SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France — Germanwings Flight 9525 took off from Barcelona en route to Duesseldorf, climbing up over the Mediterranean and turning over France.
At 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Airbus A320 began to descend. Within 10 minutes it had plunged from 38,000 feet to just over 6,000 feet and slammed into a mountainside.
Investigators have been analyzing the mangled black box that contains an audio recording from the cockpit. Remi Jouty, the head of France’s accident investigation bureau BEA, said Wednesday that it has yielded sounds and voices, but so far not the “slightest explanation” of why the plane crashed, killing all 150 on board.
A newspaper report, however, suggests the audio contains intriguing information at the least: One of the pilots is heard leaving the cockpit, then banging on the door with increasing urgency in an unsuccessful attempt to get back in.
“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer,” The New York Times quotes an unidentified investigator as saying. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.” Eventually, the newspaper quotes the investigator as saying: “You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”
The investigator, whom the newspaper said could not be identified because the investigation is continuing, said officials don’t know why the pilot left. He also does not speculate on why the other pilot didn’t open the door or make contact with ground control before the crash.
Confusion surrounded the second black box. French President Francois Hollande said the casing of the flight data recorder had been found in the scattered debris, but was missing its memory card that captures 25 hours’ worth of information on the position and condition of almost every major part in a plane.
Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said the airline was in the process of contacting victims’ families. He said there were 144 passengers and six crew members. The three Americans on board included Yvonne Selke and her daughter, Emily, both of Virginia, officials said.
