Co-pilot crashed plane ‘on purpose’: prosecutors German Andreas Lubitz — locked the captain out of the cockpit
German Andreas Lubitz — locked the captain out of the cockpit

German Andreas Lubitz — locked the captain out of the cockpit

PARIS — The co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 appears to have deliberately crashed the plane — killing himself and 149 other people — after locking himself alone inside the cockpit, according to French prosecutors. The investigation into what brought down the plane is now centred on the likelihood co-pilot Andreas Lubitz directed the plane into an alpine ridge, said Brice Robin, the French prosecutor leading the investigation.

The co-pilot’s actions during the final 10 minutes of the flight could be interpreted as a “willingness to destroy this aircraft,” Robin told a news conference in Marseille.

“Today, news has reached us that gives this tragedy a new, seemingly incomprehensible dimension,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“I’m hit by this news probably exactly as most people are. This is something that goes beyond any power of imagination.”

The prosecutor’s initial conclusions are drawn from the plane’s cockpit voice recorder, recovered at the crash site in the French Alps late Tuesday and analysed by French accident investigators on Wednesday.

The revelation has blindsided investigators who initially opened a probe into the crash as a case of involuntary manslaughter. The possibility that a pilot crashed a commercial jet on purpose presents a nightmare scenario for Germanwings and its parent company Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which both have strong records of flight safety

“We pride ourselves on being extremely picky in choosing our pilots,” Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr told reporters. “In our mind, what has happened was simply impossible.”

French investigators are seeking help from German counterparts to delve into the 28-year-old co-pilot’s background, Robin added. While it remained too early to establish on what grounds the investigation would proceed, Robin said the crash could no longer be regarded as a case of involuntary manslaughter.

Asked whether Lubitz had committed an act of suicide, the prosecutor responded: “I don’t call it a suicide when you have 150 people behind you.”

Robin provided a detailed description of the black-box recording that he said indicated Lubitz locked the flight’s captain out of the cockpit and initiated the plane’s fatal descent.

The recording began with “courteous” exchanges between the captain and Lubitz, the prosecutor said. After briefing the co-pilot on the flight plan, the captain is heard asking Lubitz to take over the controls, Robin said, adding the recording captured the sound of the captain’s chair sliding backward as he left the cockpit.

With the captain outside, Lubitz entered instructions into the plane’s flight system setting it on an unauthorised descent, the prosecutor said.

Air-traffic control made multiple attempts to contact the cockpit and received no response. Robin said air-traffic controllers also asked other aircraft in the area to radio the plane to no avail.

As the plane descended, the captain can be heard knocking on the door of the cockpit but received no response.

“The most plausible interpretation for us is that the co-pilot deliberately refused to open the cockpit door to the captain,” Robin said.

Investigators are puzzling over Lubitz’s behaviour during the flight. After taking off in Barcelona on Tuesday, the captain can be heard discussing the landing procedure in Düsseldorf. The co-pilot’s responses, Robin said, were terse.

“You would expect more of a dialogue to occur and not only short answers,” the prosecutors said.

After locking himself inside the cockpit alone, Lubitz can be heard breathing—a sound that continued right up until the plane collided with the mountainside — as the captain tried to break down the door, Robin said.

“He was apparently breathing normally. He didn’t say a single word,” Robin said, adding: “It’s not the breathing of someone who is having a heart attack.”

Only toward the end of the tape did passengers appear to realise the peril facing the flight, the prosecutor said.

“We hear their screams only at the last moment,” Robin said.

The revelation about the co-pilot’s actions came as the search-and-recovery operation resumed in the French Alps for the second straight day.

The prosecutor said people at the crash site had started recovering remains of victims and were still searching for the second black box that contains information on the Airbus A320’s systems and can provide further clues to what happened.

Helicopter flights resumed yesterday from the alpine village of Seyne near the crash site, taking mountain rangers, forensic teams and other staff to recover bodies and body parts, said Col Jean-Marc Menichini, the region’s police chief. “The priority is now to evacuate the bodies,” he said.

Forensic teams mapped out and photographed the crash site, tagged fragments and body parts and began removing the first human remains on Wednesday afternoon.

Weather conditions have improved, making the search-and-recovery mission easier. The location of the crash, on a steep slope, still makes the work dangerous for the forensic staff and investigators, who were working with ropes and with crampons on their boots.

The local chief of high-mountain rangers, Yves Naffrechoux, said officials spent the night on-site to secure the area. Police officers are guarding all access to the site from lower in the hills to keep trespassers and journalists away, Menichini said.

The crash took a heavy toll on Germany and Spain, which had the most nationals on board. Family members of the victims were brought to the crash site yesterday. — AFP.

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