Düsseldorf prosecutors say Germanwings first officer Andreas Lubitz crashed flight 9525 in the French Alps on Tuesday after hiding an illness from his employer.
A search of the pilot’s home revealed torn up recent sick notes for an unspecified condition, including a note excusing him from work last Tuesday. Rather than remaining grounded, however, he reported for duty to fly from Düsseldorf to Barcelona and, on the return flight just before 11am, locked the pilot out of the cockpit. Then French investigators say the 27 year-old first officer locked the door and deliberately rammed the plane into a sheer rock face at 700km/h, killing himself and the other 149 people on board.
While the investigation continues in the French Alps, and police question the dead pilot’s parents, attention has shifted to their home in the western city of Montabaur and a flat their son rented in Düsseldorf. German investigators searched both homes on Thursday and Friday, removing material in blue bin liners, including papers and computers.
“Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors,” said the Düsseldorf prosecutors’ office in a statement.
That the sick notes were torn up “support the assumption based on the preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues.”
Suicide note
The prosecutors declined to confirm or deny the pilot was in treatment for depression. They said they found neither a suicide note nor a letter claiming responsibility for the crash. No material showed up that would indicate a political or religious motive for the disaster.
Lufthansa declined to comment on the prosecutor statement on Friday. Chief executive Carsten Spohr says staff at its Germanwings subsidiary were aware of problems causing Lubitz to interrupt his pilot training in 2009. However, he was allowed continue after full medical and psychological tests.
Citing medical confidentiality, neither Germanwings nor Lufthansa will confirm or deny media reports that Mr Lubitz suffered a serious bout of depression and spent a year in treatment.
Düsseldorf University Hospital issued a statement confirming one of its doctors had seen Mr Lubitz last month, and again for the last time on March 10th for a “diagnostic evaluation”. Though the hospital refused to give further details it denied reports that it treated the co-pilot for depression.
German prosecutors say they are still keeping an open mind as to the motive of the crash, particularly as the data flight recorder has yet to be found. But a former German transport minister has accused French investigators of jumping to conclusions, based on audio recordings, that the co-pilot was suicidal.
With flight data missing, senior German prosecutors have also issued similar warnings. But others argue that sealing himself in the cockpit suggests Mr Lubitz was conscious and aware of his actions.
French prime minister Manuel Valls of France urged Lufthansa to act quickly to reveal the full details of the Germanwings employee to help "understand why this pilot got to the point of this horrific action".
Lufthansa, Germanwings and other national airlines have responded to the disaster by agreeing to rules obliging a crew member to replace a pilot who leaves the cockpit.
Germany's federal transport minister Alexander Dobrindt welcomed the move as the "right decision to avoid a repeat of the situation of being locked out"
While in-flight regulations have been altered, debate continues about whether German pilot annual check-ups emphasise physical at the expense of mental health.
"In a short examination I cannot check if [the] pilot is taking pills or drugs or depressive, unfortunately that is not possible to assess any closer," aviation medicine specialist Dr Irene Hufnagel told German television.
Near the crash scene in Seyne-les-Alpes, a memorial stone in four languages has been unveiled. French investigators say they cannot officially identify victims until all remains are recovered, a task likely to take weeks given strong mountain winds which grounded search helicopters for two hours on Friday.
Because of the force of the impact, many victims will only be identifiable by matching DNA with samples given by family members gathered near the crash scene.
