Germanwings Co-pilot Deliberately Crashed Plane

Brice Robin, the Marseille public prosecutor, told a press conference that the co-pilot of the Germanwings jet that went down in the French Alps, killing 150 people, had crashed the plane deliberately.

Robin said Thursday that the co-pilot, identified as Andreas Lubitz, 28, a German citizen, had pressed a button to accelerate the Airbus A320's descent when alone in the cockpit, according to reports of The Guardian.

Citing the results of the analysis of the audio recorded in the cockpit of the Germanwings plane, Robin made clear that Lubitz had been left alone as the pilot had gone to the toilet.

He had refused to open the door to the pilot upon his return, seeking to destroy the plane.

Lubitz had been breathing normally at the point of impact and had said nothing during the final descent which had lasted about 8 minutes.

Robin ruled out a terrorist motive for Lubitz's actions.

He told journalists that air traffic controllers in Marseille had attempted to contact the plane in the last few minutes before the crash but the co-pilot had not replied.

The prosecutor said that the recovery of the bodies would probably continue until the end of next week.

The plane crash on Tuesday claimed the lives of 144 passengers and six crew members of Germanwings flight 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.