– Descent button –
Investigators say Lubitz’s intention was clear because he operated a button sending the plane into a plunge.
The French prosecutor played down the likelihood of Lubitz accidentally taking the plane down with an involuntary turn of the descent button.
“If you passed out and leaned over on it, it would only go a quarter-way and do nothing,” Robin said, adding Lubitz, who had worked for the Lufthansa group since 2013, had set the controls to “accelerate the plane’s descent”.
For the next eight minutes, Lubitz was apparently calm and breathing normally.
“He does not say a single word. Total silence,” Robin said.
The second-in-command had all psychological tests required for training, Lufthansa’s Spohr told reporters Thursday, insisting: “He was 100-percent airworthy.”
Recovery operations at the crash site were ongoing, with French officials trying to find body parts and evidence. A second black box, which records flight data, has not yet been recovered.
“There’s not much plane debris left. There’s mainly a lot of body parts to pick up. The operation could last another two weeks,” said police spokesman Xavier Vialenc.
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