Co-pilot locked pilot from cockpit, deliberately initiated descent - prosecutor

At a press conference on Thursday, Marseille's public prosecutor Brice Robin said investigators analyzing the audio recorded in the cockpit of the Germanwings plane that crashed on Tuesday have come to the conclusion that the co-pilot of the plane, named as 28-year-old German Andreas Lubitz, intentionally initiated a descent from a normal cruising altitude that eventually led to the crash of the plane.

Robin described the events that investigators had pieced together from the audio recording as follows:

After taking off, the pilots conversed in a normal manner for the first 20 minutes of the flight. Upon reaching a normal cruising altitude, the pilot asked the co-pilot to take over the controls before getting up and leaving the cockpit.

At this point, the co-pilot deliberately initiated a descent of the airplane.

Shortly after, the pilot repeatedly attempted to communicate via the plane's telephone system that he'd like to be let back in. The co-pilot did not respond. The pilot then tried knocking on the door, but there was no reaction from the cockpit.

Robin said the co-pilot did not utter a single word during the eight-minute descent before the crash, but could be heard breathing normally.

Flight controllers in Marseille attempted to contact the plane due to the unscheduled descent, but the co-pilot did not react.

Eventually, as the plane neared the ground, the automatic ground proximity alarm sounded, but there was no reaction by the co-pilot. The pilot can be heard trying to break through the door. Immediately before impact, screams can be heard from the passengers in the back, but Robin said there was no indication they knew what was happening until immediately before impact.