Co-pilot 'obsessed' with Alps; flew crash area as a boy

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[h=4]Co-pilot 'obsessed' with Alps; flew crash area as a boy[/h]Andreas Lubitz, who flew a Germanwings plane into the French Alps, was "obsessed" and "passionate" with the mountainous region and had flown it several times as child when visiting a gliding club with his

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German prosecutors say the co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane hid an illness from his employers. A doctor's note found inside his home reportedly says Lubitz required an extensive medical leave from work. VPC


A helicopter carries search-and-rescue workers to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed in the French Alps, above the town of Seyne-les-Alpes, southeastern France, March 25, 2015.(Photo: Guillaume Horcajuelo, European Pressphoto Agency)


Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who authorities say flew a Germanwings plane with 150 people aboard into the French Alps, was "obsessed" and "passionate" about the mountainous region and had flown it several times as a child, French and German media report.
Lubitz and his family, along with other members of a gliding club in his hometown of Montabaur, Germany, would take trips with other members to a club in the town of Sisteron, France, about 30 miles from where the Airbus A320 went down Tuesday, killing everyone aboard.
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The area, with its numerous peaks and valleys and stunning panoramas, is popular with glider pilots. In the final moments of the Germanwings flight, Lubitz overflew the major turning points for gliders in the region, flying from one peak to another, according to local glider pilots, the Associated Press reported.
French investigators said the plane, with Lubitz at the controls and the locked-out pilot trying desperately to break through the cockpit door, flew for about 10 minutes after leaving its 38,000-feet cruising altitude, finally descending into the side of the mountains.
Francis Kefer, a member of the local French gliding club, told France's i-Tele television that the Lubitz family and other members of the Montabaur club came to the region regularly between 1996 and 2003.
Dieter Wagner, a member of the Montabaur club, said he recalls that Lubitz had participated in one of the gliding courses in the Alpine region with Wagner's niece, who was a good friend, Le Parisien reported.
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"He was passionate about the Alps and even obsessed," Wagner said. "I'm sure he knew the crash area because he had flown it in a glider."
Ernst Müller, 70, and another member of the German club, said he is "certain that Andreas has participated in at least one or two internships with us in Sisteron," Le Parisien reported. Officials at the club would not comment Saturday, the AP reports.
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