Germanwings crash co-pilot ‘practised rapid descent’ on earlier flight
The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane which crashed in the French Alps while travelling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf is believed to have practiced a rapid descent on a previous flight on the same aircraft earlier the same day, according to a German newspaper report.
It claimed French investigators had revealed Andreas Lubitz had tried a controlled, minute-long descent on an outbound flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona that morning.
The newspaper quoted sources close to the investigation saying there was no aeronautical reason for the descent on the outbound flight on March 24, just hours before the Airbus 320 crashed on the return flight, killing all 150 people onboard.
The French authorities are due to publish an interim report on the investigation into the fatal crash on March 24 later today.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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