The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday appeared to want to “destroy the plane”, French prosecutors said, the BBC reports.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing information from the “black box” voice recorder, said the co-pilot was alone in the cockpit.
He intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out.
Mr Robin said there was “absolute silence in the cockpit” as the pilot fought to re-enter it.
The co-pilot, now named as Andreas Lubitz, was alive until the final impact, the prosecutors added.
The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf hit a mountain on Tuesday after a rapid eight-minute descent.
