separating the suicidal from the mass murderer
As a non-pilot I would be interested to know from those at the front end how isolated from the pax you feel? There you are, stuck right at the front, in a very confined space, your office - right on the top floor. You have no rear-view mirror, just windows looking forward (OK some side windows too). Do you sometimes forget about the pax - particularly on long-haul - fast asleep in the back?
I ask this as I wonder whether Lubitz was aware of anyone else but himself (and the pilot)? Do you think he might have just sat there thinking: 'this is it'. He was all alone, in his own little world. Then he locked the door, shut out the rest of the world, set the controls and maybe took something to relax or render himself unconscious?
I'm trying here to separate the suicidal from the mass murderer.
But then, if he did feel like that, he could simply have taken his glider up for one last time....