In an international press conference, a French prosecutor reported that the 28-year-old co-pilot of the crashed plane deliberately brought down the Germanwings flight.
The co-pilot, identified as Andreas Lubitz, had 630 hours of flight experience and had joined Germanwings in 2013, straight out of flight school.
The French prosecutor reported that the co-pilot “had a desire to destroy this plane.” Those listening to data from the black box said that they could clearly hear normal breathing from the co-pilot while the pilot desperately attempted to get back into the cockpit by pounding on the door and shouting, then communicating by intra-cabin communications. It is also reported that it was the co-pilot who deliberately pushed the button to bring the plane down.
Washingtonpost.com:
DÜSSELDORF, Germany — A French prosecutor said Thursday that the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwing flight appeared to want to “destroy the plane,” in a stunning twist to the investigation that shifted attention to a possible suicide dive that killed all 150 people aboard.
The statement came after reports that the recovered cockpit voice recorder indicated the pilot was locked out of the cockpit before the A320 slammed into the French Alps on Tuesday.
The French prosecutor said flight recorder showed the co-pilot — identified in media reports as Andreas Lubitz — did not say a word once the captain left the cockpit, the Associated Press reported.
“It was absolute silence in the cockpit,” the prosecutor was quoted as saying.
The New York Times quoted an unidentified investigator Thursday as saying the audio depicts someone knocking with increasing urgency — and force — on the cockpit door. The Times quoted the source as saying: “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”
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