Killer in the cockpit: Lubitz competes in a half-marathon in 2013
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, it emerged 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 he 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.
The new information emerged just hours after police investigating the disaster began a four-hour search of Lubitz's 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.
But, incredibly, he passed all his psychological assessments and was considered fit to fly.
Prosecutors 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.
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 said they had made a ‘significant discovery’ during a four-hour search of his flat, but insisted it was not 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.
A police spokesman said: ‘We wanted to search to see if we could find something that would explain what happened.
'We have found something which will now be taken for tests. We cannot say what it is at the moment but it may be very significant clue to what has happened. We hope it may give some explanations.'
Airline chiefs confirmed Lubitz, who won an award for ‘outstanding’ aviation skills and dubbed himself ‘Flying Andy’, took several months off work in 2008 and had to retrain to join Germanwings.
Slipped through the net: Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had suffered from depression and ‘burnout’ which had held up his career
Potential breakthrough: Detectives carry boxes from Lubitz's apartment on the outskirts of Dusseldorf. It emerged that a 'significant discovery' had been made at the address, but police would not give further detail
Potential breakthrough: German detectives carry evidence boxes from the 28-year-old's apartment on the outskirts of Dusseldorf on Thursday
Police said they had 'found something' that would now be taken for tests, adding it may be a 'clue' as to what happened to the doomed jet
German detectives were also pictured carrying computer equipment from Lubitz's family home in a small town north of Frankfurt
They are said to have been ‘stunned’ by the revelation that Lubitz waited for his captain to visit the toilet – and then locked him out.
At an extraordinary press conference earlier, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin gave a disturbing account of the cockpit voice recordings extracted from black box. He said Lubitz locked his captain out after the senior officer left the flight deck.
At that point, Lubitz used the flight managing system to put the plane into a descent, something that can only be done manually - and deliberately.
He said: 'The intention was to destroy the plane. Death was instant. The plane hit the mountain at 700kmh (430mph).
VICTIMS IN THE PICTURE
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