Second Black Box Indicates Alps Crash Was Deliberate

Data from the second black box found in the wreckage of the
Germanwings flight that crashed last week in the French Alps confirm
the co-pilot acted deliberately, investigators said.

"A first reading shows that the pilot in the cockpit used the
automatic pilot to descend the plane towards an altitude of 100 feet
(30 metres)," said the French BEA crash investigation office in a
statement on Friday.

"Then, several times during the descent, the pilot changed the
automatic pilot settings to increase the aircraft's speed," added the
investigators.

The latest information appeared to confirm the theory that co-pilot
Andreas Lubitz deliberately smashed his plane into the mountains,
killing all 150 people on board.

Authorities found the second black box, which contains technical
flight data, on Thursday after a gruelling nine-day search in
difficult mountain terrain.

Data from the first black box, which records conversations in the
cockpit, suggested that Lubitz, 27, locked his captain out and then
deliberately set the plane on a deadly collision course with the
mountains.

The plane smashed into the mountains at a speed of 700km an hour,
instantly killing everyone on board - half of them German and more
than 50 from Spain.

It emerged on Thursday that Lubitz had searched online for information
about suicide and cockpit doors.

German prosecutors have said Lubitz was diagnosed as suicidal "several
years ago", before he became a pilot.