“What has happened here is something we never could have imagined…If a person takes another 149 people to death, suicide is not the right word” – Lufthansa CEO
Black box recordings have been released and reviewed from Germanwings Flight 4U9525 that crashed yesterday in the French Alps.  It has been discovered by French investigators and also Lufthansa (Germanwings’ parent company) officials that the co-pilot of the flight, Andreas Lubitz, purposely drove the plane into a descent, causing the plane to crash in the mountains below.  In a press conference with the Lufthansa CEO Thursday, prosecutors cited information from the in-flight recorder that audibly displayed the pilot breathing normally and refusing to let the flight’s captain back into the cockpit. Screaming was heard in the last moments of the flight, as the crew tried to break down the reinforced door.
Unlike in the US after 9/11, European guidelines do not mandate that 2 pilots must be present in the cockpit at any given time. Â This allowed the co-pilot to gain complete, uninterrupted, control over the aircraft.
According to the Lufthansa CEO this morning, there is no evidence at this time of what the co-pilots motive was, and he was not on any list of  known terrorists at all.
This story is breaking, so check back for updates as they develop.
UPDATE 11:04EST: FBI officials have stated French investigators are seeking their assistance on this incident (NBCNews)
-Curt Cramer (@CurtisRemarc)
