A Germanwings A320 pilot left the cockpit before the crash
One of the two Germanwings A320 pilots left the cabin and was not able to re-enter
- The black box indicated that he was knocking on the door and got no response
One of the pilots of the Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday may have been inadvertently locked out of the cockpit, a military officer involved in the investigation said.
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The same source told The New York Times that during the first part of the flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, a "very quiet" conversation between the pilots was heard. However, the audio indicates that "one of the pilots left the cabin and could not get back in."
He was knocking on the door and there was no response
"He was knocking on the door and there was no response," added the military officer, who commented that the intensity of the knocks increased without a response. The reason why the pilot left the cockpit remains unknown.
Nevertheless, in remarks to German news agency DPA a Lufthansa spokesman denied the veracity of that report. "We have no information to confirm what was published in the New York Times," he said.
It has also been confirmed that the the aircraft did not issue a distress call.