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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Pilot 'Deliberately' Downed the Germanwings Plane

Tuesday's Germanwings airline crash that killed 150 people is now being investigated as a criminal case. The co-pilot is suspected of intentionally flying the Airbus 320 into a mountain in the French Alps. Speaking through a translator, French Prosecutor Brice Robin announced, "I consider it to be deliberate.

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By Warren Olney • Mar 26, 2015 • 1 min read

Tuesday's Germanwings airline crash that killed 150 people is now being investigated as a criminal case. The co-pilot is suspected of intentionally flying the Airbus 320 into a mountain in the French Alps. Speaking through a translator, French Prosecutor Brice Robin announced, "I consider it to be deliberate. First of all, refusing entry to the cockpit; second, maneuvering the lever for loss of altitude."

Carsten Spohr is chief executive of Lufthansa, which owns GermanWings. The former pilot of the Airbus 320 — the kind of plane now said to have crashed deliberately with deadly results, told CNN today, "Apparently after the pilot... after the captain left the cockpit, he tried to regain access. There were knocks on the doors, according to French authorities, and the door was either kept locked or not opened in the way it was supposed to be. And that for sure is a clear indication that the remaining pilot, the copilot, didn't want the captain to return."

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    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Sáša Woodruff

    Producer, 'To the Point'

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    Mike Kessler

    freelance journalist

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    Katie Cooper

    Producer, 'One year Later'

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    Vivienne Walt

    Time magazine

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    Alan Levin

    Bloomberg News

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    Thomas Anthony

    University of Southern California

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