The co-pilot of the fatal Germanwings flight to Dusseldorf may have rehearsed the crash on the previous flight, BEA investigators stated on Wednesday.
The ill-fated flight was deliberately caused by the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who fatally crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 into the French Alps on March 24, killing himself and all 150 passengers onboard.
Data from the previous flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona reveals that the fatal incident may not only have been deliberate, but it may have been premeditated as well. The data shows that Lubitz intentionally changed the altitude settings of the plane during the outbound flight to Barcelona, according to CBC News.
During a chilling 4.5-minute period, Lubitz continually toyed with the plane's settings as soon as the captain was out of the cockpit, at times setting the altitude to 100 feet, the lowest possible setting. This was despite instructions by air traffic control in Bordeaux to set the aircraft on an altitude of 35,000 ft., and later on to 21,000 ft., BBC News reported.
Lubitz also changed the altitude settings to 49,000 ft., the plane's maximum altitude. He also put the plane's engines on idle, which would have made it faster for the plane to descend, CBC News reported.
Repeatedly setting the plane to such a low altitude is a very unusual practice. However, Lubitz was able to do this while the plane was already descending, preventing both the crew and the passengers from noticing anything amiss.
Remi Jouty, director of the BEA, believes that the co-pilot's timing prevented any suspicions from the crew or the passengers.
"The captain didn't realize at all, because the co-pilot's tests during the outgoing flight took place during a normal, preprogrammed descent and it never had an impact on the plane's trajectory," Jouty said.
Aviation Safety expert John Cox thinks that the unusual, continuous changing of the plane's altitude is indicative of the co-pilot's intention to crash the plane.
"It's clear that it's a very unusual act," Cox said. "I've never seen it done, and it is the same methodology he used to fly the airplane into the ground. Was he practicing? I think that certainly is a possibility."
Though the final word as to why Lubitz wanted to crash the plane has yet to be released, German authorities have found out that he had been doing research on suicide methods and cockpit door security online in the week leading up the crash, BBC News reported.
