UPDATED: Co-pilot of Germanwings flight ‘intentionally started descent’

UPDATED: 12:00hrs, 26 March 2015

The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed into the French Alps took sole control of plane and intentionally started the descent, reports the BBC.

It follows investigators claiming 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.

He was heard lightly knocking on the door initially before trying to smash the door down, according to a report in the New York Times.

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.

Lufthansa and Germanwings have announced a press conference to be held this afternoon where Carsten Spohr, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, together with Thomas Winkelmann, spokesperson of the executive board, Germanwings, will ‘give further details’ on the accident.

So far the airline has been quoted saying: “We have no information from the authorities that confirms this report and we are seeking more information. We will not take part in speculation on the causes of the crash.”

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 centre – 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.

Passengers as well as airport and airline staff signed a condolence book at the airport.

Germanwings had to cancel several flights following the crash because some crews declared themselves unfit to fly due to ’emotional distress’.

The airline said it understood their decision and relied on the support of crews from other airlines to fly all but one of its services on Wednesday.

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.