German airline Lufthansa and a union representing its pilots have agreed to bring in an arbitrator in the hope of reaching a new wage settlement by the end of January.

One of the pilots of the crashed Germanwings jet can be heard in a 'black box' recording leaving the cockpit, then banging on the door with increasing urgency in an unsuccessful attempt to get back in, a US newspaper report has suggested.

An Australian passenger mistook the cockpit door for the toilet, triggering Friday’s hijack scare on a Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, police said.