Marseilles, France prosecutor Brice Robin has reported today that the co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings A320 flight probably crashed the plane deliberately.
During the crash “the co-pilot is alone at the controls,” said prosecutor Brice Robin. The conclusion is based on information gathered from the black box recorder.
Analysis of the black box voice recorder, the co-pilot voluntarily refused to open the door for the pilot, and voluntarily began the descent of the plane. The pilot outside the cockpit is heard knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer. The pilot hits the door stronger, and no answer. There is no reply from the co-pilot inside the cockpit.
This is believed to be a pic of Andreas Lubitz. Updates on the remarks he deliberately crashed http://t.co/L8qr5Lp1c1 pic.twitter.com/20K6cPPpoP
— Telegraph World News (@TelegraphWorld) March 26, 2015
Early in the investigation it was understood that one of the pilots was locked out of the cockpit before the Germanwings plane descended. The pilot knocked on the door and tried to get back inside the cockpit of Flight 4U 9525, but there was no answer.
The First Officer was Andreas Lubitz, about 28-years-old. Lubitz was from Montabaur, Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, and joined Germanwings in September 2013 immediately after graduating from the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen. Lubitz had 630 flight hours. In the United States, 1500 hours of flight experience are required for a First Officer.
According to Lufthansa, the pilot was also trained at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen. The pilot, “Captain Patrik S,” had over 6,000 flight hours of flying experience, and joined Germanwings in May 2014. He was previously a pilot with Lufthansa and Condor — a Lufthansa partner airline.
The aircraft crashed Tuesday near Digne-les-Bains in the French Alps. The A320 aircraft hit the French Alps mountainside at over 400 miles per hour in one of worst aviation disasters in France. Suspicions were raised when the aircraft passed an airport near the flight path, and didn’t make an emergency landing.
The New York Times is reporting there is evidence that one of the pilots on Germanwings Flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit when the plane crashed. Last night CNN’s aviation correspondent Richard Quest said the chance of pilot committing a homicide/suicide was unlikely.
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