Accidents
Prosecutor Says Germanwings Copilot Purposely Crashed A320
CVR recordings indicate copilot refused captain's re-entry into cockpit
Information from the flight data recorder recovered from the wreckage of the Germanwings A320 could go a long way to explaining how it crashed in the French Alps. [Photo: Emmanuel Foudrot]
Information from the flight data recorder recovered from the wreckage of the Germanwings A320 could go a long way to explaining how it crashed in the French Alps. [Photo: Emmanuel Foudrot]

The copilot of the Germanwings A320 that crashed in France on Tuesday deliberately placed the airplane into a controlled descent while the pilot in command tried to re-enter the cockpit after leaving his seat, according to French authorities. Speaking at a press conference in Marseille on Thursday, French prosecutor Brice Robin said the flight's captain asked the 28-year-old German copilot, Andreas Lubitz, to take control of the aircraft 20 minutes into the flight, while the airplane flew on autopilot at 38,000 feet. The captain then left the cockpit, presumably to use the lavatory, leaving Lubitz in full control. Germanwings is the low-cost subsidiary of German flagcarrier Lufthansa.