DUESSELDORF, Germany: The captain of a passenger jet that investigators believe was deliberately crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 aboard, shouted at the co-pilot to “open the damn door” as he desperately tried to get back into the locked cockpit, a German newspaper reported Sunday.

French officials say the plane’s black box voice recorder indicates that Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked the captain out of the cockpit of the Germanwings jet and steered Flight 4U 9525 into a mountainside.

They believe that the more senior pilot, identified by Germany’s Bild newspaper as Patrick S., tried desperately to reopen the door during the Barcelona to Duesseldorf flight’s eight-minute descent after he left to use the toilet.

The mass-circulation’s Sunday edition reported that data from the cockpit recorder showed the captain shouted: “For God’s sake, open the door,” as passengers’ screams could be heard in the background.

It said “loud metallic blows” against the cockpit door could then be heard, before another warning alarm went off and then the pilot is heard to scream to a silent Lubitz in the cockpit “open the damn door.”

Bild said that earlier on in Tuesday’s flight the captain was heard explaining to his colleague that he had not had time to go to the toilet before take-off.

As investigators seek to build up a picture of Lubitz and any possible motives, media reports have emerged that he suffered from eye problems, adding to earlier reports he was severely depressed.

German prosecutors believe Lubitz hid an illness from his airline but have not specified the ailment, and said he had apparently been written off sick on the day the Airbus crashed.

The Sunday edition of Germany’s Bild tabloid and the New York Times, which cited two officials with knowledge of the investigation, said Lubitz had sought treatment for problems with his sight.

It is thought to be a retinal detachment, the German weekly said.