Alps crash final moments revealed as recording transcript published

More details of the final moments of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 have emerged as investigators find the DNA of more than half the victims of the crash. A summary of the transcript of recordings from the voice recorder on board the aircraft reveals co-pilot Andreas Lubitz began the descent after the captain left to cockpit. In the transcript, published by German newspaper Bild, the captain apologises to passengers for a delay on leaving Barcelona. He then tells Lubitz he has not had time to go to the toilet before departure, to which the co-pilot replies he can go “at any time”.

In catastrophes, normally around 90% of identifications are done through dental records.

Patrick Touron, deputy director of the French police’s criminal research institute

After completing mid-flight checks for landing, Lubitz then tells the captain, named in reports as Patrick Sondheimer, that: “You can go now.” Minutes later the captain leaves the cockpit, saying: “You can take over.” The click of the cockpit door closing can then be heard. But shortly afterwards there is a loud bang, believed to be the sound of someone trying to enter the cockpit, followed by the captain shouting “For God’s sake, open the door!” There are then repeated blows to the cockpit door, thought to have been made by an axe or crow bar. The right wing of the aircraft then clips a mountain and the final sounds are those of passengers screaming, Bild reports.

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