this breaking news, this new york times report that one of the pilots of the crashed germanwings flight may have been locked out of the cockpit before that plane crashed. that indication tonight according to the times from an official who has heard the cockpit voice recordings. again, it has not been confirmed by officials in france the aviation authorities are looking into this. it s also not been confirmed by nbc news at this point. that provocative report from the new york times suggesting that one of the pilots was desperately trying to get back into the cockpit, pounding on that door while whoever was left in the cockpit left in there at the time the plane crashed. we ll have that more and lots else on the show tonight still ahead. stay with us.
christmas day. it was on a flight en route to detroit from amsterdam. as that flight approached detroit, a young man attempted to set off a bomb he had stuffed into his underwear. that bomb did not work. didn t bring down the plane. it did, however, manage to give him burns on his inner thighs. but that underwear bomber, that was the first post-9/11 attack inside the united states by an al qaeda affiliate. that was december 2009. nine months later in september 20 so a u.p.s. cargo plane was flying from dubai to germany when 22 minutes into that flight at 32,000 feet a fire suddenly ignited on board that cargo plane. the crew tried to turn back to dubai. they told air traffic control the cockpit was filling with so much smoke, they could no longer see inside that plane. but they weren t able to turn back and that u.p.s. cargo plane crashed, both pilots died. and nobody really ever knew why it had happened. but then the following month, in
the first attack inside the united states by an al qaeda affiliate after 9/11 was eight years later, in 2009 on christmas day. it was on a flight en route to detroit from amsterdam. as that flight approached detroit, a young man attempted to set off a bomb he had stuffed into his underwear. that bomb did not work. didn t bring down the plane. it did, however, manage to give him burns on his inner thighs. but that underwear bomber that was the first post-9/11 attack inside the united states by an al qaeda affiliate. that was december 2009. nine months later in september 2010 a u.s. cargo plane flying from dubai to germany, at 32,000 feet, a fire suddenly ignited onboard that cargo plane. the crew tried to turn back to dubai. the cockpit was filling with so much smoke they could no longer see inside the plane.
new developments tonight. now, to be clear, the french authorities have not publicly disclosed, officially disclosed what is on that cockpit voice recorder. but a source of the new york times describes as a senior military official involved in the investigation, an official who reportedly has heard those tapes from the cockpit voice recorder, that official has described to the new york times tonight what he describes is on the tapes. what he says, you can hear happening in the moments leading up to that crash. rather than sort of extrapolate from the new york times reporting. here s how they describe it tonight. quote, evidence from a cockpit voice recorder indicated that one pilot, one of the two pilots, left the cockpit before the plane s descent, and was unable to get back into the cockpit. a senior military official involved in the investigation describes very smooth, very cool conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from barcelona to dusseldorf.
unable to get back into the cockpit. a senior military official involved in the investigation describes very smooth very cool conversation between the pilots during the early part of the flight from barcelona to dusseldorf. then the audio indicated that one of the pilots left the cockpit and could not reenter. quote, the guy outside is knocking lightly on the door. there is no answer. the investigator said. quote, and then he hits the door stronger. and no answer. there is never an answer. the investigator continues, quote, you can hear he is trying to smash the door down. we don t yet know the reason why one of the guys went out. but what is sure that at the end of the flight the other pilot is alone and does not open the door. the official goes on to say, so far, we don t have any evidence at this point to a technical explanation, so we have to consider the possibility of deliberate human responsibility.