Co-pilot deliberately crashed Airbus jet, French prosecutor says

The chief Marseille, France, prosecutor handling the investigation into the crash of a Germanwings jetliner said on Thursday that evidence from the cockpit voice recorder indicated the co-pilot had deliberately locked the captain out of the cockpit and steered the plane into its fatal descent.

“At this moment, in light of investigation, the interpretation we can give at this time is that the co-pilot through voluntary abstention refused to open the door of the cockpit to the commander, and activated the button that commands the loss of altitude,” the prosecutor, Brice Robin, said, according to the New York Times.

The flight, an Airbus A320 operated by the budget carrier Germanwings, crashed in the French Alps on its way to Dusseldorf, Germany, from Barcelona, Spain, on Tuesday morning. The crash killed 144 passengers and six crew members.

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