Co-pilot intentionally crashed the plane, investigations reveal

onnaedo

March 26, 2015 2:12 PM

Prosecutors of the Germanwings crash now have cause to believe the co-pilot, who has now been revealed to be 28-year old Andreas Lubitz, deliberately crashed the plane, BBC reports.

Citing information from the plane's black box voice recorder, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit and intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.

Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it while the passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash.

Lubitz was reportedly alive till the final impact.

According to Robin:

"We hear the pilot ask the co-pilot to take control of the plane and we hear at the same time the sound of a seat moving backwards and the sound of a door closing, At that moment, the co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself. While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the aeroplane. This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate."

He further said:

"The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot through a voluntary act had refused to open the cabin door to let the captain in. He pushed the button to trigger the aircraft to lose altitude. He operated this button for a reason we don't know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane."

Although the co-pilot was not known to have any any links to extremism or terrorism, prosecutor Robin said the German authorities were expected to give further information on his background and private life later.

The Germanwings Airbus 320 plane was flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf when it crashed in the French Alps after a rapid 8-minute descent, killing all 144 passengers and 6 crew.

onnaedo