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| In this Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 photo Andreas Lubitz competes at the Airportrun in Hamburg, northern Germany. 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 Friday, March 27, 2015. The evidence came from the search of Lubitz's homes in two German cities for an explanation of why he crashed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. |
MONTABAUR,
Germany (AP) -- Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared happy
and healthy to acquaintances, but a picture emerged Friday of a man who
hid evidence of an illness from his employers - including a torn-up
doctor's note that would have kept him off work the day authorities say
he crashed Flight 9525 into an Alpine mountainside.
As
German prosecutors sought to piece together the puzzle of why Lubitz
locked his captain out of the cockpit and crashed the Airbus A320,
police in the French Alps toiled to retrieve the shattered remains of
the 150 people killed in Tuesday's crash.
Searches
conducted at Lubitz's homes in Duesseldorf and in the town of Montabaur
turned up documents pointing to "an existing illness and appropriate
medical treatment," but no suicide note was found, said Ralf
Herrenbrueck, a spokesman for the Duesseldorf prosecutors' office.
They
included ripped-up sick notes covering the day of the crash, which
"support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his
illness from his employer and colleagues," Herrenbrueck said in a
statement.
Doctors commonly issue employees in
Germany with such notes excusing them from work, even for minor
illnesses, and workers hand them to their employers. Doctors are obliged
to abide by medical secrecy unless their patient explicitly tells them
he or she plans to commit an act of violence.
Prosecutors
didn't specify what illness Lubitz may have been suffering from, or say
whether it was mental or physical. German media reported Friday that
the 27-year-old had suffered from depression.
The
Duesseldorf University Hospital said Friday that Lubitz had been a
patient there over the past two months and last went in for a
"diagnostic evaluation" on March 10. It declined to provide details,
citing medical confidentiality, but denied reports it had treated Lubitz
for depression.
Neighbors described a man
whose physical health was superb and road race records show Lubitz took
part in several long-distance runs.
"He
definitely did not smoke. He really took care of himself. He always went
jogging. ... He was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann, who lives a
few doors from Lubitz's home in Montabaur.
People
in Montabaur who knew Lubitz told The Associated Press that he had been
thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed very happy.
On
Friday, no one was seen coming or going from his family's large
slate-roofed two-story house in Montabaur as more than 100 journalists
remained outside. Mayor Edmund Schaaf appealed to the media to show
"consideration."
"Independent of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true or not, we have sympathy for his family," he said.
Germanwings
said that both pilots on the plane had medical clearance, and it had
received no sick note for the day of the crash. Medical checkups are
done by certified doctors and take place once a year.
A
German aviation official told the AP that Lubitz's file at the
country's Federal Aviation Office contained a notation that meant he
needed "specific regular medical examination." Such a notation could
refer to either a physical or mental condition but the official, who
spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release
the information, said Lubitz's file did not specify which.
German
media have painted a picture of a man with a history of depression who
had received psychological treatment, and who may have been set off by a
falling-out with his girlfriend. Duesseldorf prosecutors, who are
leading the German side of the probe, refused to comment on the
anonymously sourced reports.
The U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration had issued Lubitz a third-class medical
certificate. In order to obtain such a certificate, a pilot must be
cleared of psychological problems including psychosis, bipolar disorder
and personality disorders.
The certificate
also means that he wasn't 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 license.
Carsten
Spohr, the CEO of Germanwings' parent company, Lufthansa, has said
there was a "several-month" gap in Lubitz's training six years ago, but
didn't elaborate. Following the disruption, he said, Lubitz "not only
passed all medical tests but also his flight training, all flying tests
and checks."
Prosecutors said there was no
indication of any political or religious motivation for Lubitz's actions
on the Barcelona-Duesseldorf flight.
In the
French Alps, police working to recover remains from the crash site said
they so far have recovered between 400 and 600 pieces of remains from
the victims.
Col. Patrick Touron of the
gendarme service said DNA samples have been taken from objects provided
by victims' families, such as combs or toothbrushes, that could help
identify them. Jewelry and other objects could also help in the
identification process, he said.
"We haven't found a single body intact," he said.
The
rough terrain means that recovery workers have to be backed up by
mountain rescuers. "We have particularly difficult conditions, and each
person needs to be roped up," Touron said.
Also
Friday, the European Aviation Safety Agency recommended that airlines
in the future always have two people in the cockpit. The move came after
several airlines, including Germanwings parent Lufthansa, pledged to
impose the measure.
