Data from the transponder of the Germanwings plane

that crashed in France showed that someone had manually altered the autopilot altitude to less than 100 feet (30 metres), a flight data organisation said.

"Between 09:30:52 and 09:30:55 we can see that the autopilot was manually changed from 38,000 feet to 100 feet," said the post by FlightRadar24, which tracks aviation traffic, late Thursday.

"9 seconds later, the aircraft started to descend, probably with the

'open descent' autopilot setting," it said.

Flight 4U9525 left Barcelona around 10am (0900 GMT) on Tuesday, and disappeared from radar around an hour later before crashing into a mountainside 165km north-east of the southern French city of Marseille, killing all on board.

The transponder data confirmed the announcement yesterday by French authorities that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz manually began a descent procedure when alone in the cockpit, and did not respond when the captain and crew pounded on the locked door.

The FlightRadar24 data was collected from the transponder's automated responses to interrogating radar requests.

The revelations prompted aviation authorities to review safety

procedures, which have so far focussed on scenarios such as keeping possible hijackers out of the cockpit, rather than containing

problems on the flight deck.

New Zealand said it was changing its rules to require two crew

members in the cockpit at any time, Stuff.co.nz reported.

Airlines changing cockpit protocol

The new rules would "mitigate any risk posed by one pilot becoming incapacitated while operating an aircraft," chief flight operations and safety officer David Morgan was quoted as saying.

"If one of the two pilots operating the flight needs to leave the

cockpit for a short time, a crew member will be required to enter the cockpit in their place."

Canadian aviation authorities were making the same move, as well as individual airlines in Britain, Norway and Iceland, the report said.

In Australia, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said safety procedures were being reviewed after every major aviation incident.

Airlines in Australia are currently not required to have two people in the cockpit at all times.

Germanwings chief executive Thomas Winkelmann said he was not fully convinced the new rules would help.

"The question I am asking myself is whether, if someone wants to

commit a criminal act with such energy, is it possible to avoid it by

having, for example, a flight attendant in the cockpit?" he told

ZDF broadcaster late Thursday.

There were 150 people on the plane, including some 75 Germans, 50 Spaniards, and over a dozen other nationalities, records show.

- dpa

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