Reports: Video from inside Germanwings flight found

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Two European publications said Tuesday they have obtained video taken inside the plane in the seconds before Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into a steep ravine in the French Alps.

Paris Match and Bild said the cellphone video was found amid the wreckage by a source close to the investigation.

French police said the video was a hoax, but the German newspaper Bild said its authenticity was unquestionable.

"The scene was so chaotic that it was hard to identify people," Paris Match reported. "But the sounds of the screaming passengers made it perfectly clear that they were aware of what was about to happen to them."

Neither publication immediately published the video.

Paris Match said the sounds in the video do appear to match the background sounds captured by the cockpit voice recorder.

The news weekly said cries of "My God" could be heard in several languages.

"Metallic banging can also be heard more than three times, perhaps of the pilot trying to open the cockpit door with a heavy object," the publication said. "Towards the end, after a heavy shake, stronger than the others, the screaming intensifies. Then nothing."

Bild said the scene on board was chaotic, "totally blurred and no individuals can be identified." The newspaper said the video was recorded in the rear of the plane, but it could not determine whether the cellphone owner was sitting or standing.

"Just before the end of the video, the aircraft seems to be touching a mountain," Bild said. "It looks like the cabin gets blown to the side. Once again you can hear people cry — then the video ends."

Bild quoted a phone "tester," Dirk Lorenz, as saying the phone probably could not survive such a crash but the memory card could.