Unconfirmed reports say voice recordings from the Germanwings passenger jet that crashed in the French Alps suggest one of the pilots had been locked out of the cockpit.
The New York Times says in its report that it has spoken to a French military official involved in the investigation.
According to the report, after a perfectly normal conversation in German between the two pilots during the early part of the flight, “the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not re-enter”.
First he knocked lightly on the door and there was no answer, the report says. He hit more strongly, and still there was no response.
In the end “you can hear he is trying to smash the door down,” the investigator is quoted as saying.
Germanwings said in a statement that it could not confirm the information, but the AFP news agency says another source close to the inquiry backs the New York Times’ version.
The French investigation bureau (BEA) has confirmed only that the recov
