The Germanwings co-pilot who crashed his plane into a mountain killing himself and 149 people on board was receiving psychiatric counselling right up until the crash, it emerged today.
Andreas Lubitz locked the pilot out the of the Airbus A320's cockpit before setting the plane's controls to descend into a rocky valley, French prosecutors revealed yesterday.
As well as having been signed off from training with depression in 2008, it was reported this morning that Lubitz had continued to receive mental health support up until this week's crash.
German newspaper Bild also reported that the 28-year-old was in the middle of the 'relationship crisis' with his girlfriend in the weeks before the crash and may have been struggling to cope with a break-up.
It was claimed this morning that the couple were engaged to be married next year.
New information about Lubitz's life emerged just hours after police investigating the disaster began a four-hour search of his flat, which he is said to have shared with a girlfriend.
Officers refused to reveal details of what they have found but have insisted no suicide note had been recovered.
Yesterday, Lubitz's boss admitted he had slipped through the ‘safety net’ and should never have been flying.
It was also revealed that the fitness fanatic had suffered from depression and ‘burnout’ which had held up his career.
He reportedly received a year and half of psychiatric treatment and was at one point recommended to be examined by a doctor before flying.
But, incredibly, he passed all his psychological assessments and was later considered fit to fly.
Prosecutors yesterday revealed chilling recordings from the doomed aircraft showing that piano teacher’s son Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit so he could crash the plane into an alpine ravine.
In audio files extracted from the plane's cockpit voice recorder - discovered on Wednesday at the remote crash site - the captain was heard growing increasingly distressed as he tried to force his way back into the flight deck.
Reports in Germany this morning suggest the locked-out pilot may have resorted to using an axe in a desperate bid to get through the armoured door as the plane plummeted towards the ground.
Prosecutors said the screams of passengers aware of their fate could be heard in the final seconds.
In a blunt admission, Carsten Spohr, the head of Lufthansa which owns the budget airline, admitted Lubitz had slipped through the safety net with devastating consequences.
‘The pilot had passed all his tests, all his medical exams,’ he said. ‘He was 100 per cent fit to fly without any restrictions.
'We have at Lufthansa, a reporting system where crew can report – without being punished – their own problems, or they can report about the problems of others without any kind of punishment.
'All the safety nets we are all so proud of here have not worked in this case.’
Yesterday, as repercussions of Tuesday’s tragedy sent shockwaves through the airline industry:
- Airlines across Europe reviewed safety rules and insisted that no pilot should be left alone in the cockpit;
- Police urgently probed the background of Lubitz amid rumours that his personal life was seriously troubled;
- Detectives have carried out a four-hour search of his flat, but are not thought to have found a suicide note.
Last night police raided Lubitz’s family home in a small town north of Frankfurt and an apartment in Dusseldorf, taking away a computer, laptop and other files. Lubitz is understood to have split his time between the two addresses.
It was suggested today that Lubitz - who had worked for Lufthansa as a cabin attendant for nearly a year before being accepted for flight training - may have been teased by other pilot's over his previous role.
A friend said: 'His nickname was "Tomato Andi" - a reference to his past employment as a flight steward.'
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