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Aviation officials say a Mozambican Airlines plane was intentionally crashed by the pilot last month in Namibia.
Flight TM470 crashed en route to Angola after leaving the Mozambique capital, Maputo on November 29 carrying 27 passengers and six crew members.
Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute Chairman Joao Abreu said flight recordings showed Captain Herminio dos Santos manipulated the autopilot controls in a way that showed a "clear intention" to bring down the plane.
He said co-pilot was locked out of the cockpit when the plane went down and that banging could be heard on the cockpit door at the time of the crash.
Abreau added the altitude selector was manually altered three times and the plane's speed was also changed.
The "black box" flight recorders were retrieved from the crash wreckage intact and analyzed by the U.S. National Transport Safety Board in Washington.
Aviation officials said the investigation was ongoing.
The dead include passengers from Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, France, Brazil and China.
The Embraer was on a scheduled flight from Maputo to Luanda. As the plane crossed Botswana, all was normal, with the plane cruising at 38,000 feet, and in good communication with the Gaborone control tower.
But the radar data showed that, at a obligatory reporting position over northern Botswana, the plane suddenly began a rapid descent. The control tower lost voice and radar contact with the Embraer, and set search operations in motion.
The wreckage of the plane was discovered the following day in the Bwabwata national park in Namibia. The æ¾±lack box flight recorders were recovered intact and sent to the United States National Transport Safety Board (NSTB) in Washington to be decoded and transcribed.
Aviation officials say a Mozambican Airlines plane was intentionally crashed by the pilot last month in Namibia.
Flight TM470 crashed en route to Angola after leaving the Mozambique capital, Maputo on November 29 carrying 27 passengers and six crew members.
Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute Chairman Joao Abreu said flight recordings showed Captain Herminio dos Santos manipulated the autopilot controls in a way that showed a "clear intention" to bring down the plane.
He said co-pilot was locked out of the cockpit when the plane went down and that banging could be heard on the cockpit door at the time of the crash.
Abreau added the altitude selector was manually altered three times and the plane's speed was also changed.
The "black box" flight recorders were retrieved from the crash wreckage intact and analyzed by the U.S. National Transport Safety Board in Washington.
Aviation officials said the investigation was ongoing.
The dead include passengers from Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, France, Brazil and China.
The Embraer was on a scheduled flight from Maputo to Luanda. As the plane crossed Botswana, all was normal, with the plane cruising at 38,000 feet, and in good communication with the Gaborone control tower.
But the radar data showed that, at a obligatory reporting position over northern Botswana, the plane suddenly began a rapid descent. The control tower lost voice and radar contact with the Embraer, and set search operations in motion.
The wreckage of the plane was discovered the following day in the Bwabwata national park in Namibia. The æ¾±lack box flight recorders were recovered intact and sent to the United States National Transport Safety Board (NSTB) in Washington to be decoded and transcribed.
