Summary of prosecutor's press conference
Here are the main points of the press conference held by the Marseille public prosecutor, Brice Robin.
The co-pilot of the Germanwings jet that crashed in the French Alps deliberately forced the plane into the descent that led to the disaster, the prosecutor said. He pressed a button that accelerated the Airbus A320’s descent when alone in the cockpit. “It was a voluntary action,” Robin said.
The co-pilot - named by the prosecutor as Andreas Lubitz, 28, a German citizen, was alone because the pilot had gone to the toilet. When he returned, the co-pilot refused to open the door. “The intention was to destroy this plane,” he said.
Lubitz was breathing normally at the point of impact, the prosecutor reveals. He said nothing during the final descent, which lasted about 10 minutes. “Absolute silence inside the cockpit. Nothing, no word during the last 10 minutes.”
There was no indication that Lubitz’s actions amounted to terrorism, Robin said. But he stopped short of declaring it suicide, saying only that was a “legitimate” question to ask.
Cries could be heard just before the impact, the prosecutor said. “The death would have been sudden, immediate.”
Air traffic controllers attempted to contract the plane in the last few minutes before the crash but received no reply from the cockpit.
Robin said he had briefed the families of the dead.