What we know about crash copilot

'Took the plane down' ... copilot Andreas Lubitz, 28, lived with his parents and had begun flying as a teenager. Picture: Twitter Source: Supplied

A French prosecutor says the Germanwings plane most probably crashed by voluntary descension.

THE copilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday was Andreas Lubitz, 28, of Montabaur, Germany.

Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin has said that Lubitz probably crashed the plane "intentionally".

He had "deliberate desire to destroy this plane," Mr Robin said. He ... refused to open the door of the cockpit to the pilot and deliberately began the descent of the plane."

Solo ... a file photo shows the what the cockpit of an A320 looks like. Source: Supplied

Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said that it appears the captain punched in the emergency number into the cockpit door to gain entry, but the copilot deployed the five-minute override.

Mr Robin said there is no indication this was an act of terrorism, but stopped short of declaring it suicide, saying only it was a "legitimate" question to ask. On the question of suicide, Mr Spohr said: "We can only speculate what might have been the motivation of the copilot. In a company that prides itself on its safety record, this is a shock. We select cockpit personnel carefully."

He said that 28-year-old Lubitz had passed all psychological tests required to begin training and underwent regular physical examinations.

Mr Robin refused to give details on the pilot's religion or ethnic background, saying: "I don't think it's necessarily what we should be looking for."

German authorities were expected to provide additional information on his background and private life later on Thursday or Friday, he added.

Lived at home ... police hold media away from the house where Andreas Lubitz lived in Montabaur, Germany. Picture: AP Photo/Michael Probst Source: AP

Lubitz lived with his parents in Montabaur and also kept an apartment in Dusseldorf, a Germanwings hub, according to Montabaur mayor Gabriele Wieland. The town of Montabaur published a news release on Thursday expressing sympathy with the family, although it did not name Lubitz.

Lubitz was also identified by a flight club at which he was a member, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"Andreas became a member of the club as a youth to fulfil his dream of flying," the Luftsportclub Westerwald said in a death notice on its website. "He began as a gliding student and made it to become a pilots on an Airbus 320."

"He fulfilled his dream, the dream he now paid for so dearly with his life," the club said.

"He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well," glider club member Peter Ruecker told the Independent. "He gave off a good feeling."

The copilot joined Germanwings in September 2013 and had about 630 flight hours. He joined Germanwings straight from the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen, the London Telegraph reports.

Lubitz first worked as a flight attendant, according to Thomas Winkelmann, the Greenwings managing director, who said there was nothing unusual in the results of Lubitz's training.

Childhood dream ... aviation club member Peter Ruecker stands beside a glider that was flown by Andreas Lubitz in the hangar of the club in Montabaur, Germany. Picture: AP Photo/Michael Probst Source: AP

Mr Robin outlined the last moments of the doomed plane in a chilling account of Lubitz's actions.

"For the first 20 minutes of the flight, the pilots spoke in a normal way, you could say cheerful and courteous," Mr Robin said. "We heard the flight commander prepare the briefing for landing at Dusseldorf and the response of the copilot seemed laconic. Then we heard the commander ask the copilot to take the controls.

Mr Robin said the copilot's responses, initially courteous, became "curt" when the captain began the mid-flight briefing on the planned landing of the Germanwings flight which crashed in France, killing 150 people.

He told a press conference the actions that took the plane down occurred during the last eight minutes of the flight, the Guardian reports.

Mr Robin said the copilot could be heard breathing right up until the point of impact, suggesting he had not lost consciousness. However, he failed to respond to increasingly desperate calls from the commander trying to break down the cockpit door, or to air traffic controllers.

Devastation ... the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus in the French Alps, near Seyne, France. Picture: F Balsamo/Gendarmerie nationale/Ministere de l'Interieur via Getty Images Source: Getty Images

"Forty-eight hours after the crash … the interpretation for us is that the copilot deliberately refused to open the door of the cockpit to the flight commander, and pushed the button causing a loss of altitude."

While the copilot was alone at the controls, he initiated the descent of the plane, selecting the altitude in such a way that could only have occurred deliberately.

Young flyer ... copilot Andreas Lubitz joined Germanwings straight from the Lufthansa Flight Training School in September 2013 and had about 630 flight hours. Picture: AFP/Patrik Stollarz Source: AFP

"We heard several calls from the flight commander asking for access to the cockpit," Mr Robin said. "There was a visual and audio interphone and he identified himself. There was no response from the copilot.

"We heard at the same time the sound of a seat being pushed back and the sound of a door closing."

The captain has been identified as Patrick Sonderheimer. According to Bild and Europe1, Sonderheimer was married and the father of two children. He had more than 6000 flight hours, mostly on Airbus jets.

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