Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight that crashed into the Alps this week, set out to destroy the plane on purpose, officials believe.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, citing "black box" recordings, said Lubitz was alone in the cockpit when the Germanwings plane crashed, killing 148.
He intentionally started the fatal descent while the pilot was locked out, and there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to re-enter.
Robin said "the most plausible interpretation" for this turn of events was that the co-pilot had deliberately barred the pilot from re-entering the cockpit.
Robin said, "We hear the pilot ask the co-pilot to take control of the plane and we hear at the same time the sound of a seat moving backwards and the sound of a door closing."
He said the pilot, named in the German media as Patrick S., had probably gone to the toilet, and "at that moment, the co-pilot is controlling the plane by himself."
"While he is alone, the co-pilot presses the buttons of the flight monitoring system to put into action the descent of the airplane. He operated this button for a reason we don't know yet."
"It appears that the reason was to destroy this plane."
Lubitz was alive until impact, the prosecutor said.
Air traffic controllers made repeated, failed attempts to contact the aircraft, upon which passengers could be heard screaming just before the crash.
So who is Andreas Lubitz and why would he do this? Details are emerging of the German co-pilot's past, although his apparent motives are a mystery.
Lubitz, 28, had undergone intensive training and "was 100 percent fit to fly without any caveats", according to Carsten Spohr, the head of Lufthansa.
The German carrier, which owns Germanwings, says his training was briefly halted six years ago, but "the suitability of the candidate was re-established."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that the co-pilot's apparent actions had given the tragedy a "new, simply incomprehensible dimension."
The Airbus 320 from Barcelona, Spain to Duesseldorf, Germany, hit a mountain in France, killing all passengers and crew on board earlier this week.
Official have said that the co-pilot was "not known by us" to have any links to extremism or terrorism, though the thorough investigation will continue.
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