Depressed co-pilot deliberately crashed Germanwings plane, killing Wolverhampton father
Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers, including having been excused by a doctor from work the day he crashed a passenger plane into a mountain, prosecutors said.
The evidence came from the search of the 28-year-old's homes in two German cities for an explanation why he crashed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
Martyn Matthews, a quality manager at Tipton-based automotive firm Huf UK, was one of those on board.
Mr Matthews had been in Barcelona for business, and only caught the doomed flight in order to get home to his Wolverhampton-based family sooner.
Colleagues at Huf, which makes car components, said the 50-year-old was a 'really nice man'.
The head of Lufthansa, Germanwings parent company, admitted Lubitz had taken a long break from pilot training, while German media reported he had been battling mental health issues.
Prosecutor's spokesman Ralf Herrenbrueck said torn-up sick notes for the day of the crash "support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues".
Virgin Atlantic - "We always ensure we have the highest safety standards and, while it is our common practice to have two members of our crew in the flight deck at all times, in light of recent events we are now in the process of formalising this to be policy."
EasyJet - From today it is changing its procedures which will mean that two crew members will be in the cockpit at all times.
Monarch - It has revised its flight-deck policy so that all passenger flights will require a member of cabin crew to stand in when the pilot or co-pilot leaves the cockpit for any reason. The airline already practised an "eyes-on" check, where a cabin crew member enters the flight deck to check on the captain and first officer every 15 to 20 minutes.
Thomas Cook Airlines - It has changed its policy to ensure the cockpit is always occupied by two people.
Ryanair - Already required that two crew members be in the cockpit at all times.
Jet2 and Flybe - The two-in-at-all-times policy was also already in place with both carriers.
British Airways - The airline said it did not discuss "issues of security".[/breakout]
Such sick notes from doctors excusing employees from work are common in Germany and issued even for minor illnesses. Mr Herrenbrueck did not reveal details of what illness Lubitz was suffering from.
He said other medical documents found indicated "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment", but that no suicide note was found. He added there was no indication of any political or religious motivation for Lubitz's actions.
Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, refused to comment on the new information.
Investigators had removed multiple boxes of items from Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf and his parents' house in Montabaur, near Frankfurt.
A German aviation official said Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained an "SIC" note, meaning he needed "specific regular medical examination". Such a note could refer to either a physical or mental condition, but the official said the note does not specify which.
However, neighbours described a man whose physical health was superb.
"He definitely did not smoke. He really took care of himself. He always went jogging. I am not sure whether he did marathons, but he was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann, who lived a few doors down from Lubitz's home in Montabaur.
German news media painted a picture of a man with a history of depression who had received psychological treatment, and who might have been set off by a falling-out with his girlfriend. Dusseldorf prosecutors, who are leading the German side of the probe, refused to comment on the anonymously sourced reports, citing the continuing investigation.
A transcript recovered from the black box of the plane's final 30 minutes reveals that for the first 20 minutes the two pilots talk in a "normal fashion", according to French prosecutor Brice Robin.
Preparation for the plane's arrival in Dusseldorf can then be heard in the cockpit, with co-pilot Andreas Lubitz still appearing "very neutral". It is at this point the pilot asks Lubitz to take over, a chair is pushed back and the door closes.
Co-pilot Lubitz uses the flight monitoring system to start the plane's descent, an action which can "only be done voluntarily".
Through the on-board intercom system, the pilot is heard trying to regain entry to the cockpit, but there is no answer from Lubitz. The pilot then knocks on the door, again getting no reply.
9.30am: Air traffic controllers get no response from the plane after they attempt to make contact. It is at this time that the plane reaches a height of 38,000ft (11,582m), according to flightradar24.
9.30am- 9.40am: The plane drops from 32,000ft (9,754m) to 6,175ft (1,882m), where flightradar24 logs its final position on radar.
All that can be heard from the cockpit from this moment until the plane crashes is the co-pilot breathing, apparently normally and without struggle - suggesting he was in full control.
During this descent, the pilot can be heard trying to break the cabin door down and alarms go off - indicating the plane's close proximity to the ground.
A first crash is audible, but the final impact happens several moments later. During this time, no distress signals are sent out and all that can be heard from Lubitz is his breathing.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said there was a "several-month" gap in Lubitz's training six years ago, but would not elaborate. Following the disruption, he said, Lubitz "not only passed all medical tests but also his flight training, all flying tests and checks".
The US Federal Aviation Administration had issued Lubitz a third-class medical certificate. To obtain a certificate, a pilot must be cleared of psychological problems including psychosis, bipolar disorder and personality disorder "severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts".
The certificate also means he was not found to be suffering from another mental health condition that "makes the person unable to safely perform the duties or exercise the privileges" of a pilot's licence.
French investigators, who are in charge of the probe into the plane crash, believe the 27-year-old locked himself inside the cockpit and intentionally smashed the Germanwings plane into a mountainside on Tuesday during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.
People in Montabaur who knew Lubitz said they were shocked at the allegations that he could have intentionally crashed the plane, saying he had been thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed to be "very happy".
Germanwings, a low-cost carrier in the Lufthansa Group, said it was setting up a family assistance centre in Marseille for relatives of those killed in the crash.
"In these dark hours our full attention belongs to the emotional support of the relatives and friends of the victims of Flight 9525," Germanwings chief executive Thomas Winkelmann said.
