Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz is widely believed to have deliberately guided the Dusseldorf-bound plane into mountains in the south-east of France.
A transcript, reportedly of the voice recorder reclaimed from the crash site, was originally published in German by tabloid newspaper ‘Bild’, and has since been translated into English.
The 90-minute recording reveals the plane was running 20 minutes behind schedule after taking off from Barcelona, according to CNN.
Before take-off, Captain Patrick Sondenheimer tells 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz he didn’t get a chance to go to the bathroom in Barcelona.
The pair had flown the same plane together on the inbound flight.
Lubitz responds to Sondenheimer, telling him to “go anytime,” to the bathroom.
The plane reaches its cruising altitude of 38,000 feed at 10.27am, local time. The captain asks co-pilot Lubitz to prepare the landing.
Shortly after, Lubitz can be heard telling Sondenheimer: “You can go now.”
Next comes the sound of a chair being moved, and the pilot tells Lubitz he can take over.
At 10.29am, air traffic radar detects the plane beginning to descend.
By 10.32am, air traffic controllers attempt to contact the Germanwings flight. They receive no answer.
An alarm can be heard in the cockpit, saying “sink rate”.
The sound of a loud banging comes next. The pilot can be heard yelling, “For God’s sake, open the door!”
Passengers can also be heard screaming in the background.
At 10.35am the banging intensifies, presumably as the pilot ramps up his efforts to gain access to the cockpit.
Ninety seconds later a chilling alarm can be heard in the cockpit as the plane hits 16,400 feet: “Terrain, pull up!”
The pilot screams: “Open the damn door!”
By 10.38am the plane is reportedly descending towards the French Alps. The co-pilot can be heard breathing quietly.
The last sounds on the tape come at 10.40am. Scraping noises analysts reportedly believe could be the sound of the plane’s right wing hitting a mountaintop. The impact came seconds later.
