Germanwings co-pilot may have feared he was losing his eyesight
1. Germanwings co-pilot may have feared he was losing his
eyesight
Germanwings co-pilot may have feared he was losing his eyesight
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Germanwings co-pilot may have feared he was losing his eyesightA French prosecutor said the co-
pilot of a Germanwings plane may have been depressed over fears he was losing his eyesight and
would no longer be able to fly when he deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps in March.
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A French prosecutor says that some doctors who treated the co-pilot who crashed a Germanwings
jet felt he was unfit to fly, but did not tell his employers because of German patient secrecy laws.
USA TODAY
Hearses transport coffins with the bodies of victims of the Germanwings plane that was deliberately
crashed in the French Alps on a motorway on June 10, 2015 in Duesseldorf,(Photo: Rolf
Vennenbernd, AFP/Getty Images)
A French prosecutor said Thursday that the a Germanwings co-pilot may have been depressed over
fears that he was losing his eyesight and would no longer be able to fly when he crashed the plane
into the French Alps in March, killing 150 people.
Marseille Prosecutor Brice Robin told reporters in Paris that the 27-year-old co-pilot, Andreas
Lubitz, had seven doctor's appointments within the month before the March 24 crash, including
three appointments with a psychiatrist, according to the Associated Press.
2. Some of the doctors felt he was psychologically unstable, and some felt he was unfit to fly, but
"unfortunately that information was not reported because of medical secrecy requirements," Robin
said.
Robin, who met with family members of the victims before speaking with reporters, also said he has
opened a formal criminal investigation to determine whether Germanwings airlines or any individual
should be held responsible for failing to monitor Lubitz's psychological health, The New York Times
reports.
The co-pilot of Germanwings flight 4U9525, Andreas Lubitz, takes part in the Airport Hamburg 10-
mile run on Sept. 13, 2009, in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo: Michael Mueller, AP)
His meeting came as the first remains of the victims are being returned to their families for burial.
There were 19 different nationalities among the 150 victims. Nearly half of them were German, and
about a third were Spanish. The dead included 16 German students on a high school trip.
French prosecutor of Marseille Brice Robin speaks to reporters in Paris on the investigation into the
crash of a Germanwings plane in March. (Photo: Stephane de Sakutin, AFP/Getty Images)
Robin said the investigation so far "has enabled us to confirm without a shadow of a doubt ... Mr.
Andreas Lubitz deliberately destroyed the plane and deliberately killed 150 people, including
himself."
A preliminary report by the French air accidents bureau, along with evidence from prosecutors, has
strongly supported the view that Lubitz intentionally crashed his plane into the French Alps a flight
from Barcelona to Dusseldorf on March 24.
3. Audio recordings indicate the co-pilot purposely locked the pilot out of the cockpit shortly after
takeoff and then methodically brought the plane down.
Lubitz, who at one point had to withdraw from a flight-training school for 11 months for treatment
from depression, had a history of depression, according to German prosecutors.
Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, has acknowledged it was told about his illness but
said he was reinstated after a company flight doctor found him fit to fly.
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