Pilot tried to “smash” down Germanwings cockpit door
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One of the pilots of the Germanwings flight that crashed in France this week was locked out of the cockpit, and tried to “smash the door down” to regain entry, it has emerged.
The New York Times reported an unnamed “senior military official”, who is said to have listened to the aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder, as saying that one of the pilots started knocking on the cockpit door in the lead up to the crash. The response of the pilot who remained inside the cockpit wasn’t revealed, but he did not open the door.
“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” the investigator told the New York Times, on condition of anonymity. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”
The official added that “at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone”.
Investigators have also confirmed that the Airbus A320 did not explode in mid-air, but the exact cause of the crash, which occurred at cruising altitude – the safest part of a flight – remains unclear. The search continues for the flight data recorder, which would reveal the flight’s technical data, and whether it suffered any mechanical problems.
All 150 passengers and crew were killed when the Barcelona–Dusseldorf flight crashed in the French Alps.
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