Crash Captain Screamed 'Open The Damn Door!'

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The captain of the Germanwings jet that crashed in the French Alps reportedly screamed at his co-pilot to "open the damn door" as he tried to get in the cockpit.

Andreas Lubitz, 27, apparently locked the captain out of the cabin and deliberately flew the Germanwings jet into a mountain, killing 150 people.

The older pilot left to use the toilet and then desperately tried to open the cockpit door during Flight 4U 9525's eight-minute descent, according to the black box voice recorder.

Germany's Bild on Sunday newspaper said he is heard shouting "For God's sake, open the door!" as passengers scream in the background.

He then tries to smash through the heavily reinforced door with an axe, while yelling at a silent Lubitz to "open the damn door".

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Gallery: The Victims Of The Germanwings Crash

American Emily Selke, a recent graduate, was on the plane with her mother Yvonne. Raymond Selke has described his wife and daughter as 'amazing people'. Pic: Facebook

Iranian sports journalist Hussein Javadi was on his way to Austria to cover a football match. A friend said he was 'a kind, loving, caring man'. Pic: Maysam Bizær/Hossein Javadi

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Argentinian Sebastian Greco was on board with his girlfriend. Pic: Facebook

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Argentinian Gabriela Maumus, 28, was the daughter of a firefighter. Pic: Facebook

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Spanish victim Carles Milla Masanas, 37. The businessman was on his way to a food industry fayre. Pic: Facebook

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Before leaving the cockpit, the captain is heard telling Lubitz he did not have time to go to the toilet before they left Barcelona for Dusseldorf.

German prosecutors believe Lubitz hid an illness from his airline, and had been written off sick on the day of the crash.

He had also sought treatment for vision problems which could have threatened his career, officials told the New York Times.

The Dusseldorf University Hospital said Lubitz had been evaluated at its clinic in February and on 10 March. The hospital has an eye clinic, but it did not comment on why he was being treated, citing patient privacy laws.

Police found medicines for treating psychological conditions during searches at his home in Dusseldorf, according to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.

And Lubitz's ex-girlfriend has claimed he told her: "One day I'm going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember."

She told Bild that if he did deliberately crash the plane, it was "because he understood that because of his health problems, his big dream of a job at Lufthansa, of a job as captain and as a long-haul pilot, was practically impossible".

French police investigator Jean-Pierre Michel has said Lubitz's personality was a "serious lead" in the investigation - but not the only one.

While the investigation continues, forensic teams are trying to isolate DNA from body parts recovered at the crash site - with 78 distinct strands found so far.

Prosecutor Brice Robin added that an access road was being built for all-terrain vehicles to reach the site.

Meanwhile, a father of one of the three British victims called for airlines to do more to look after their pilots.

"I believe the airlines should be more transparent and our finest pilots looked after properly. We put our lives and our children's lives in their hands," said Phillip Bramley, whose son Paul, 28, died in the disaster.

Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) documents suggest some 100 commercial airline pilots in the UK had a history of depression, with 42 still on medication, The Observer has reported.

But Professor Sir Simon Wessely, president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych), said the aviation industry should not "rush" to action in the wake of the crash.

He cited health authorities' knee-jerk reaction to Dr Harold Shipman, who is thought to have killed between 215 and 260 people, as an example of ineffective policy.

Sir Simon said: "It is not a good idea to rush; it is like the response to Dr Shipman, an utterly bizarre and unpredictable event is not a good basis of policy.

"The procedures that they then brought in would not have prevented Shipman.

"I have dealt with some pilots with depression and when they recover they are still monitored. But the two I have dealt with returned to very successful careers. Why should they not?

"What does cause trouble is saying that if you ever have a history of depression then you should not be allowed to do whatever.

"That is wrong, as much as saying that people with a history of broken arms shouldn't be allowed to do something."

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