Germanwings co-pilot attempted rapid descent on earlier flight
The co-pilot of the Germanwings plane which crashed in March had practiced a rapid descent on an earlier flight that day, according to a report by French investigators.
Andreas Lubitz repeatedly set the plane into an unauthorized descent during a flight between Barcelona and Duesseldorf on 24 March, having locked the flight captain out of the cockpit.
The report also revealed that on multiple occasions, while the pilot was absent, the the altitude dial was set to the lowest possible reading of 100ft (30m), despite instructions by air traffic control in Bordeaux to set it to 35,000ft and then 21,000ft.
Over a five minute period, the the dial was then set to the maximum altitude of 49,000ft.
Last month German prosecutors revealed that Lubitz, who had a history of depression, had researched suicide methods and the security of cockpit doors.
Lubitz is suspected of intentionally crashing the Airbus 320, killing all 150 people on board, after voice recordings suggested he locked the pilot out of the cockpit.