2nd black box confirms co-pilot crashed plane

Paris, April 3

“A first reading shows that the pilot in the cockpit used the automatic pilot to descend the plane towards an altitude of 100 feet (30 metres),” said the French BEA crash investigation office in a statement.

“Then, several times during the descent, the pilot changed the automatic pilot settings to increase the aircraft’s speed,” added the investigators. The latest information appeared to confirm the theory that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately smashed his plane into the mountains, killing all 150 people on board. Authorities found the second black box, which contains technical flight data, yesterday after a gruelling nine-day search in difficult mountain terrain.

The box, found blackened by the fireball and buried deep in the mountain scree, was transported to Paris late yesterday and specialist investigators began to analyse the data immediately. “Work is continuing to determine the precise sequence of events during the flight,” the BEA said.

Data from the first black box, which records conversations in the cockpit, suggested that Lubitz, 27, locked his captain out and then deliberately set the plane on a deadly collision course with the mountains. The plane smashed into the mountains last week at a speed of 700 kilometres an hour, instantly killing everyone on board. — AFP