Friday, 27 March 2015

Germanwings crash: Co-pilot Lubitz 'hid illness'

Media captionDusseldorf prosecutor: "Torn-up documents and sick notes support the assumption that the patient was hiding his illness"

The co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a Germanwings airliner into the French Alps hid details of an illness, German prosecutors say.

Torn-up sick notes were found in the homes of Andreas Lubitz, they say, including one for the day of the crash, which killed 150 passengers and crew.

A German hospital confirmed he had been a patient recently but denied reports he had been treated for depression.

The EU's aviation regulator has urged airlines to adopt new safety rules.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) said in future two crew members should be present in the cockpit at all times.

Data from the voice recorder suggests Mr Lubitz purposely started an eight-minute descent into the mountains after locking the pilot out of the flight deck.

There were no survivors when Flight 4U 9525 crashed in a remote mountain valley on Tuesday while en route from Barcelona in Spain to Duesseldorf in Germany.

Prosecutors say there was no evidence of a political or religious motive for his actions and no suicide note has been found.

French police say the search for passenger remains and debris on the mountain slopes could take another two weeks.

A memorial service is being held at a church in central Duesseldorf, attended by the mayor, Tomas Geisel.

At the scene: Anna Holligan, BBC News, Montabaur

Two officers stand watch at the end of a neat, suburban cul-de-sac. International TV crews focus their cameras on Andreas Lubitz's family home. The blinds are down. A candle has been placed on his parents manicured lawn, with an image of hands clasped in prayer.

Neighbours describe him as a "quiet, affable man". They are struggling to accept that the 27-year-old they once knew could be capable of committing mass murder.

Investigators carrying boxes of evidence and a computer have come and gone. With the discovery of a discarded sick note in his Duesseldorf apartment and confirmation that he attended a medical clinic just days before the crash, the suggestion is that this quiet man was hiding something.

That secret may eventually reveal why he took not just his own life but the lives of 149 others.