Dr. Strangelove, Andreas Lubitz and General Jack D. Ripper

We learned soon after the Germanwings crash that it appeared to have been intentional.

The movie Dr. Strangelove immediately came to mind.

In the movie, US Air Force general Jack D. Ripper, undergoing an apparent mental health crisis, launched a first strike attack on the Soviet Union with disastrous consequences.

The movie was a black comedy, but was viewed by some experts as "a documentary," in that it depicted very realistically a scenario of what could happen if one demented individual were to take over the procedural machinery of launching a nuclear attack.

In the movie, General Ripper made use of a "safety" procedure to allow a retaliatory strike even if the central command authority had been destroyed.

That's exactly what Andreas Lubitz did, making use of the safety device designed to keep hijackers out of the cockpit.

In the real world of nuclear weapons control, there were two control mechanisms in place to prevent unauthorized release of nuclear weapons: (a) the Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) and (b) the two-man rule.

The PRP identified every person with a role in the handling and release of nuclear weapons. Both personnel and medical records were flagged so that administrative and medical personnel were aware of the PRP members. Medical personnel were expected to take immediate action to bring any such person going through a mental health crisis to attention of the command. No worries about privacy. Too much at stake.

It appears that Lufthansa and Germanwings had no such program. Plainly, passenger safety must override any concern for privacy of pilots and other flight deck personnel.

It also appears that Lufthansa had no rules prohibiting a single person in the cockpit in a position to crash the aircraft. This needs to be changed immediately.