Initial tests on the flight data recorder recovered from downed Germanwings Flight 9525 show that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz purposely used the controls to speed up the plane’s descent, according to the French air accident investigation agency, the BEA.
The flight data recorder, or “black box,” was found Thursday by recovery teams who’ve spent days since the March 24 crash scouring the mountainside in the French Alps where the plane impacted.
A statement from the BEA said its teams had immediately begun to investigate its contents.
“A first reading shows that this pilot in the cockpit used the autopilot to engage the aircraft down an altitude of 100 feet, and on several occasions during the descent, the pilot changed the driver setting automatically to increase the speed of the plane descending,” it said.
“Work continues to determine the specific parameters of the flight.”