Mobile phone video recovered from Germanwings wreckage reveals moment scared passengers knew they were going to die
Harrowing mobile phone footage taken on board the doomed Germanwings flight has recorded the devastating moment that screaming passengers knew they were going to die, it has been claimed.
The video, reportedly found amid the wreckage of last week's crash, allegedly captures the sound of terrified passengers crying 'Oh God' as the plane plunged into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. The clip, said to be just a few seconds long, was reportedly taken from a memory card which was found at the crash scene by a source close to the investigation.
According to two European newspapers who claim to have seen the footage, cries of 'oh God' can be heard in several different languages as chaos breaks out inside the cabin.
They also describe the sound of metallic banging from inside the aircraft. Both papers suggest the bangs could be the sound of the frantic captain attempting to break open the cockpit door with an axe or metal object, as Andreas Lubitz set the aircraft onto a collision course into the mountain.
German daily Bild and French magazine Paris Match said their reporters were shown the video after it was found on a memory chip that could have come from a mobile phone inside the aircraft.
It comes as Paris Match also published a conversation between Lubitz and the captain which was transcribed from one of aircraft's black boxes by a special investigator, which suggested Lubitz had urged the captain to leave him alone in the cockpit.
Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Marc Menichini, a high ranking official involved in the recovery operation, categorically denied that any mobile phone footage had been found by investigators at the site.
But Paris Match said the footage, thought to have been filmed from the rear of the plane, was found 'among the wreckage by a source close to the investigation'.
Bild, which described the scene as 'chaotic, totally blurred and completely shaky', also insisted that the accuracy of the video 'is beyond question'.
According to Paris Match, cries of 'My God' can be heard in several languages, before three metallic bangs ring out. They added that the footage captures the plane shaking heavily, before the screaming 'intensifies'.
Bild added that the aircraft appears to be touching a mountain, as more screams are heard. The camera then cuts out.
Both papers say the footage supports the idea that the passengers 'knew what desperate situation they were in'. It added that no individuals could be identified.
Although the two publications described the video in detail, neither posted the footage.
Bild said it was just 'a few seconds' and that it is not clear whether a passenger or crew member had filmed it.
