Pilot intentionally crashed Mozambique plane

The pilot of the Mozambique Airlines plane that crashed in Namibia last month, killing all 33 people on board, had intentionally brought the plane down, a media report said.

A Mozambique Airlines plane en-route to Angola crashed in a game park in Namibia Nov 30.

According to a BBC report Sunday, Mozambique's Civil Aviation Institute said the pilot made a "deliberate series of manoeuvres" causing the crash.

The pilot's motives are unknown and the investigation is underway, the report said.

Joao Abreu, head of the Civil Aviation Institute, told a news conference that the pilot, Hermino dos Santos Fernandes, had a "clear intention" to crash.

Abreu said the pilot locked himself in the cockpit and did not allow his co-pilot back inside until moments before the plane hit the ground.

"During these actions you can hear low and high-intensity alarm signals and repeated beating against the door with demands to come into the cockpit," Abreu said.

Abreu added that "the reasons which may have given rise to this behaviour are unknown".

According to the investigations, the pilot had manually changed the aircraft's altitude and speed.

Among the 33 people who died in the crash were one Chinese national, 10 Mozambicans, nine Angolans, five Portuguese, one French and one Brazilian -- all passengers. Besides, there were six crew members on board.