Co-pilot ‘intentionally’ started descent of Germanwings plane
The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed into the French Alps took sole control of plane and intentionally started the descent, a French public prosecutor has said.
The co-pilot has been identified as 28-year old Andreas Lubitz.
It follows investigators’ comments that according to voice recordings from one of the ‘black boxes’, one of the two pilots was locked out of the cockpit before the crash.
The flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain on Tuesday after a rapid eight-minute descent from 38,000ft to 6,800ft without any distress call.
Experts have already ruled out the weather, as there were no significant storms in the area, and US officials have said there is no suspicion of terrorism.
“We have just learned of the shocking comments of the French prosecutor in which it is said that the co-pilot apparently deliberately crashed the plane,” Lufthansa posted on its Twitter feed.
France’s BEA air incident investigation bureau had previously said it was too early to draw meaningful conclusions on why the plane went down.
It said the plane started descending a minute after reaching cruising height and lost altitude for over nine minutes.
The grieving families of the 150 victims of the Germanwings crash are being given the opportunity to fly over the crash site in helicopters.
Lufthansa is operating two special flights today – one from Barcelona and one from Duesseldorf – to Marseille, and both groups will travel on by road, reports the BBC.
Locals in the French village of Seyne-les-Alpes – the crash crisis center – have offered to host bereaved families due to a shortage of rooms to rent.
Families of the crash victims are also being given the support of specially-trained counsellors to help them deal with their loss.
Passengers and crew from 18 countries, including two babies and a group of 16 German school children, were killed when the A320 came down in a remote area of the French Alps on Tuesday.
A memorial took place on Wednesday at Duesseldorf Airport, where the aircraft had departed on the morning of the crash.
The same flights operated on Wednesday but with different numbers and taking a different route in a mark of respect for the victims.
The political leaders of Germany, France and Spain have now visited the site, where investigators continue to work to establish what caused the aircraft’s tragic descent.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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