Germanwings plane crash: Co-pilot 'wanted to destroy plane'
From the section[size=1.3]Europe
[size=1.3]Rescue teams resumed their recovery operation in the mountains on ThursdayAlps plane crash[size=1.6]Germanwings: What are the main lines of inquiry?
[size=1.6]Alps plane crash: What we know
[size=1.6]The victims of the Germanwings plane crash
[size=1.6]The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday appeared to want to "destroy the plane", French officials said. [size=1.6]Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit. [size=1.6]He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out. [size=1.6]Mr Robin said there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter it. [size=1.6]The co-pilot, now named as Andreas Lubitz, 28, was alive until the final impact, the prosecutors added. [size=1.6]The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew, after a rapid eight-minute descent. [size=1.6]"We hear the pilot ask the co-pilot to take control of the plane and we hear at the same time the sound of a seat moving backwards and the sound of a door closing," Mr Robin told reporters. [size=1.6]"At that moment, the co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself. While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the aeroplane. [size=1.6]"This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate." [size=1.6]He added: "The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot through a voluntary act had refused to open the cabin door to let the captain in. He pushed the button to trigger the aircraft to lose altitude. He operated this button for a reason we don't know yet, but it appears that the reason was to destroy this plane." [size=1.6]Mr Robin added that air traffic controllers made repeated attempts to contact the aircraft, but to no avail. [size=1.6]The co-pilot was not known to have any links with terrorism, he said.
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