Prosecutor: Passengers shrieked as jet crashed into Alps
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A French prosecutor revealed audio from a cockpit recorder shows that the co-pilot intentionally sent Germanwings Flight 9525 into its doomed descent. He is identified as 28-year-old German national Andreas Lubitz. VPC
The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps deliberately worked to destroy the plane while passengers shrieked in terror and the pilot pounded on the cockpit door, a French prosecutor said at a news conference Thursday in Marseille.
"This was voluntary, this was deliberate," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. "He refused to open the cabin door in order to let the pilot back in. I repeat. He refused to let the pilot back in. He is the one who pressed the button that allowed the plane to begin descending and lose altitude."
The information was obtained from the cockpit voice recorder of doomed Flight 9525, which suddenly began an eight-minute descent before smashing into the mountains Tuesday. The data recorder for the Barcelona to Düsseldorf, Germany, flight has not yet been found.
Robin said the co-pilot, identified as German national Andreas Lubitz, 28, was not on a terror watch list. Lubitz said nothing during the descent, but could be heard breathing until the crash, Robin said.
"The co-pilot is the only one in the cockpit,' Robin said. "While he is alone he somehow manipulated the buttons on the flight monitoring system. He was alone at the helm of this Airbus 320."
Robin stressed the actions were deliberate. He said passengers could be heard screaming in fear.
"We start hearing banging, someone actually trying to break the door down," Robin said. "That's why the alarms were let off — because these were protocols that were put in place in case of any terror attack."
Robin said the plane apparently glided until it crashed into the ravine, a sound heard on the voice recorder.
"Again, no distress signal, zero, no 'help me' or SOS," he said. "Nothing of this sort was received by air-traffic control."
Robin said the voice recorder indicated dialogue between the pilot and co-pilot was normal. Robin said informed the families of the developments and that they were in shock.
German carrier Lufthansa, which owns the low-cost airline, offered special flights from Barcelona and Düsseldorf to Marseille, so that those close to the victims can be near the scene of the search and recovery efforts in the French Alps.
Lufthansa tweeted immediately after Robin spoke: "We are shaken by the upsetting statements of the French authorities. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and friends of the victims."
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said he was left "speechless" by Robin's horrifying description of events, but said evidence thus far supports them.
"This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate," Spohr said. "The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot, through a voluntary act, 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."
A picture circulating on the internet and social networks allegedly shows Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in California. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Lufthansa said Lubitz joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours. Spohr said the co-pilot began training in Bremen, Germany, in 2008 and later in Arizona. He said there was a brief interruption in his training in 2009 but that he had completed qualifications for the job. Lubitz was included in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's database of certified pilots.
"He passed all medical tests, he passed all aviation tests, he passed all checks," Spohr said. "He was 100% able to fly without any limitations, without any reservations. His accomplishments were excellent. Nothing was noticed that wasn't proper."
Spohr said there were no indications that the co-pilot was dealing with a terrorist incident in the cockpit.
"We are speechless at Lufthansa and Germanwings," Spohr said. "We are shocked."
Officials have not identified the pilot, but multiple media outlets have identified him as Patrick Sonderheimer. He had more than 6,000 hours of flying time and had been Germanwings pilot since May 2014, having previously flown for Lufthansa and Condor. Robin said Sonderheimer's family is in France and would be interviewed by investigators.
A police officer stands in front of an apartment building Thursday where the co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings jet is believed to have lived in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Photo: Martin Meissner, AP)
All 150 passengers and crew aboard the Germanwings Airbus A320 flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf were killed, including three Americans. Two were identified as Yvonne Selke, a contract worker for Booz Allen Hamilton, and her daughter, Emily Selke, a 2013 graduate of Drexel University, both from Nokesville, Va.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed an additional American fatality but did not identify the victim.
Among the victims confirmed by the airline were 72 Germans and 35 Spaniards. There were two victims each from Australia, Argentina, Iran and Venezuela. One each came from Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Israel.
A moment of silence was held Thursday at Joseph-Koenig High School in Haltern Am See in west Germany, which lost 16 10th-graders and two teachers in the crash.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara
Questions remain as French investigators uncover a cockpit voice recorder belonging to the Germanwings flight that crashed killing 150 people Tuesday. Meanwhile, cities across Europe mourn the victims. (March 25) AP
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Co-pilot 'deliberately' crashed Germanwings plane
Mar 26, 2015
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Prosecutor: Passengers shrieked as jet crashed into Alps
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A French prosecutor revealed audio from a cockpit recorder shows that the co-pilot intentionally sent Germanwings Flight 9525 into its doomed descent. He is identified as 28-year-old German national Andreas Lubitz. VPC
The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps deliberately worked to destroy the plane while passengers shrieked in terror and the pilot pounded on the cockpit door, a French prosecutor said at a news conference Thursday in Marseille.
