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Germanwings plane crash: Co-pilot of flight appears to have crashed plane deliberately, French prosecutor says
A Marseille prosecutor says the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that perished in the French Alps appears to have crashed the plane deliberately.
Prosecutor Brice Robin said the action of manipulating "what is called the flight monitoring system in order to embark on the descent of the plane", could "only be deliberate".
"I repeat, when he was alone, in charge of the Airbus, the co-pilot started the flight monitoring system to get the plane to descend," he said.
"The action on this altitude selector can only be voluntary, I repeat action on this altitude selector can only be deliberate."
The German citizen, named by Mr Robin as Andreas Lubitz, 28, was left in sole control of the Airbus A320 after the captain left the cockpit.
He then refused to re-open the door and pressed a button that sent the jet into its fatal descent, Mr Robin said.
Mr Robin said co-pilot Lubitz took advantage of the absence of the pilot, but it was unclear whether he knew the pilot would leave the cockpit when he did.
He said that "one can then hear several calls from the commander asking to be allowed into the cockpit", but there was no answer.
"He knocked on the door and there was no answer from the co-pilot either," he said.
"One can then hear the noise of human breathing within the cockpit, and that human breathing noise can be heard until the final impact which means that theoretically the co-pilot was alive.
"Then, one hears contact also from the Marseille air traffic control tower, but no answer from the co-pilot, even though the Marseille control tower tried getting in touch with him several times.
"But we can analyse it that the intention was to destroy this plane."
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said Lubitz had undergone the requisite training and that he was fit for flying.
"His performance was without any criticism," Mr Spohr said.
"The few hours after having heard this, we can only speculate on what might have been the motivation of the co-pilot.
"I would like to say that ... by far this is the most terrible event of our company, and we have the full trust in our pilots ... they are an integral part of our brand and ... what has happened here is an individual event."
German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said that "according to the current state of knowledge and after comparing information that we have, [Lubitz] does not have a terrorist background."
Mr Robin refused to describe the crash as a suicide.
"People who commit suicide usually do so alone ... when we have the lives of 150 passengers involved, I can't call this a suicide," he said.
Mr Robin said the black box cockpit recording recovered from the wreckage suggested passengers did not realise what was happening until the last moment. He said they died "instantly".
German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incident as "truly more than shocking".
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-26/germanwings-co-pilot-crashed-plane-deliberately-prosecutor-says/6351854
A Marseille prosecutor says the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that perished in the French Alps appears to have crashed the plane deliberately.
Prosecutor Brice Robin said the action of manipulating "what is called the flight monitoring system in order to embark on the descent of the plane", could "only be deliberate".
"I repeat, when he was alone, in charge of the Airbus, the co-pilot started the flight monitoring system to get the plane to descend," he said.
"The action on this altitude selector can only be voluntary, I repeat action on this altitude selector can only be deliberate."
The German citizen, named by Mr Robin as Andreas Lubitz, 28, was left in sole control of the Airbus A320 after the captain left the cockpit.
He then refused to re-open the door and pressed a button that sent the jet into its fatal descent, Mr Robin said.
Mr Robin said co-pilot Lubitz took advantage of the absence of the pilot, but it was unclear whether he knew the pilot would leave the cockpit when he did.
He said that "one can then hear several calls from the commander asking to be allowed into the cockpit", but there was no answer.
"He knocked on the door and there was no answer from the co-pilot either," he said.
"One can then hear the noise of human breathing within the cockpit, and that human breathing noise can be heard until the final impact which means that theoretically the co-pilot was alive.
"Then, one hears contact also from the Marseille air traffic control tower, but no answer from the co-pilot, even though the Marseille control tower tried getting in touch with him several times.
"But we can analyse it that the intention was to destroy this plane."
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said Lubitz had undergone the requisite training and that he was fit for flying.
"His performance was without any criticism," Mr Spohr said.
"The few hours after having heard this, we can only speculate on what might have been the motivation of the co-pilot.
"I would like to say that ... by far this is the most terrible event of our company, and we have the full trust in our pilots ... they are an integral part of our brand and ... what has happened here is an individual event."
German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said that "according to the current state of knowledge and after comparing information that we have, [Lubitz] does not have a terrorist background."
Mr Robin refused to describe the crash as a suicide.
"People who commit suicide usually do so alone ... when we have the lives of 150 passengers involved, I can't call this a suicide," he said.
Mr Robin said the black box cockpit recording recovered from the wreckage suggested passengers did not realise what was happening until the last moment. He said they died "instantly".
German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incident as "truly more than shocking".
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-26/germanwings-co-pilot-crashed-plane-deliberately-prosecutor-says/6351854