A senior military official involved in the investigation of Tuesday's Germanwings crash in France said that evidence from the cockpit voice recorder indicates that one of the pilots exited the cockpit before the plane began its 10-minute descent, and was not able to get back in.
The official told The New York Times that the pilots had a "very smooth, very cool" conversation shortly after the plane left Barcelona. The audio suggests that "the guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer," the investigator told the Times. "And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer. You can hear he is trying to smash the door down." The official said investigators do not know yet why the pilot left, but "what is sure is that at the very end of the flight, the other pilot is alone and does not open the door."
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