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On the audio from the recovered flight recorder, a pilot seat can be heard being pushed back, the doors of the cockpit opened and closed, and then unanswered knocking on the door, a source told AFP, adding that "there was no more conversation from that point until the crash."
It could not be determined who exactly - the captain or the first officer – left the cockpit. The two were speaking normally at the beginning of the flight.
The same source said the sound of alarm indicating the proximity to the ground could also be heard on the recording just before the crash.
An investigator interviewed by The New York Times, who wished to remain anonymous, described in greater detail how the pilot left outside the cockpit was trying to make his way back.
“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door, and there is no answer,” the investigator said. “And then he hits the door stronger, and no answer. There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down.”
The New York Times source said it was not clear why a pilot left the cockpit, but it was evident “that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door.”
Lufthansa was not able to immediately confirm reports of a pilot being locked outside the cockpit of the crashed Airbus 320, a spokesman for the company told DPA news.
The reports have contributed to the mystery surrounding the doomed Germanwings flight, which started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height and continued to lose altitude for eight minutes before crashing in the mountains of Southern France, killing all 150 people on board. The crew never sent out a distress signal.
READ MORE: Germanwings A320 passenger plane crashes in Southern France
One of the two flight recorders was found a few hours after the crash. Only the casing for the second one was recovered with no contents inside, according to AFP.
READ MORE: Germanwings A320 black box found in French Alps
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