyne (AFP Photo/Anne-Christine Poujoulat)

Descent button

Investigators say Lubitz's intention was clear because he operated a button sending the plane into a plunge.

For the next eight minutes, Lubitz was apparently calm and breathing normally.

"He does not say a single word. Total silence," Robin said.

The second-in-command had all psychological tests required for training, Lufthansa's Spohr told reporters Thursday, insisting: "He was 100-percent airworthy."

Recovery operations at the crash site were ongoing, with French officials trying to find body parts and evidence. A second black box, which records flight data, has not yet been recovered.

"There's not much plane debris left. There's mainly a lot of body parts to pick up. The operation could last another two weeks," said police spokesman Xavier Vialenc.

Related Articles:

Psych meds found at home of Germanwings co-pilot: media reports
Police search home of Andreas Lubitz, Germanwings co-pilot behind crash