"This was voluntary, this was deliberate," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said. "He refused to open the cabin door in order to let the pilot back in. I repeat. He refused to let the pilot back in. He is the one who pressed the button that allowed the plane to begin descending and lose altitude."
The information was obtained from the cockpit voice recorder of doomed Flight 9525, which suddenly began an eight-minute descent before smashing into the mountains Tuesday. The data recorder for the Barcelona to Düsseldorf, Germany, flight has not yet been found.
Robin said the co-pilot, identified as German national Andreas Lubitz, 28, was not on a terror watch list. Lubitz said nothing during the descent, but could be heard breathing until the crash, Robin said.
"The co-pilot is the only one in the cockpit,' Robin said. "While he is alone he somehow manipulated the buttons on the flight monitoring system. He was alone at the helm of this Airbus 320."
Robin stressed the actions were deliberate. He said passengers could be heard screaming in fear.
"We start hearing banging, someone actually trying to break the door down," Robin said. "That's why the alarms were let off — because these were protocols that were put in place in case of any terror attack."
Robin said the plane apparently glided until it crashed into the ravine, a sound heard on the voice recorder.
"Again, no distress signal, zero, no 'help me' or SOS," he said. "Nothing of this sort was received by air-traffic control."
Robin said the voice recorder indicated dialogue between the pilot and co-pilot was normal. Robin said informed the families of the developments and that they were in shock.
German carrier Lufthansa, which owns the low-cost airline, offered special flights from Barcelona and Düsseldorf to Marseille, so that those close to the victims can be near the scene of the search and recovery efforts in the French Alps.
Lufthansa tweeted immediately after Robin spoke: "We are shaken by the upsetting statements of the French authorities. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families and friends of the victims."
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said he was left "speechless" by Robin's horrifying description of events, but said evidence thus far supports them.
"This action on the altitude controls can only be deliberate," Spohr said. "The most plausible interpretation is that the co-pilot, through a voluntary act, 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."
A picture circulating on the internet and social networks allegedly shows Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in California. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Lufthansa said Lubitz joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours. Spohr said the co-pilot began training in Bremen, Germany, in 2008 and later in Arizona. He said there was a brief interruption in his training in 2009 but that he had completed qualifications for the job. Lubitz was included in the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's database of certified pilots.
"He passed all medical tests, he passed all aviation tests, he passed all checks," Spohr said. "He was 100% able to fly without any limitations, without any reservations. His accomplishments were excellent. Nothing was noticed that wasn't proper."
Spohr said there were no indications that the co-pilot was dealing with a terrorist incident in the cockpit.
"We are speechless at Lufthansa and Germanwings," Spohr said. "We are shocked."
Officials have not identified the pilot, but multiple media outlets have identified him as Patrick Sonderheimer. He had more than 6,000 hours of flying time and had been Germanwings pilot since May 2014, having previously flown for Lufthansa and Condor. Robin said Sonderheimer's family is in France and would be interviewed by investigators.
A police officer stands in front of an apartment building Thursday where the co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings jet is believed to have lived in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Photo: Martin Meissner, AP)
All 150 passengers and crew aboard the Germanwings Airbus A320 flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf were killed, including three Americans. Two were identified as Yvonne Selke, a contract worker for Booz Allen Hamilton, and her daughter, Emily Selke, a 2013 graduate of Drexel University, both from Nokesville, Va.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed an additional American fatality but did not identify the victim.
Among the victims confirmed by the airline were 72 Germans and 35 Spaniards. There were two victims each from Australia, Argentina, Iran and Venezuela. One each came from Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Belgium and Israel.
A moment of silence was held Thursday at Joseph-Koenig High School in Haltern Am See in west Germany, which lost 16 10th-graders and two teachers in the crash.
Contributing: Jane Onyanga-Omara
Questions remain as French investigators uncover a cockpit voice recorder belonging to the Germanwings flight that crashed killing 150 people Tuesday. Meanwhile, cities across Europe mourn the victims. (March 25) AP
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1bwwkVc
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Co-pilot 'deliberately' crashed Germanwings plane
Mar 26, 2015
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