(Reuters) - One of the pilots on the German Airbus plane that crashed in the French Alps, killing everyone onboard, left the cockpit and was unable to return before the plane went down, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing evidence from a cockpit voice recorder.

“The guy outside is knocking lightly on the door and there is no answer,” an unnamed investigator told the Times. “And then he hits the door stronger and no answer. There is never an answer.”

“You can hear he is trying to smash the door down,” the investigator added.

(Reporting by Peter Cooney in Washington; Editing by Eric Beech)