The Germanwings co-pilot who flew a plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, had practised a similar descent on an earlier flight, German media has reported.
Andreas Lubitz crashed the 4U9525 flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona into a ravine on March 24.
Prosecutors believe the 27-year-old locked the pilot out the cockpit, and have said black box recordings prove he was conscious as the plane hurtled into the French Alps.
Today German newspaper Bild quoted sources close to France's BEA crash investigation agency as saying an interim report found Lubitz had practised reducing flight altitude on the outbound flight from Dusseldorf to Barcelona on the same day.
Bild cited the sources as saying the BEA report would talk about a “controlled descent that lasted for minutes and for which there was no aeronautical justification”.
Lubitz had suffered from severe depression in the past and a computer found in his home showed he had used the internet to research ways of committing suicide in the days leading up to the crash.
Prosecutors also found torn-up sick notes at his home showing he should not have flown on the day of the flight.
Additional reporting by Reuters
