What follows are details of the final minutes and decisive seconds before the collision, according to German accident investigators.
Swiss air traffic controllers said the Russian Tupolev 154 ignored warnings, the first was given "a good minute" before the crash, to descend. They later said they gave the pilot 50 seconds advance warning.
Swiss controllers concur with German investigators over the timings given below, except on the timing of the Russian plane's eventual response to the warnings, for which they did not offer a timing.
* 23:23 - Boeing 757-200 cargo plane enters Swiss airspace after departing from Bergamo in northern Italy. The DHL cargo flight originated in Bahrain and was en route to Brussels.
* 23:30 - Air traffic controllers in Munich hand over control of Russian passenger jet to counterparts in Zurich, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) before German border.
* 50 seconds before crash, Swiss air traffic controllers warn Russian plane about its course, ordering it to drop to 35,000 feet (10,670 metres). Both it and Brussels-bound Boeing 757-200 cargo plane are travelling at 36,000 feet (11,000 metres)
* 25 seconds before crash, Russian plane responds to subsequent warnings, taking evasive action by nose-diving. Shortly afterwards, Boeing starts to descend, warned by its Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS).
* 23:35 - Passenger jet and Boeing 757, flying at 35,300 feet, collide over Lake Constance, killing 71 people, including 52 children and teenagers heading for a holiday in Spain.