The chief Marseille prosecutor handling the investigation of the Germanwings flight 4U9525 said on Thursday that evidence from the cockpit recorder indicates that the plane's co-pilot intended "to destroy the aircraft."
Prior to Germanwings flight 4U9525's crash on Tuesday, the captain excused himself from the cockpit and left 28-year-old co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, momentarily in charge. After the captain left, investigators believe Lubitz deliberately activated the plane's descent and locked the cabin door.
Evidence from the flight data recorder indicates that the captain tried announcing himself through the intercom, and also began banging on the door. However, Lubitz ignored him. Data from the cockpit recorder includes human breathing, so Lubitz was clearly conscious in the cockpit when the plane descended toward the French Alps. This ruled out the possibility of Lubitz being unconscious during the plane's descent.
Passengers seemed unaware of the descent until the last minute, as screams were only heard right before the plane made impact.
Previous pilot-suicide attempts span the globe. Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 crashed in Namibia en route to Angola, SilkAir Flight 185 crashed in Indonesia en route to Singapore, and EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed 30 minutes after taking off from New York.
Lufthansa has said that, as is typical with most airlines, it allows its pilots to leave the cockpit once cruising altitude has been reached. In the case of Germanwings flight 4U9525, all procedures had been followed.
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