Headlines
Germanwings won't say if pilot was locked out of cockpit
Berlin, March 26
German budget airline
Germanwings announced on Thursday morning that it could neither confirm
nor deny media reports that a pilot of its A320 flight was locked out of
the cockpit before the plane crashed in southern French Alps.
"We
have not received any information from the authorities leading the
investigation and, therefore, can neither confirm nor deny the reports,"
Xinhua news agency quoted the Cologne-based company as saying in a
statement.
An earlier report in the New York Times revealed that
one of the two pilots of the crashed flight 4U9525 left the cockpit
before the plane's descent and was unable to get back in.
"The
guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer, and
then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer,
and you can hear he is trying to smash the door down," a senior military
official involved in the investigation was quoted as saying.
"We
don't know yet the reason why the pilot went out, but what is sure is
that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does
not open the door," he said.
Germanwings said it was working on
obtaining more information but would not participate in "any kind of
speculation", adding that the investigation on causes of the "accident"
falls to the authorities responsible.
On Wednesday, Lufthansa,
the parent company of Germanwings, said the crash was inexplicable as
the aircraft was in good condition and pilots were experienced.
"We
cannot comprehend how a technically flawless airplane steered by two
experienced pilots could encounter such a situation at cruising
altitude," said Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr in a statement.
"We cannot believe that this has happened."
German Interior
Minister Thomas de Maiziere, however, warned against speculation about
causes of the crash, saying that there was no reliable evidence that a
third party was involved in the tragedy.
The Germanwings flight's
descent for eight minutes started shortly after reaching its cruising
altitude of 38,000 feet en route from Spain's Barcelona to Germany's
Duesseldorf on Tuesday and crashed in the southern French Alps with 144
passengers and six crew members on board. No one is expected to have
survived the crash.